Vinson Base Camp and Carry Completed

Base camp at the Antarctica expedition

Our first Mount Vinson team of the season has flown from Union Glacier Camp to Mount Vinson Base Camp and made their carry towards Low Camp.  Expedition leader Garrett Madison provides the day’s dispatch via satellite phone:

Hello. This is Garrett calling for the Mount Vinson expedition team.  Today is Wednesday, December 22nd and we are in Vinson base camp.

We arrived late last night just before midnight on our flight from Union Glacier Camp and we set up tents and moved in.  Today we got up, had breakfast, and did a carry up halfway to Camp 1. We carried up food and fuel and some other gear and cached it about halfway from base camp to Camp 1.  We got back to base camp, had dinner, and are just getting tucked in for bed.

We’re doing well here.  A little marginal weather at the moment, a bit stormy.  But we’re hoping it will clear out in the next day or two and we can resume heading back up the mountain – hopefully, get up to low camp and focus on getting to high camp.

All’s well here at Vinson base camp and we’ll check in soon.  Thanks!

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

/0 Comments/by

Still Hanging at Union Glacier

Our first Mount Vinson expedition team is waiting out the Mount Vinson base camp weather at Union Glacier camp.  Here’s Garrett with the details:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team.

Today is Monday December 20th and we are still at Union Glacier camp.  No one is flying out of Union Glacier camp for a few days to Vinson because of the bad weather at Vinson base camp, but we’re doing well here.  We’re eating lots of good food and resting and getting organized.  Excited to fly over there to start climbing Vinson when the weather cooperates.  But until then will just keep hanging out here eating well.

All is well and we’ll check in soon!  Thanks!

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

/0 Comments/by

Vinson Team One at Union Glacier, Antarctica

Aerial View of Union Glacier Camp in Southern Ellsworth Mountains

The team for our first Mount Vinson expedition of the season has arrived at Union Glacier camp in Antarctica and is getting things ready for the flight to Mount Vinson base camp.  Here’s Garrett with the details:

Hello. This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition. This is the first expedition on Mount Vinson for our season here in Antarctica and yesterday we flew in from Punta Arenas, Chile to Union Glacier camp in Antarctica.

Right now we are in Union Glacier camp, just had a nice dinner. Good day here organizing our gear, and we’re hoping to fly to Mount Vinson tomorrow if the weather is good.  But we’re not quite sure.  It’s a little foggy and cloudy over at Mount Vinson base camp.  So not flying at the moment.

We’re hoping we’ll get an opportunity here in the next few days and be able to get over there and start climbing.  We’re really happy to be here in Antarctica and having a good time here, just relaxing and enjoying the sites at Union Glacier camp and all is well.

So we’ll check in soon.  Thanks!

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

/0 Comments/by

Next Stop Antarctica!

Boarding the Boeing 757 in Punta Arenas. Bound for Union Glacier, Antarctica!

Our first Mount Vinson expedition of the season is just boarding their flight to Antarctica from Punta Arenas, Chile.  Here’s expedition leader Garrett Madison with the details:

Hey!  This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Vinson expedition – our first one of the season.  We are flight to Antarctica!  We just getting ready to board the Boeing 757 jet here in Punta Arenas.  We are taking off in about a half an hour and we’ll fly for four and a half hours over the Drake Passage to Union Glacier camp in Antarctica, where we’ll spend a couple of nights and then fly over to Vinson base camp and start our climb.

So, we’re very excited that everything’s on schedule here – we’ve got good weather and we’re looking forward to getting to Vinson!  All’s well here and we’ll check-in soon!

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

/0 Comments/by

Mount Vinson Season Begins!

Our Mount Vinson season has kicked off with our first wave of climbers arriving in the historic jump-off city of Punta Arenas, Chile – the largest city south of 46 degrees south.  Here’s expedition leader Garrett Madison with today’s expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition season.  Today’s Wednesday, December 15th and our first team of Vinson climbers is here in Punta Arenas, Chile.

We’re getting ready for our flight on Saturday to Union Glacier Camp in Antarctica.  After that, we’ve two more Mount Vinson expedition teams.  Hoping for a great season with lots of good weather and great views of the Antarctic continent and Ellsworth mountain range.

Just looking forward to getting down to Antarctica after last year not being able to travel here due to the pandemic, so we’re very thankful and fortunate that we can be here and soon heading to Antarctica.  So, we’ve been enjoying Punta Arenas, seeing the sites here in town, having some great meals, and looking forward to getting our expedition underway.

All’s well here in Punta Arenas, Chile.  We’ll check in soon.  Thanks!

Checking out the Mount Vinson route!

Checking out the Mount Vinson route!

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

/0 Comments/by

Cotopaxi Summit!

Our Ecuador Volcanoes continued their perfect summit streak by reaching the trip ultimate summit of Cotopaxi, the second-highest point in Ecuador!  Lead guide, Estalin Suárez has the day’s audio expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition.  I’m glad to say that today we got the summit of Cotopaxi, which is 19,347 ft.  With this we finish our 9-day climbing tour in Ecuador with 100% success!

Yesterday we started, more or less, at midnight.  It took us six hours to reach the summit and then less than three hours down.  We had an amazing day – really good weather, almost perfect!  Carter and Saskia are very, very happy with the results of our expedition.

Enjoy the pictures and visit Ecuador!

Bye!

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

/0 Comments/by

Ama Dablam Summit!

Ama Dablam

Yesterday our private team on Ama Dablam reached the summit with a clear sky and calm winds. They had the whole mountain to themselves and savored the views from up on the summit of the surrounding peaks Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, and many others.

It’s been a pleasure to follow their smooth progress during the past 2 weeks, they had great route conditions and weather throughout the expedition. We are very proud of them all for their safe and successful climb of Ama Dablam! Way to go team!

For climbers interested in learning more about our private expeditions please contact our office.

Ama Dablam Ama Dablam Ama Dablam

/0 Comments/by

Illiniza Norte Summit!

Guide Estalin Suárez and climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Illiniza Norte

Our Ecuador Volcanoes knocked off another volcano summit – Illiniza Norte (5126m/16,818ft) – as they continued acclimatizing and getting ready for Cotopaxi!  Lead guide, Estalin Suárez has the day’s audio expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition.  Today is December 8th.

We just summit today Illiniza Norte, which is 16,800 ft.  We had a clear morning, but just before we reached the summit we got some clouds.  But anyways, we summitted.  Carter and Saskia are feeling pretty good and very motovated to keep climbing and focusing on Cotopaxi.

Now we are at the Chuquiragua Lodge just resting.  Tomorrow we are going to drive to the Cotopaxi lodge and just have one day rest before the Cotopaxi attempt.

I’ll keep in touch!  Bye!

Hiking up Illiniza Norte

Hiking up Illiniza Norte

Climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. nearing the summit of Illiniza Norte

Climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. nearing the summit of Illiniza Norte

Climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Illiniza Norte

Climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Illiniza Norte

Guide Estalin Suárez and climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Illiniza Norte

Guide Estalin Suárez and climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Illiniza Norte

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

/0 Comments/by

Corazón Summit!

Guide Estalin Suárez and climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Corazón

Our Ecuador Volcanoes team continued their acclimatizing today with the hike up the inactive, eroded stratovolcano Corazón (4790m/15,720ft).  Lead guide, Estalin Suárez has the day’s audio expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition.  Today is December 6th.

So, today we hiked up to the summit of the Corazón volcano, which is 15,700 ft.  The weather wasn’t that good. It was a little bit foggy and a little bit windy.  But, yeah, we summit!  We did around seven hours up and down.  The weather didn’t help so much, but anyway, we’ve been having fun training for the next mountains.

Carter and Saskia are feeling well and getting used to the altitude.  So we are now at the lodge, just having a rest and looking forward for the next mountains.

Bye!

Ready to head up Corazón

Ready to head up Corazón

Hiking up Corazón

Hiking up Corazón

Climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. acclimatizing on Corazón

Climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. acclimatizing on Corazón

Climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. nearing the summit of Corazón

Climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. nearing the summit of Corazón

Guide Estalin Suárez and climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Corazón

Guide Estalin Suárez and climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Corazón

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

/0 Comments/by

Dec 2021 Ecuador Volcanoes Kicks-off!

Climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Pasochoa

Our team members arrived in Quito, Ecuador on Saturday and today started hiking Ecuador volcanoes to begin the acclimatization process and ready themselves for the big expedition objective of Cotopaxi (5897m/19,347ft), the second-highest summit in Ecuador and one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.  Today they gained 700 meters of elevation by summiting the extinct volcano, Pasochoa.  Here’s lead guide, Estalin Suárez with a recap of the day:

Hello, this is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedtion.  Today is December 5th.

We just started with our acclimatization process with a summit of Pasochoa volcano, which is 13,700 ft. (4200m).  We got a really nice day, really nice hike, we were walking for around 4 hours, and now we are at the Chuquiragua Lodge at the bottom of the Ilinizas area.  We are just resting and getting ready for tomorrow.

So, okay, bye!

Hiking Pasochoa

Hiking Pasochoa

Climbers heading up Pasochoa

Climbers heading up Pasochoa

Nearing the summit of Pasochoa

Nearing the summit of Pasochoa

Guide Estalin Suárez and climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Pasochoa

Guide Estalin Suárez and climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Pasochoa

Climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Pasochoa

Climbers Carter B. and Saskia J. on the summit of Pasochoa

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

/0 Comments/by