Author: garrett_madison
Congratulations to our Everest team for reaching the top of the world! All of the team is now safely back at Camp 4 on the South Col. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, provides the happy news:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest team. Today is May 23rd and today we summitted Mount Everest! [garbled] We left about 9:30 PM from our high camp here at the South Col near 26,000 ft. and climbed through the night up the Triangular face to The Balcony and then up the South East ridge over the rock bands to the South Summit and then crossed the summit ridge, up the Hillary Step and then the summit! We reached the summit just after 5:00 AM with the last of our members reaching the summit about 8:00 AM.
So, it was a nice day – a little windy and a little chilly up there – but everybody did really good. The most important thing is that everybody made it back down to high camp this afternoon. So, we are all back in high camp, safe and sound. We are looking forward to descending down to Camp 2 tomorrow night and then base camp the following day on May 25th. All’s well here at high camp! Thanks for checking in.
This is it. Because, tonight’s the night the past seven weeks in Nepal and preceding months of planning, preparing, and training have been building up to. We go for the summit of Everest tonight!!! It’s now morning in Nepal and the team will be spending the day resting and getting psyched for the final push up to the summit. So, from the home office in Seattle, WA USA and from friends, family, and well-wishers all over the world we say, Go get it team – climb strong, be careful, make your mark and get up and down safely! Here’s Garrett Madison on the South Col of Mount Everest via satellite phone just minutes ago with today’s expedition dispatch:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest team! We are up at the South Col, high camp, on Mount Everest – nearly 26,000ft. or 8000m. Everybody is doing great! We got up here yesterday evening, had a nice dinner, tucked into our tents, and had a restful night sleeping on oxygen. Today we just had breakfast, we’re up, moving around, sleeping, resting, breathing oxygen.
We are planning to leave this evening at 9:00 PM for our summit attempt. Hopefully reaching the top the next morning, which will be May 23rd. So, everybody’s doing great up here, the team did excellent coming up to high camp yesterday. Everyone’s doing great today, in good sprits and we’re looking forward to leaving tonight and giving it our best shot to climb to the top of the world! Alright, thanks for checking in! We’ll call in tomorrow. All’s well here at high camp on Mount Everest.
(photo: 2018 Everest Camp 4 from the Madison Mountaineering archives)
Just received a sat phone call from Garrett. The team is tucked in at Camp 4 on the South Col of Everest. Everyone did really well today on the climb up from Camp 3. They may take a rest day and then go for the summit on the 23rd. The sat phone call is very garbled and we will be working on a transcription and will update this dispatch soon:
Our Everest team made the move up to Camp 3 on the Lhotse face today and looks to be in position for a summit attempt on May 22nd. The weather is looking good and the team is feeling strong and healthy. Garrett Madison, expedition leader, provides this update:
Helllo, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest climbing team. Today we left Camp 2 at 5:00 AM and climbed up the Lhotse face to Camp 3. We made it to Camp 3 by about 9:30 AM. Everyone did great! We set up our tents, moved into camp, had some ramen noddles, and then relaxed before dinner. Our plan is to move up to Camp 4 tomorrow. The weather’s looking really good right now. Everybody is doing great – feeling healthly and strong and enjoying the good weather and nice views from up here at Camp 3. We’ll check in soon. Thanks!
(photo: Everest Camp 3 – Madison Mountaineering archives)
The Everest team is heading to Camp 3 tomorrow to start the summit attempt. The weather forecast is looking favorable. Here’s expedition leader, Garrett Madison’s, update via sat phone:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest team. Today is Sunday, May 19th and we had a nice rest day at Camp 2 as we have been watching the weather carefully and determining which day we want to move up for our summit attempt. Our plan is to move up tomorrow, May 20th, to Camp 3. Everybody’s doing great here, all packed and ready to head up from Camp 2 on the Lhotse face up to Camp 3. And it looks like the weather forecast is playing out into our favor – it looks like good weather for the next four or five days. So fingers crossed that the forecast holds true. All’s well here at Advanced Base Camp, Camp 2 on Mount Everest. Thanks for checking in!
(photo: Madison Mountaineering archives from earlier this season)
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest team. We are up at Camp 2 right now and everybody’s doing well. We are taking a rest day and watching the weather. We are also watching some teams come down off the Lhotse face after their summit attempts. But the main thing is that we are just making sure that we’ve got a good weather window before we head up. We may head up tonight or the following day. We not exactly sure yet, still waiting for a couple of weather forecasts to come in. But, everyone’s doing good here, the weather’s improving, and we are looking forward to a summit attempt here in the next few days!
Now on their summit rotation, the team climbed from base camp (5307m/17,411ft) to Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) today. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, provides today’s update via satellite phone from Camp 2:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest climbing team. Today is May 17th, and we awoke at about 1:00 AM and left at 2:00 AM from base camp. We had a beautiful, bright Moonlit night climbing up through the Khumbu Icefall on our way up to Camp 1 and then onward to Camp 2. We all made it to Camp 2 today and had a leisurely afternoon. We’re just going to reassess the weather forecast tomorrow, take a rest day, and then think about potentially moving up towards Camp 3 and Camp 4 on a summit attempt. So, all’s well here in Camp 2, everybody’s doing great, and we’re tucked in after dinner getting ready for a nice night of sleep. We’ll check in tomorrow. ‘nite!
(photo: Camp 2 from this season’s previous rotation)
Game time! Our Everest main team is heading up tonight (Nepal time) for their summit rotation! Stay tuned to these dispatches and our Amazon Alexa flash briefing for up to date coverage. Meanwhile, the climbing group of Kenton Cool, Michael Lavelle, are safely down to Camp 2 and descending to base camp tomorrow after their summit success! Here’s Garrett reporting in just before turning in for some rest before the alpine start of 1:00 AM:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest team. We are leaving tonight to head up to Camp 2 for our summit rotation! This will be our final trip up the mountain for hopefully a summit here somewhere around May 21st, 22nd, or 23rd depending on the weather and route conditions. Our team is doing great! We had a team meeting today, got everything packed, organized, and we are excited to head up and see what lies ahead on Mount Everest! Fingers crossed for good weather and hopefully a good summit!!
With our advance team of rope fixing Sherpa safely back in base camp and the private group of Kenton and Michael positioned for the summit bid tonight, our main team counts down for their summit rotation from base camp. Here’s Garrett’s audio dispatch and some awesome pictures from the Sherpa team near and on the summit yesterday as well as some views of Everest from the main group at base camp today:
Hi! This is Garrett calling in for the Everest team. Today Kenton Cool and climber Michael Lavelle have moved up to the South Col. They’re in position and heading for the summit tonight. Hopefully they will reach the top of Mount Everest tomorrow morning (!) and then be safely on their way down. The rest of the team is here in base camp. We’re all doing great! We’re just getting ready to move up, hopefuly, in a couple of days time. Looking forward to the next weather forecast, hopefully it will show the winds dropping after the 17th, 18th, 19th, or 20th. So all’s good here in base camp. We’ll check in soon. Thanks!
Fixing the summit route
MM rope team on summit day
MM rope team makes first 2019 summits
Acclimatization hike above EBC to prayer flag point
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest team. Today is a great day! Our advanced team of rope fixing Sherpa, eight guys, all reached the summit today at 1:45 PM Nepal time and they are on their way down to high camp now. So, the lines are in place, the route is open, and the first summits of 2019 on Everest have commenced! Now we’ll start thinking about our summit strategy with our main team. Kenton Cool and climber Michael are up in Camp 3 today on their way for a potential summit on the 16th of May. Everyone else is doing great here in base camp. We’ll check in soon.
(photo: Madison Mountaineering archives)
