Today the Ojos del Salado team made one last acclimatization hike. Leaving camp along the shores of the Laguna Verde, they drove by 4×4 up to 16,234 ft. to start their hike climbing along the Chile/Argentina border to the summit of Nevado San Francisco – 19,744 ft. Whew! After descending to the trailhead and driving […]
Nice announcement in The Himalayan Times today about our Ama Dablam expedition: https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/minister-bhattarai-felicitates-qatar-prince-for-successful-amadablam-expedition/ KATHMANDU: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai felicitated team leader Garrett Madison and Prince of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulla Al Thani at Hotel Yak and Yeti for a successful expedition to Mt Ama Dablam (6812 metres). Mountaineer Madison […]
Congratulations to the entire Madison Mountaineering 2020 Ama Dablam (6812m) team and crew! 100% summit success!! Details and photos to follow. Meanwhile, enjoy this coverage of the summit effort from The Himalayan Times. Most of the team is safely resting at Camp 2, while others have safely descended all the way down to base camp. […]
Today the Ama Dablam team made the hike of the final hill to base camp. Garrett reports “all good here!” Tomorrow they will start dialing in the camp including getting communications set up. Hopefully, there will be some Wi-Fi so more photos can be shared. The day’s hike from Pangboche to base camp was just […]
Leaving Namche Bazaar today, the Ama Dablam team was blessed by our friends at the Panorama Lodge and started making their way towards Tengboche. Before reaching the lunch stop at the village of Phunki Tenga, they said farewell to the Gokyo trekking team as the trail split and the Gokyo trekkers headed north into the […]
During today’s active rest day, the teams did an acclimatization hike up to the Everest View Hotel and caught their first views of Ama Dablam, Everest, and Lhotse. It was a beautiful, crystal clear blue sky day and the scenery was simply eye-popping. Tomorrow the Ama Dablam team will head out of Namche and traverse […]
Summit day began at midnight, as the team awoke for a quick breakfast then left camp to begin the ascent. They dawned headlamps and climbed through the pre-dawn hours, reaching Stella Point (18,652’) just as the sun rose over the plains of Africa. In the dawn light, they climbed the remaining distance to Uhuru Peak, […]
Today the team climbed to high camp. They left Karanga camp and crossed the barren hillsides to reach Barafu camp, and continued on to the Kosovo camp, our special high camp that rarely sees any other climbers. This camp puts the team in a position above most other climbing parties so that the summit day […]
After breakfast, the team left camp and began the ascent of the Great Barranco wall! This scramble provided a great morning workout as they topped out at 14,500’ with spectacular views of the plains below! Then they descend to the Karanga river and hiked up a short distance to Karanga camp. Stats for day 4 […]
Today the team left Shira Camp and traversed the mountain, working their way up to the base of “The Lava Tower” at approximately 14,800 ft. They made a quick ascent of the lava tower, a fun scramble up with great views from the top, then descended down to Barranco Camp. From camp, the team enjoyed […]