Camp 1 on Peak Lenin

The Madison Mountaineering team is on the move to start their acclimatization rotation! The team moved to Camp 1 from base camp over the weekend, where they’ll continue their acclimatization efforts and technical training before starting their summit push. Everyone is doing great so far, and motivated with the mountain hanging high above them. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Camp 1 on Peak Lenin:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Peak Lenin (7134m/23,406ft) expedition. Today is July 4th here in the Pamir Mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

This morning, we left base camp (3600m/11,800ft) at 8.30 a.m. We drove to the trailhead, to the trail to Camp 1 (4400m/14,435ft). (We) started walking around 9:00, and by 12:30, we were in Camp 1 at 4,400 meters. We had a really nice walk. The team was super strong, did a really good job. We had a nice lunch in Camp 1 and settled into our tents, and then relaxed for most of the afternoon. And now we just finished dinner, and we’re enjoying a non-alcoholic beverage in the cozy bar here at Camp 1.

We had some really nice views of Peak Lenin just above us, but now it’s a little socked in. However, we can see down the valley toward the peaks above base camp, and it’s really beautiful down there, alpenglow on the peaks.

We’ll be here in Camp 1 for at least five nights. We’ll be doing some acclimatization hikes and some training before we head on up to Camp 2 (5300m/17,388ft).

So everything is going really well here in Kyrgyzstan, and we’ll be in touch tomorrow!

The team trekking to Camp 1 (photo by Terray Sylvester)

A pack train en route to Camp 1 (photo by Terray Sylvester)

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 daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

• @MadisonMtng
• @GarrettMadison1
• @terray_s