Aconcagua Expedition Archives

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive.

We’re ecstatic to announce that the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua expedition team successfully reached the summit of South America’s tallest peak and have returned safely and soundly to their comforts in Camp 3! While it was a long day, the team had great weather on the ascent, and was able to enjoy a hot meal before crawling into their tents this evening. Expedition guide, Ed Viesturs, checks in with this dispatch after a successful summit on Aconcagua:

Hello everyone! This is Ed Viesturs reporting for Madison Mountaineering. We’re back at Camp 3 (5989m/19,650ft) now, we had an amazing day!

We reached the summit (6961m/22,837ft) today after an eight and a half hour climb. We had spectacular weather – it was sunny, very little wind, and once we reached the summit, the afternoon (inaudible) kind of rolled in and we got a little snow and it got a little spicy. But all in all, it was a great climb! 13 hours round trip and we’re safe and sound back at Camp 3. We just had a nice hot meal, called guamen, and tomorrow we’re heading down back to base camp (4367m/14,327ft).

Thanks for checking in!


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:

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive.

The Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua expedition team has arrived in their high camp and are primed for their summit push! While the anticipation built, the team spent the evening relaxing, eating dinner, and packing their bags for their alpine start. Stay tuned to hear if they make the summit! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with today’s dispatch before the team goes for the summit tomorrow:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expedition climb. Today’s February second, Thursday, and we are up at our high camp (5989m/19,650ft), Camp 3 Colera at about 19,600 feet. Everyone’s doing great!

It was a beautiful day climbing up here – not much wind and clear skies as far as the eye can see, great views all around! We just finished our dinner, did a little packing and preparation for tomorrow. The plan is to wake up at 3:00 (AM) and depart by 5:00 AM, go for the summit on the third of February, and fingers crossed we’ll get lucky with good weather and route conditions!

We’ll check in tomorrow after we get back down, but the weather is looking good right now at the moment. Really happy to be here and the team’s doing great!


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:

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive.

All is well on Aconcagua! The team will take a rest day today and spend a second night in Camp 2 so they can rest and acclimatize, with the plan to move up to Camp 3 tomorrow. Their move up to Camp 3 means that their summit attempt will come in the next few days! Legendary mountaineer and guide, Ed Viesturs, checks in with todays dispatch from Camp 2:

Hey everyone! Ed Viesturs here reporting from Camp 2 on Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) with Madison Mountaineering. This is our rest day here – we’ll be spending a second night here at about 16,600 feet. Everybody’s doing well, we’re acclimatizing, weather’s very, very nice. We haven’t had a lot of clouds, we have had some wind.

The plan from here is to get up tomorrow and move to Camp 3 which is at about 18,100 feet, spend a very short night, and then hopefully on Friday get up at around 3:00 AM and leave camp at 5:00 (AM), and make our way to the summit of Aconcagua, hoping to return back to Camp 3 late in that day.

So, everybody’s doing great! We’ve had awesome weather, the team is a lot of fun to be with, we’ve made a lot of good friends… (inaudible) See you 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 daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

Instagram:

Aconcagua Camp 2. Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive.

The team awoke to more good weather today in Camp 1 and is getting ready for their move up to Camp 2! After another beautiful sunset last night, a good dinner prepared by guide, Cacho Beiza, and a restful nights sleep, the team is feeling strong and doing great on their ascent of Aconcagua. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with todays dispatch from Argentina:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expedition team. We are up here in Camp 1 (5060m/16,600ft)! We arrived yesterday, everyone has done great, we had nice weather, great views and a good evening here in high camp watching the sunset. Cacho cooked us an amazing pasta with tomato sauce and everybody had a good nights rest.

Today we’re just up making breakfast, taking down the camp, and preparing to climb up to Camp 2 (5522m/18,117ft) where we’re going to spend a couple of nights. So, looks like good weather now and we’re excited to get a move on today and start climbing up to Camp 2 on Aconcagua!

All is well here! 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 daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.

Instagram:

Tomahawks for dinner at Aconcagua Base Camp!

The team has successfully made their first carry up to Camp 1 to cache some of their load, in preparation for the move up to Camp 1 to follow! Making multiple carries between camps not only lightens the load each member has to carry between camps, but also helps in the acclimatization process as they ascend the tallest mountain in South America. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with this dispatch from Plaza de Mulas:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expedition. Today we did a carry up to Camp 1 (5060m/16,600ft), brought a load of gear up there and cached it. It was a beautiful day, great views all around, the team did awesome! We came back down, and had a restful afternoon and then dinner here in base camp (4367m/14,327ft), and now we’re off to bed.

Our plan tomorrow is to have breakfast and then move up to Camp 1, set up camp, sleep there, and then the next day, move up to Camp 2 (5522m/18,117ft) for a couple of nights. Check the weather, hopefully we’ll have a summit weather window sometime around February third or fourth!

Everyone is doing well! We’re enjoying Aconcagua, having a great time here in Argentina! It’s great to be here with so many good friends – old friends, some new friends and really great times here in Argentina!


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:

Clear skies over base camp!

The Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua expedition team has arrived in Plaza de Mulas (Aconcagua Base Camp). On their trek over the course of the last few days, the team enjoyed more great weather and the absence of light pollution, which has made for great star gazing at night! Everyone on the team is doing great and is preparing to move up the mountain in the coming days. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with this dispatch from Plaza de Mulas:

Hey! This is Garrett checking in for the Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) team, here with Cacho and Ed Viesturs, we’re at base camp (4367m/14,327ft). We got here yesterday and had a great trek into base camp over three days! Nice weather, enjoyed some great views, and nice acclimatization hike the other day. It was good to roll into base camp yesterday, had a wonderful dinner, beautiful stars last night here in base camp…

Today we’re just taking a rest day, going for an acclimatization hike, and organizing some gear for our first carry up to Camp 1 (5060m/16,600ft) tomorrow.

So, happy to be here, great weather at the moment! Everyone is doing well and we’re looking forward to another great day here in Argentina – highest mountain outside of Asia.

At the dining room table in base camp!

At the dining room table in base camp!


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:

The team hitting the trail towards Aconcagua!

The Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua expedition is off to a great start in the Horcones Valley with perfect weather, delicious food, and great company! Their journey started early this morning in Mendoza where they loaded their bags and made the drive into the mountains before dawning their packs and hitting the trail. Everyone is in good spirits and looks forward to the days ahead on their ascent of South America’s tallest peak. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with todays dispatch from Confluencia Camp:

Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expedition team.

Just calling in to report that we had a great day! We left Mendoza (746m/2,449ft) this morning, drove up to the trailhead, and started trekking in. We had a beautiful trek up – great weather to our camp here at Confluencia! We’re at about 9,000 feet.

Everyone’s doing well. We had a great dinner, we had some barbecue – steaks, sausages, salad, a little Malbec red wine and looking forward to a good nights rest!

Tomorrow we’re going to go for an acclimatization hike up to Plaza Francia, at the base of the south face of Aconcagua and then return back to Confluencia to spend another night here.

The trips going well so far! It’s a great team, we’re having fun getting to know each other, and spending time in such a beautiful mountain region here in the Andes. It’s great having Cacho with us, and also Ed Viesturs of course, and a wonderful team of climbers!

Looking forward to another great day!

Guide, Garrett Madison in charge of the barbecue!

Guide, Garrett Madison in charge of the barbecue!

The team sitting down for a well-deserved meal in Confluencia Camp.

The team sitting down for a well-deserved meal in Confluencia Camp.

Some of the team out and enjoying the night sky on their first night in the mountains!

Some of the team out and enjoying the night sky on their first night in the mountains!


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:

The whole team on the summit of Aconcagua!

It’s with great pleasure to announce that the entire Madison Mountaineering team reached the summit of Aconcagua last week! After returning to Mendoza from the mountain, the team celebrated with one last dinner in Argentina – also celebrating the birthday of one of the team members! Their meal was well-deserved and served as a great way to conclude the expedition, sharing the memories and friendships gained that are sure to be carried on after everyone said their ‘goodbyes.’

While it was a long summit day, the team made strong work on their ascent, and ultimately all stood on the summit before returning down safely. Below is the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua Summiteers List from Monday, January 16:

# Name Country
1 Mr. Javier “Cacho” Beiza Argentina
2 Mr. Thierry Dhers USA
3 Mr. Naveen “Nav” Kotecha USA
4 Mr. Rein Madissoon Estonia
5 Ms. Rein Madissoon Estonia
6 Mr. Frank McCarthy Ireland
7 Mr. Nicholas Pangallo Canada
8 Mr. Seth Sklare USA
9 Mr. Peter Veloo USA
10 Mr. Bruno Vizzaccaro Canada

We are grateful for the experiences shared and new friends made over the course of the last few weeks! Now, we’re looking forward to doing it all over again as we kick off another Aconcagua expedition on January 25th with guides Garrett Madison, Cacho Beiza, and legendary mountaineer, Ed Viesturs!

Stay tuned for more…

The team during their summit push under blue skies on Aconcagua!

The team during their summit push under blue skies on Aconcagua!

A well deserved celebration dinner after 100% summit success on Aconcagua!

A well deserved celebration dinner after 100% summit success on Aconcagua!


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:

The team moving up to Camp Canada!

The Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua expedition is off to a great start in Argentina! Despite some snow on the mountain, the team is looking good, feeling strong and has made it up to Camp 1. The food and views have been great, and spirits are high! In the next few days, the team plans to rest and look for a weather window so they can continue higher up the mountain. Expedition leader, Cacho Beiza, checks in with this brief dispatch from Aconcagua:

We will be sleeping in C1 (5060m/16,600ft) today. We are arriving in a couple of hours and everybody is feeling good!

Smiles all around from the Aconcagua team!

Smiles all around from the Aconcagua team!

Ascending higher on Aconcagua with views of the beautiful, snow covered Andes all around!

Ascending higher on Aconcagua with views of the beautiful, snow covered Andes all around!


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:

Alpenglow on the upper mountain. Photo: Terray Sylvester

The team brought in the New Year with an acclimatization hike around Base Camp, as they prepare to make their first carry up to Camp 1 tomorrow! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with todays dispatch from Plaza de Mulas:

Hello and happy New Year from Aconcagua Base Camp (4367m/14,327ft)! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expedition – it’s January 1st.

We had a great day today! The weather was really nice – clear skies all day with great views of fresh snow on the upper mountain. We spent the morning acclimatizing by walking above base camp, beyond the historic hotel here near Plaza de Mulas. And then, in the afternoon we got some showers and started sorting gear for our first carry to Camp 1 (5060m/16,600ft), which will happen tomorrow.

So we just finished dinner! It was great – shepherds pie and then nice, chocolate mousse dessert. We’re getting ready for bed and tomorrow the plan is to carry up to Camp 1.

So, all is well here in Argentina and we’ll be in touch tomorrow!

Snow in the mountains above base camp!

Snow in the mountains above base camp!

Our climber, TJ, acclimatizing above base camp. Photo: Terray Sylvester

Our climber, TJ, acclimatizing above base camp. Photo: Terray Sylvester

Lunch in base camp.

Lunch in base camp.

Lunch is served!

Lunch is served!


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: