Base Camp Arrival :

Yesterday our team arrived in Mount Everest base camp! It was nice to finally arrive at our home for the season. After, over a week of trekking through the beautiful Khumbu valley we are here now. We were greeted by our Nepal Sherpa staff and then had a relaxing afternoon moving into our personal tents. Today we said good bye to our trekkers and Island peak climbers as they left us to head onto their next destination. We had a leisurely morning and took much needed hot showers. Then, went on a walkabout around the small city of Everest base camp. The weather has been great today and we are enjoying the spectacular views of Mount Everest, Mount Lhotse, and Mount Nuptse from our camp. Everyone is well and we are happy to be settled into our home for the next 5 – 6 weeks.

View of Mount Everest From Kalapatthar

View of Mount Everest From Kalapatthar

View of Mount Everest :

Today we trekked from Lobuche to Gorak Shep and then hiked up Kala Patthar (18,160 ft. /5550m) and had excellent views of Mount Everest, Mount Lhotse, and Mount Nuptse. We are about to go to bed after another great day, everyone is doing well and very excited to reach Everest base camp tomorrow!


We left Lobuche, and heading towards Gorak Shep as we make our way closer to Everest. Yesterday we had a light snow in the evening so today its blue sky with the sun reflecting off the new snow. Furthermore, Everyone is doing well and we are excited to climb Kala Pattar this afternoon! Tomorrow we plan to reach Everest base camp.

Arrived At Dingboche!

Today we awoke to a clear sky in the village of Dingboche, enjoyed our breakfast, then went on an acclimatization hike . Our Team reached an elevation of 16,300 ft. The views of Ama Dablam, Makalu, and Cho Oyu were spectacular as well as the view over the villages of Dingboche & Pheriche. This afternoon we enjoyed coffee and pastries in the french bakery and now are sitting down for dinner, everyone is doing well. We are excited to continue our trek tomorrow and make our way closer to Mount Everest!

Depart From Namche!

We have had 2 great days on the trail trekking up towards Everest base camp. The weather has been cool and moist which is a pleasant suprise as normally its warm and dusty during the first half of the trek. Our friends at the Panorama lodge in Namche gave us a blessing before we said our good byes, then we made our way to the Tengboche monastry for a short visit and then to the Rivendell lodge for the night. Today, we had our first glimpse of Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse, then trekked to the village of Pangboche for a blessing with the high lama, and onwards to the village of Dingboche where we will stay for 2 nights. Everyone is doing well!

Arrived At Namche!

Today we awoke to clear skies in the village of Namche ,enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the Panaroma Lodge and then went on an acclimatization hike up to Everest View Hotel. Mount Everest was hidden behind some clouds but Ama Dablam was visible and also part of Mount Lhotse. We enjoyed some lemon tea as we admired the view and then descended back to Panaroma Lodge in Namche. Everyone is doing well as we slowly make our way up the Khumbu valley towards Mount Everest !

Today we had breakfast at 7 AM in the sunrise lodge in the village of Phakding. Afterwards we made our way through the lush valley and across suspension bridges to the village of Namche, the capital of t he khumbu. We just finished a marvelous dinner at the Panorama lodge and are ready to fall fast asleep! Another great day in the khumbu as we trek closer to Mount Everest!

 

 

 

Arrived At Lukla!

Today we flew early this morning from Kathmandu to Lukla, and then had a hearty breakfast in the Paradise lodge. We set off and enjoyed a casual day trekking up the Khumbu valley to the village of Phakding. It is wonderful to be enjoying the fresh mountain air and exercising after the long journey to Nepal from the USA. All members of our trekking and climbing team are doing well! The team heading up the trail!

Lhotse

Team Arrived At Kathmandu!

Our Mount Everest climbing team and trekking team is in Kathmandu and scheduled to fly to Lukla tomorrow . They will  begin to  trek to base camp from there!  Today everyone is sightseeing around Kathmandu and excited to get up to the fresh mountain air in the Khumbu valley! Please check out the tracking links above for location of the team as they make their way up to Everest base camp.  Stay tuned for more dispatches…

Everest & Lhotse climbing

Spring is here! Our Everest & Lhotse climbing team is packed and heading off to Nepal to climb Everest and Lhotse (4th highest). An exciting change for us this year is that our team is involved with the rope fixing from Camp 2 all the way to the summit of Mount Everest, as our local agency, Himalayan Guides Nepal PVT LTD has secured an exclusive contract with the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal for this project.  Our expert team of sherpas will be leading the effort in finding the best route and placing the fixed ropes up the Lhotse Face, across the Yellow Band & Geneva Spur to the South Col high camp, up the Triangular Face to the Balcony (27,500′) and onward to the summit!  We are excited to “lead the way” up the mountain and prepare the ropes so that our team and others can ascend safely on Mount Everest.  We aim to complete this project earlier than in past seasons so that more time is available for teams to make a summit attempt during the good weather window in May. By controlling the rope fixing we can control our climbing schedule better than before.

Check back soon for more photos and video as the expedition prepares to launch!

Tracking Maps

Everest Base Camp Trek map

Everest Climb map

-Garrett Madison