2022 K2 expedition dispatches

The team at base camp!

The team has said “goodbye” to the trekkers and looks forward to the days ahead leading up to their first rotation.

Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the K2 expedition team.

We are at K2 base camp (4968m/16,300ft) – it’s another beautiful day here and today we saw the last of our trekkers off. They were headed down valley with Fred Alldredge to trek down the Baltoro Glacier back to Jhola Camp (3151m/10,338ft), and then by Jeep to Skardu (2220m/7283ft). It’ll be a few days before they reach Skardu. Our other trekkers helicoptered out yesterday and made it all the way back to Islamabad just in a few hours time – amazing logistics that worked out!

The rest of us are here settling into base camp. We’re happy to be here, we’re going to do some training today and an acclimatization hike tomorrow. Everyone’s doing well and the weather’s just perfect at the moment – sunny and not a cloud in the sky! Our Sherpa team just reached Camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft) – first team of the season to make it up to Camp 2. They set up 5 tents for us and we’re looking forward to doing a first rotation here in a few days time.

All is well here at K2 base camp! We’ll check in soon.

Enjoying the evening light at camp

Enjoying the evening light at camp

Piers cutting the ham for an afternoon snack

Piers cutting the ham for an afternoon snack

Training on the ice today near base camp with K2 behind

Training on the ice today near base camp with K2 behind

Nelly enjoying the nice weather here in the Madison Mountaineering base camp

Nelly enjoying the nice weather here in the Madison Mountaineering 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.

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Photo from Madison Mountaineering Photo Archive

The team has reached K2 base camp and will spend the next few days dialing things in, encouraged by more good weather ahead!

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the K2 climbing team.

We reached K2 base camp today and it was a beautiful day. We had views of K2, Broad Peak, and other surrounding mountains. We got to base camp and we’ve been setting up our camp ever since. We’ve got things mostly set up for the time being, but it will take us a couple of days to get everything totally dialed in the way we want it. Everyone’s doing well. We had a mini Puja with some our Sherpa’s – they’re going to head up to Camp 1 tomorrow and we’re going to take a rest day here. Some of our trekkers are going to try and helicopter out tomorrow morning and the rest of the trekkers will take a rest day here, and then head down the following day to start their trek back to Skardu.

So, everyone’s doing well, excited to be up here, and looking forward to more good weather ahead.

Basecamp tent illuminated at dusk

Base camp tent illuminated at dusk

Garrett and porter/Sherpa team happy to be in basecamp!

Everyone’s happy to be 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:

First views of K2 from Concordia

The team has reached Concordia Camp and has spectacular views of the Karakoram Range, including their first views of K2! Garrett checks in with todays expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 Expedition Team.

Today is June 25th and we have arrived in Concordia Camp. This is where the Baltoro Glacier splits and goes up to K2Broad Peak or the other direction towards the Gasherbrums. We’re happy to be here. We had another beautiful day – sunny and not a cloud in the sky. We had our first view of K2 today – beautiful peak!

The team’s doing well. It’s a beautiful day here, everyone’s doing well, we’re looking forward to a good dinner and a good night’s rest. Up to K2 base camp tomorrow!

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:

Trekking towards Urdukas Camp

The team had a beautiful day trekking up the Baltoro Glacier to Urdukas Camp. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison provides todays dispatch via sat-phone:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 Expedition Team. Today is June 23rd.

We’ve reached Urdukas Camp (4034m/13,235ft) on the way to K2 Basecamp. It was a long day trekking from Paiju up the Baltoro Glacier. We had a beautiful day that started off cool, but then warmed up. It got very warm for a while during mid-day on the glacier, then cooled off in the afternoon. We’re just about to settle down and have dinner. Everyone’s doing well, but we’re a little tired.

We’re looking forward to a shorter day tomorrow, trekking up the glacier towards Goro 2 Camp. It’s great to be here, we’re having a good time. We saw a lot of beautiful peaks today; Great Trango Towers, Broad Peak, and a lot of other mountains.

We’re really enjoying the trek so far, we’ll check in soon.

Team trekking along the Braldo River

Team trekking along the Braldo River


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 first day of trekking is done and the team is now at Paiju camp along the Braldu River on their way to K2 base camp. Expedition leader Garrett Madison checks in via satellite phone from camp:

Hello!  This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 2022 expedtion team.  Today is Wednesday, June 22nd.

Today we started our trek!  First day trekking up towards base camp.  We started off at Jhola camp (3151m/10,338ft), where we arrived last night by jeep from Skardu (2220m/7,283ft).  We trekked all the way up to Paiju camp (3400m/11,155ft) today.  Everyone’s doing great, we had some cool cloudy weather which made it nice for the trek, not too hot.

Now we’re all settled in here at Paiju camp and looking forward to a nice dinner tonight.  Tomorrow we’ll either take a rest day or we’ll make our way up the valley onto the Baltoro Glacier – up to Urdukas camp (4034m/13,235ft).  We’ll make that decision tomorrow morning – see how the weather is, see how we’re feeling.

All’s well here.  Everyone’s doing great and we’re excited to be on our way!  We’ll check in soon, thanks.

(photo: Madison Mountaineering archives)


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:

Big boulder blocking the Karakoram Highway!

Our 2022 K2 expedition has started!!  The team arrived in Islamabad on June 18th and drove by motor coach to the staging city of Skardu enjoying a small adventure along the way.  Here’s expedition leader, Garrett Madison, with the expedition’s initial dispatch:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 2022 expedition team.  Today is June 19th and we arrived in Skardu today after a drive from Islamabad.  The weather’s been bad the last few days, so all the flights from Islamabad to Skardu have been canceled.  So, we took buses and drove yesterday on the Karakoram Highway and reached Skardu around midnight.

There was a big boulder that came down over the road at one point and we actually had to walk across by foot and have new vehicles met us on the other side to transport us to Skardu.  It was an adventure to say the least!  A fun way to start the trip.

We’re just waiting on clearance here in Skardu, then we’ll head off tomorrow, hopefully by jeep, drive all the way to Jhola Camp (3151m/10,338ft), spend the night, and then start trekking the next day towards K2 base camp.

Everyone’s doing well, we’re excited to be here and looking forward to the journey ahead.

K2 team traveled by bus from Islamabad to Skardu

K2 team traveled by bus from Islamabad to Skardu

Climber Nelly and Ang Purba enjoy reaching Diamer, Pakastan

Climber Nelly and Ang Purba enjoy reaching Diamer, Pakistan


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: