Clear skies en route to Lukla

The Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam expedition team enjoyed crystal clear skies and views of the Himalaya hanging high overhead as they buzzed towards Lukla. After touching down, the team fueled up for the day with a nutritious breakfast and began the trek! The team navigated their way through Lukla before trekking down towards the Dudh Khoshi river, across several suspension bridges, and into the next tea house situated within earshot of the river in the village of Phakding. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from the Himalaya:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the autumn 2026 Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam (6812m/22,349ft) expedition. Today is October 22nd.

Today, we left our hotel in Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft) at about 5:45 AM, and by just after 8 AM, we were touching down in Lukla (2860m/9,383ft). It was a beautiful day for a heli flight. We had really clear skies and great views of the spine of the Himalayas, all the way from Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) in the west, to Makalu (8463m/27,766ft) in the east. As we turned into the lower Khumbu Valley, we had really nice views of Everest (8848m/29,032ft), Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft), Nuptse (7861m/25,791ft) straight up the valley ahead of us!

After a nice breakfast in Lukla, we hiked to Phakding (2610m/8,562ft) and arrived in time for a good lunch. Now we’re just relaxing before dinner.

Tomorrow we’re looking forward to our trek to Namche Bazaar (3440m/11,290ft), the famous town in the heart of the Khumbu Valley.

So all is well here in Nepal, and we will be in touch tomorrow!

Approaching Lukla (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our climbers with sirdar and guide Aang Phurba Sherpa. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Getting ready to board the helicopter en route to Lukla (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our climbers Calvin and Rhonda before flying to Lukla (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our climber, Naomi, just before lifting off from Kathmandu. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The team crossing the Dudh Khoshi River in Phakding. (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