On the Mountain and Getting Ready!

LEAPrus huts

Life is good here at 3,900 m / 12,800 ft! We made an easy departure from our hotel with a great breakfast filling our stomachs! After the short transfer to the lift system and following the same drill as yesterday, but this time loaded with lots more gear for our stay at the luxurious LEAPrus huts. At the top of the lifts, a snow-cat was waiting to take us up several more meters to the wonderful accommodations that are shaped like a giant barrel on it’s side.

After a nice lunch, we were off for another training hike. Just a little over 4,267 m / 14,000 ft. we turned back towards the huts while continuing our training and briefings to prepare for the summit day ahead.

Weather was perfect and the team is in top shape!!

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Acclimatizing and training on Elbrus

It was a nice day in the mountains! After breakfast, the few missing pieces needed to form complete climbing kits for some of our team members were tracked down. In Terskol, nice equipment is available for hire and the next thing you know it is getting put to use!

We took the day to make a dry run for tomorrow’s training program. Three ski lifts up and you are at 3,658 m / 12,000 ft. and it’s acclimatize on! Hey, never walk when you can ride! Top of this chain of lifts puts you right on the lower flank of the upper mountain, a perfect place for a few hours of snow school. The team is in fine shape with a nice introduction to snow travel and well trained for tomorrow’s move up. It’s really nice to run through the drill and tighten up the process and techniques to make for an easier day going up – knowledge is power!

The old adage of climb high, sleep low could not have been done better. The team is in good shape and spirits are high!!

[ small sized pictures of big sized adventure! ]

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Team prepares to depart K2 Base Camp

Approaching the summit of K2

All of our climbers and equipment are off the mountain and we are preparing to begin the 100 kilometer trek from K2 Base Camp to Askole, down the Baltoro Glacier past the Great Trango Tower and back to where we began our journey nearly 6 weeks ago.

On July 22nd, we had an incredible, and very rare, summit day on K2. All 8 of our clients who began the summit rotation made it to the top along with 3 guides, 9 Nepali Sherpas and 4 Pakistani HAP (high altitude porters). In terms of total team size reaching the summit, I have been told by our liaison officer here with us that we have set a record! We were very fortunate to have had perfect conditions as we climbed to the top of K2 and then back down to our Camp 2. The last couple of days here in Base Camp we have been breaking down camp and packing up for the long trek out.

It’s been an incredible experience here in the Karakorum, and we are all thankful that we finished the climb without any accidents or injuries / fatalities as some other teams sadly experienced this season on K2.

K2 summit

K2 summit

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Terskol!

The 2018.07 Elbrus expedition team today had a timely and smooth flight from Moscow to Mineralnye Vody, grabbed some supplies at a local grocery, and hit the road via bus for Terskol – at the base of Mt. Elbrus.

Along the way they enjoyed fresh made chicken sandwiches (Wolfgang Tuck style!) while avoiding herds of milk cows roaming down the middle of highway!

Cleaning up before dinner was quite the experience! There was no hot water!! Flooding in the valley knocked out the natural gas supply. All was forgotten as the team shared a wonderful farm to table dinner. The stunning alpine glow at sunset highlighted the amazing view of the Caucasus mountain range.

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Elbrus team arrives and tours Moscow

The Kremlin

Head guide Mark Tucker reports:

The Elbrus 2018 team arrived in Moscow yesterday after a tiring day of travel. As most of the team is still adjusting to the nearly 12 hour (!) time change, we kept things simple with a little round of introductions and a brief discussion of the days ahead.

After a very nice breakfast buffet, we meet with our local tour guide and started our Moscow tour by bus. Then onto Red Square, catching as many sites as we could squeeze in — of course St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin. Last stop the famous Kremlin Armoury, a must if you can. The amount of wealth and history displayed under one roof is mind boggling!

A nice celebration dinner in honor of Madison Mountaineering’s K2 team summit of the second tallest mountain on earth. Top it off with some Borsch and Beef Stroganoff and you are feeling pretty good.

Packing up for the early flight to the south which will get us closer to Mt Elbrus. Everyone is doing great and looking forward to heading to the mountains tomorrow!

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K2 team all safely back at Base Camp

All of our K2 team members are safely down from the mountain and at Base Camp (4995 m/16,388 ft)! Fantastic effort by all. We will have a full recap after a well deserved rest!

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Madison Mountaineering 2018 K2 Summiteers List

We are pleased to announce the following team members successfully obtained the summit of K2 (8,611 m / 28,251 ft) on July 22, 2018 at approximately 7:00 AM PKT (local time):

# Name Country
1 Mr. Garrett Madison USA
2 Mr. Geoffrey Schellens USA
3 Mr. Robert Smith Ireland
4 Mr. Jason Black Ireland
5 Mr. James Clarke USA
6 Mr. David Liaño Gonzalez Mexico
7 Mr. Andras Kaasik Estonia
8 Mr. Jesus Rosales USA
9 Mr. John Stenderup USA
10 Mr. Semba Takayasu Japan
11 Ms. Lisa Thompson USA
12 Mr. Aang Phurba Sherpa Nepal
13 Mr. Siddhi Bahadur Tamang Nepal
14 Mr. Tashi Sherpa Nepal
15 Mr. Pasdawa Sherpa Nepal
16 Mr. Lakpa Dendi Sherpa Nepal
17 Mr. Mingma Tenzi Sherpa Nepal
18 Mr. Mingdorchi Sherpa Nepal
19 Mr. Kamdorji Sherpa Nepal
20 Mr. Lakpa Bhote Nepal
21 Mr. Fida Ali Pakistan
22 Mr. Musa Ali Pakistan
23 Mr. Muhammad Ali Pakistan
24 Mr. Muhammad Bashir Pakistan
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K2 Summit on a beautiful day!!

K2 Summit!! Garrett just called in this report from K2 Camp 4 on their way down:

Hey this is Garrett calling in for the K2 expedition team. We reached the summit of K2 today!! Second highest mountain in the world! We had a beautiful day. We left high camp about 9:00 PM and got to the summit about 6:30-7:00 AM – all members were on top. We had it all to ourselves, no other crews were up there. Beautiful day! We saw many other great peaks in the Karakoram. Wonderful views as far as the eye can see. Really a magnificent climb!

Right now we are all back at Camp 4. The last climbers are trickling back to Camp 4. Our plan is to rest up, have some soup, and then head on down to Camp 2 for the night. It’s a big push, another 4 or 5 hours from here but we’d really like to get down to Camp 2.

We had a great day, just wonderful weather up high, no wind, great team of climbers, Sherpa, and guides. We had a total of 8 clients on top, 3 guides, 9 Nepali Sherpas, and 4 Pakistani high altitude porters. Great day!

We are looking forward to a safe descent and being in Base Camp tomorrow. We will check soon.

Team on K2 Summit


Garrett Madison on the summit of K2


On the way to the summit of K2


On the way to the summit of K2


Heading up from K2 Camp 4


K2 Camp 4

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K2 Summit on a beautiful day!

K2 Summit!! Garrett just called in this report from K2 Camp 4 on their way down:

Hey this is Garrett calling in for the K2 expedition team. We reached the summit of K2 today!! Second highest mountain in the world! We had a beautiful day. We left high camp about 9:00 PM and got to the summit about 6:30-7:00 AM – all members were on top. We had it all to ourselves, no other crews were up there. Beautiful day! We saw many other great peaks in the Karakoram. Wonderful views as far as the eye can see. Really a magnificent climb!

Right now we are all back at Camp 4. The last climbers are trickling back to Camp 4. Our plan is to rest up, have some soup, and then head on down to Camp 2 for the night. It’s a big push, another 4 or 5 hours from here but we’d really like to get down to Camp 2.

We had a great day, just wonderful weather up high, no wind, great team of climbers, Sherpa, and guides. We had a total of 8 clients on top, 3 guides, 9 Nepali Sherpas, and 4 Pakistani high altitude porters. Great day!

We are looking forward to a safe descent and being in Base Camp tomorrow. We will check soon.

Team on K2 Summit


Garrett Madison on the summit of K2


On the way to the summit of K2


On the way to the summit of K2


Heading up from K2 Camp 4


K2 Camp 4

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(unconfirmed) K2 Summit

We are waiting for official confirmation from Garrett and the team, but based on one team member’s GPS tracking device, it appears they reached the summit (approximately 06:30 AM local time) and are currently on their way down!

More details when we get them…

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