At 11:30pm last night our Kilimanjaro team departed for the Roof of Africa and made it to the summit at 6am for a beautiful sunrise. After a safe descent the team is now resting at lower elevation enjoying a well deserved hot-tub at the resort. Way to go team!

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To monitor our climbing team’s summit route you can view our LIVE RainOn mapping platform here.

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Audio dispatch by Dante (climber) after their successful summit!

Today is Wednesday, October 5th and we had a great day today, beautiful weather and sunny skies as we climbed from Karanga Camp up to our high camp at Kosovo on Kilimanjaro. It was wonderful after yesterday’s rain and clouds to have such a beautiful day today. We were able to see the cloud layer well below us and everybody on the team is doing great and feeling strong. We are very lucky to be able to go for the summit tonight when everyone is feeling well and the good weather and route conditions. We have our fingers crossed that the weather holds and we make it to the top tomorrow morning. We will be checking in tomorrow, stay tuned! -Garrett Madison
Start: Karanga Camp, 13,220’
Finish: Kosovo Camp, 15,700’
Distance Traveled: 3.5 miles

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To monitor our climbing team’s route to the summit you can view our LIVE RainOn mapping platform here.

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Audio dispatch by Garrett Madison:

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After breakfast we left Barranco Camp and began our ascent of the Great Barranco wall! This scramble provided us with a great acclimatization workout as we topped out at 14,500’ with spectacular views of the clouds below! Then we descend to the Karanga river and hiked up a short distance to Karanga camp. Team had some rain today but team is dry and excited for the ascent to high camp tomorrow.  – Garrett Madison

Start: Barranco Camp, 12,750’
Finish: Karanga Camp, 13,220’
Distance: 3 miles

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Audio dispatch by Garrett Madison.

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To monitor our climbing team’s route to the summit you can view our LIVE RainOn mapping platform here.

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Today we left Shira Camp and traversed the mountain, working our way up to the base of “Lava Tower” at approximately 14,800 ft. Lava Tower is a fun scramble up with great views from the top! After lunch we then descended down to Barranco Camp. The weather today was mostly cloudy with a few patches of sun. From our camp we have a great view of the Great Barranco wall, our challenge for tomorrow morning!
-Garrett Madison

Start: Shira Camp, 12,450’
Finish: Barranco Camp, 12,750’
Distance Traveled: 6 miles.

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Audio dispatch attached here by Garrett Madison.

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To monitor our climbing team’s exact route to the summit you can view our LIVE RainOn mapping platform here.

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Lava Tower on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

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Today our Kilimanjaro team left Machame Camp and trekked through a hail storm before reaching the warm shelter of their next camp. Garrett and team are now enjoying a beautiful night under the stars where they can see the impressive Milky Way Galaxy. Onward!

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Audio dispatch attached here by Garrett Madison.

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To monitor our climbing team’s exact route to the summit you can view our LIVE RainOn mapping platform here.

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Team photo

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Today is Saturday October 1 and our team is currently preparing to leave Arusha, Tanzania where they will travel by car to the Machame entrance (5,900 feet) and begin the adventure through the lush forests. After a nice trek through the jungle our team will arrive at Machame Camp (9,950′). Our climbers will trek  alongside local Tanzanian guides and explore the rich culture of Tanzania.

Our team plans to summit the peak on October 6th. To the top!

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Garett Madison calling in for the Kilimanjaro team:

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To monitor our climbing team’s exact route to the summit you can view our LIVE RainOn mapping platform here.

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Fred, Dante, Stefano, Ken, Joao, Braulio, Garrett, Jayme and Petr relaxing at their hotel in Arusha before departing toward Mt. Kilimanjaro.

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Climbers from around the world are in route for Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania! Our team’s route up Kilimanjaro, the Machame, will be a non technical adventure through five very distinctive climate zones, allowing ample time for acclimatization. Our team will ascend Kilimanjaro in style, enjoying the incredible views, camaraderie, and sense of accomplishment in climbing one of the famed “7 Summits”  at an elevation of 5,895m / 19,341ft

On this great adventure we will have Fred, Dante, Stefano, Ken, Joao, Braulio, Jayme, Petr and Garrett joining us. To the top team!

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To monitor our climbing team’s exact route to the summit you can view our RainOn mapping platform here!

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Our climbing team had a wonderful ascent of Haba ‘Snow Mountain’ above the village of Haba in the Yunnan province of China. The climb was only 3 days followed by some sight seeing in the historical city of Lijiang. The summit of Haba is 5,396m or nearly 18,000′ so this was not a small climb by any means!

We hiked from the village of Haba on our first day of the trip through the dense forest and along mountain streams then came to grassy meadows as we approached our base camp. By the afternoon we reached our camp and had a glimpse of the peak.

On summit day we awoke at 3 AM and departed camp around 4 AM for the summit. We climbed up the rocky slopes and gained the glacier just as the sun began to rise, where we roped up and donned crampons. We then climbed the snow and ice slopes  and reached the top at 10:30 AM. We saw only a few other climbers on our ascent, even though it was a holiday weekend in China. At the summit we found the peak marker and savored the moment before heading down to our camp. The next day we hiked down through the lush forest back to the village of Haba, then drove along the scenic ‘Tiger leaping gorge’ back to Lijiang, where we visited the beautiful ‘old town’ that dates back to the 1300’s and enjoyed a traditional Chinese dinner typical of the Yunnan province. It’s been a great adventure with climbers Scott, Florian, Lloyd and Rafael!

To higher places!

Garrett Madison

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To view our climbing team’s exact route to the summit you can view our RainOn mapping platform here!

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Yesterday after meeting up in Shanghai, Garrett climbers flew to Lijiang, a beautiful city in the Yunnan province on the way to Haba Xueshan. Today our team is departing Lijiang and driving to Haba, to organize equipment and prepare for the trek to Haba Xueshan base camp! At an elevation of 17,703ft (5,396m), Haba Xueshan is a beautiful glaciated peak in southern China. Go team!
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Throughout this expedition you can view our team’s location and progress by viewing our RainOn mapping platform here!
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Garrett & team of climbers from Shanghai setting off for Haba.
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Yangtze River
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Team passing by the famous Hu  Tiao Cha ‘Tiger Leaping Gorge’ and Yangtze River located between the Haba Snow Mountain and the Yulong Snow Mountain. With a vertical drop of 3,800 meters the view to the bottom of the Tiger Leaping Gorge is nearly twice as high as the Grand Canyon!
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Fried snakes or sea horses anyone?
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Local woman in traditional dress in Haba.
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Irena & Aparna are having a wonderful trip in the French Alps! Pictured below rock climbing and hiking at FluAlp under the shadow of the Matterhorn this weekend. Yesterday guide Jayson-Simons-Jones spent the day climbing on the Rifflehorn above Zermatt and the Monte Rosa Massif  with Irena in preparation for a Matterhorn attempt next time.

Photos taken by Jayson. Enjoy!

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“Beautiful morning with Irena & Aparna on the Entreves Traverse straddling the Italian / French border. A real treat to have this classic alpine ridge climb completely to ourselves!” – Jayson Simons-Jones

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