Burke Khang team assembles in Kathmandu

Guides Garrett Madison & Sid Pattison are in Kathmandu, preparing for the expedition as the climbing team members trickle in from the USA. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has a population level of over three million people and is Nepal’s largest city. We spent most of today organizing gear and food for our expedition. We received awesome gear from our good Seattle friends at Filson. We also received Truth Bars made by our friends at Forte. Thank you for your support!! The streets of Kathmandu feel very empty, compared to what is normal. The fuel shortage in Nepal has resulted in not many vehicles on the roads, however the Nepalese people are out and going about life as normal. International airlines have cancelled many of  their flights into the country. Thousands of locals have formed mile-long lines with the hope of receiving fuel in the coming days. The country’s unrest increased nearly two weeks ago, when India’s authorities refused to refuel Nepalese oil tankers. This comes at a hard time as the country is still recovering from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck April 25th, 2015. This nation will continue to come together as a resilient people and overcome these obstacles.

Today we received our expedition permit, as tomorrow the Nepalese holiday of Dashein begins and the ministry of tourism office will be closed for a week. The temperature is in the 60’s and is very pleasant. We are quickly adjusting to the nearly 13 hour time difference between Seattle and Nepal. Team picture and pre-expedition announcement will be shared soon!

BurkeKhang1 BurkeKhang2

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Team prepares for Carstensz Pyramid expedition!!

The Madison Mountaineering team is preparing for a expedition to the highest island peak in the world! This massive rock formation is the largest mountain in Indonesia as well as the Australian continent. Carstensz Pyramid, or Puncak Jaya, is one of the least climbed peaks in the “7 Summits” and a formidable objective located in Papua, Indonesia. Our expedition will begin in the beautiful island of Bali, where the team will then fly to Timika then Sugapa to begin the trek to base camp. Madison Mountaineering’s high end logistics, local staff relationships, and mountain guide experience ensure the group will be well taken care of throughout this expedition.

 

Carstensz Pyramid was developed by the collision between the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates. The rock formation that exists today is composed of limestone that rises from the thick forest below to just over 16,000′. This mountain ascent will be a exciting adventure filled with many challenging rock formations. Along the ascent the team will push through multiple glacier fields across the mountain such as Carstensz Glacier. Upon reaching the peak the summit will typically be free of ice. The team’s rock climbing ability to ascents includes mostly 5th class terrain on fixed ropes. Stay tuned as this expedition prepares to launch!!

Carstensz Pyramid

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Team prepares for Carstensz Pyramid expedition!

The Madison Mountaineering team is preparing for a expedition to the highest island peak in the world! This massive rock formation is the largest mountain in Indonesia as well as the Australian continent. Carstensz Pyramid, or Puncak Jaya, is one of the least climbed peaks in the “7 Summits” and a formidable objective located in Papua, Indonesia. Our expedition will begin in the beautiful island of Bali, where the team will then fly to Timika then Sugapa to begin the trek to base camp. Madison Mountaineering’s high end logistics, local staff relationships, and mountain guide experience ensure the group will be well taken care of throughout this expedition.

 

Carstensz Pyramid was developed by the collision between the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates. The rock formation that exists today is composed of limestone that rises from the thick forest below to just over 16,000′. This mountain ascent will be a exciting adventure filled with many challenging rock formations. Along the ascent the team will push through multiple glacier fields across the mountain such as Carstensz Glacier. Upon reaching the peak the summit will typically be free of ice. The team’s rock climbing ability to ascents includes mostly 5th class terrain on fixed ropes. Stay tuned as this expedition prepares to launch!!

Carstensz Pyramid

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Chimborazo summit ascent!

The Madison Mountaineering team is preparing to depart for the highest peaks in Ecuador. At the summit of Chimborazo, we will be at the farthest point from the Earth’s surface! Located in the Andes mountain range this inactive volcano is believed to have erupted around 550AD. The Ecuador volcanoes offer a magnificent climbing on high altitude glaciated peaks. During this expedition we have ample time for technical skills review with the team. During this process our knowledgable guides will be able to share tips and mountain wisdom with the group. The volcanoes the team will be traveling to are located just outside the capital city of Quito. With Quito as our base, we ascend these Ecuadorian giants, and rest between climbs in Hacienda style lodges that provide an outstanding relaxation and dining experience. Our camps on these volcanoes are either European style mountain huts or tent camps. Reaching a altitude of over 20,000ft on Chimborazo, the views from the summit will be nothing short of spectacular! Past trips have explored to nearby Cotopaxi, yet in recent events mother nature has called and this volcano is now active. Needless to say we will be keeping our distance and monitoring the volcanoes activity.

Ecuador Volcanoes

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Antarctica expedition is gearing up for departure!

In just over a month the Madison Mountaineering team will depart for Antarctica! This expedition will bring climbers to Vinson Massif, standing at 16,050ft. Part of the Ellsworth mountain range, Mt. Vinson is the highest peak in Antarctica, approx. 600 miles from the South Pole and over 1,200 miles from the beginning of the Antarctic Peninsula. A pristine land of ice, snow, and rock, Antarctica is actually a desert, with the least precipitation of any continent on Earth. Leading this expedition will be Garrett Madison, who is perhaps one of the best ‘expedition leaders’ in regards to balancing climber safety, reaching the summit, and having a great time throughout the program. The ascent of Mt. Vincent will be broken up into multiple stages, with two higher camps above our base camp. The average temperature is well below 0°F and occasionally the winds can reach up to 40 mph. Luckily this ascent will be in the summer season in the southern hemisphere with 24 hours of daylight in Antarctica. This epic adventure will begin in the Tierra del Fuego or ‘Land of Fire’ in Chile’s southernmost city of Punta Arenas, located on the straight of Magellan. Stay tuned as the Madison Mountaineering team prepares to launch this fall expedition.

Igloo Camping

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Burke Khang about to launch!

The Madison Mountaineering team is excited to be leaving for Nepal on October 16th to begin our expedition to Burke Khang, an unclimbed peak in Nepal! In May of 2014, the government of Nepal officially opened up for exploration 104 new peaks in the Himalayan mountain range. Burke Khang is 22,775 feet high and is geographically situated between Mt. Everest and Cho-Oyu. It is unclimbed and, like Everest and Cho Oyu, is a border peak, since it sits on the border of Nepal and Tibet. In April 2015, Garrett and Bill Burke completed a helicopter reconnaissance of Burke Khang. After assessing the mountain terrain the team successfully outlined a route to the summit. Here is a photograph showing the upper section of the mountain with our proposed route to the summit. Stay tuned everyone this is going to be an epic adventure!!Burke Khang

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Safari Day 4: Ngorongoro and farewell Africa!!

For our final day of Safari we woke in the fog and mist all along the Ngorongoro crater rim.  The Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge served up one it’s famous breakfast buffets to completely fuel us up for the day in the world’s largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera: the Ngorongoro.

Via our trusty LandCrusiers, we descended the 2,000 feet to the crater floor on the switch-backed road taking us well below the clouds.  In the cool overcast morning, some of the animals took novel approaches to finding a warm place to rest, including a pair of lioness laying right in the middle of the road.  Our photographs were from not more than six feet away – I wisely kept my window rolled up!

Just after this we were delighted to spot the extremely rare Black Rhino at some distance, thereby completing our capture (photographically, of course) of Africa’s Big Five.  What a thrill!!

We once again found our lunch spot occupied by some locals.  In this case, some very active big hippopotamus! No reason to argue with the most dangerous mammal in Africa over location, we found an alternative place to eat.

After lunch we headed up out of the crater and on to the Mount Meru Hotel in Arusha where our group formally concluded the Madison Mountaineering 2015 Kilimanjaro climb and African Safari.

Half the team headed to the airport for flights home while the other half are continuing their vacations with  some time on the beaches of Zanzibar!

Thanks for following our adventure.  This concludes our Kilimanjaro 2015 dispatches.

Why don’t you make plans to join us next year?
   
    

A long view of the rare Black Rhino

    
    
 

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Safari Day 4: Ngorongoro and farewell Africa!

For our final day of Safari we woke in the fog and mist all along the Ngorongoro crater rim.  The Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge served up one it’s famous breakfast buffets to completely fuel us up for the day in the world’s largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera: the Ngorongoro.

Via our trusty LandCrusiers, we descended the 2,000 feet to the crater floor on the switch-backed road taking us well below the clouds.  In the cool overcast morning, some of the animals took novel approaches to finding a warm place to rest, including a pair of lioness laying right in the middle of the road.  Our photographs were from not more than six feet away – I wisely kept my window rolled up!

Just after this we were delighted to spot the extremely rare Black Rhino at some distance, thereby completing our capture (photographically, of course) of Africa’s Big Five.  What a thrill!!

We once again found our lunch spot occupied by some locals.  In this case, some very active big hippopotamus! No reason to argue with the most dangerous mammal in Africa over location, we found an alternative place to eat.

After lunch we headed up out of the crater and on to the Mount Meru Hotel in Arusha where our group formally concluded the Madison Mountaineering 2015 Kilimanjaro climb and African Safari.

Half the team headed to the airport for flights home while the other half are continuing their vacations with  some time on the beaches of Zanzibar!

Thanks for following our adventure.  This concludes our Kilimanjaro 2015 dispatches.

Why don’t you make plans to join us next year?
   
    

A long view of the rare Black Rhino

    
    
 

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Safari Day 3: Serengeti pt. 2

There is something quite magical about waking up in a tent on Africa’s Serengeti!  After watching the sun rise with a hot cup of coffee in hand, we enjoyed a full breakfast before loading once again into our LandCruisers to continue our exploration of the Serengeti.

Our animal checklist checklist grew with Crocodile and Hippopotamus sightings.  But the animal of the day was the Lion.  So many Lions!  Most were found resting in the late morning heat under shade of the acacia trees while  very actively keeping an eye on the nearby Zebra.

We did have a chance to see the pre-Lion and post-Lion states of the Cape Buffalo:  alive and dead.  We came across a group of Lion guarding their fresh Buffalo kill.  This caused a minor skirmish between the Lions and a group of Elephants who came to use the watering hole.  Real life Wild Kingdom stuff!

Out of necessity, we had our lunches in the vehicles.  Reason being that our biggest surprise of the day was waiting for us at our picnic site.  Once again located on a bluff overlooking the plain, our picnic area had stone tables and benches shaded by trees.  But hidden within tree branches was our rarest sighting of all:  Leopards!  Three Leopards had taken to the trees for rest and tourist watching.  We were quite lucky to see these amazing cats so up close as they are, by nature, nocturnal and wary of humans.  Best to stay in the car and eat rather than get out of the car and be…

After lunch, we said goodbye to the Serengeti and headed back to the Ngorongoro crater rim for an evening at the spectacular (and I mean it) Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge.  Each of our rooms have a terrace that overlook the amazing crater.  Tomorrow we will venture down into the crater for our final day of safari.  Everyone is hopeful to spot a rare Black Rhino to complete our African Big Five bingo card.

   
    
    
   

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Safari Day 2: Serengeti pt. 1

Today we travelled in our LandCruisers through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area along the Ngorongoro crater rim to reach the adjacent, legendary Serengeti National Park for another day of game and bird watching.

Highlights of the day included amazing numbers of Thomson’s Gazelle and Zebra, close encounters with Giraffe, and a knock-your-socks-off African sunset over the Serengeti plain.  Sunning!

After dusk we arrived at the Kisura Camp for our overnight on the Serengeti.  Each of our huge, multi room tents included a full bathroom and shower to allow us to freshen up for the outstanding supper in the mess tent.

After our meal, it was wonderful to end the day drifting off to sleep to the distant sounds of Hyaena and perhaps a Lion or two.

   

 

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