Tonight we went out to a great restaurant in Islamabad, and had a wonderful Italian dinner. We have enjoyed a few days here in this lovely city and now have to say farewell as we head onward towards our objective. Tomorrow we plan to begin our journey to Skardu.
Today most of our American and European climbers arrived in Islamabad, we enjoyed a nice afternoon hike in the hills around the city, and then a fabulous dinner perched high atop one of the hillsides. The rest of the crew will arrive tomorrow. We are happy to be here and begin our journey to K2 and Broad Peak!
Our Peru climbing team has returned from a wonderful expedition in Peru, having climbed stunning glaciated peaks and then touring to the renowned Incan citadel Machu Picchu to take in the breathtaking views. Congratulations to a safe and successful expedition Anis Stabka and team!
Our Pakistani & Sherpa members are now on the second day of trekking to base camp and our American and European members are about to arrive in Islamabad. A photo of our first objective, K2, looking up from Camp 4, and a photo of our second objective, Broad Peak (taken from Camp 1 on K2)! With a little luck and good weather we hope to climb Broad Peak after K2 this season.
Our team of climbing Sherpas from Nepal have landed in Islamabad! They are now heading to base camp with our local Pakistani guides. Our American and European climbers are finishing last minute preparations at home and excited to depart soon! We will be posting regular updates here on our K2 & Broad Peak dispatch page, beginning soon!
Our “High peaks of Peru” team has assembled in the mountain town of Huaraz, Peru, after flying from Lima. A few days of acclimatization are in order befor the climbing begins! Looks like perfect weather!! Enjoy guys!!
Photo 1: the team
Photo 2: the Huaraz airport
Photo 3: a glimpse of the Cordillera Blanca
Madison Mountaineering Guide Billy Nugent led 2 climbers to the summit of Mt. Baker today, reporting excellent conditions and fantastic views! They have one more day of mountaineering training before heading back to Seattle. Nice work guys!
Last night we had our final team dinner at a nice restaurant in Kathmandu, where we began our expedition just over one month ago. Although this season on Everest was marked by tragedy, it felt good to be together and enjoy a nice meal among friends back from the mountain. Yesterday I went to the Ministry of Tourism to sign off on the expedition paperwork, and received notice that the SPCC had officially cancelled any plans to re fix the route from base camp through the Khumbu Icefall to Camp 1. We understand all teams have abandoned their climbs, both on the North and South sides of Everest, as the mountain is “closed” on both sides, by the Chinese and Nepalese governments respectively.
All of our climbers are now either on their way home or planning to leave Kathmandu in the next day or two. The damage caused to the city of Kathmandu by the earthquake is evident, but things seem very much back to normal, although the city is quiet and many businesses are still closed.
Our expedition had been going perfectly up until the earthquake occurred on April 25th. We had trekked to base camp, reviewed technical climbing skills for a full week in the lower Khumbu glacier, and had almost reached Camp 2 on our first acclimatization ‘rotation’ when the mountain shook. Those of us up high on the mountain were lucky, those in base camp were not. Our hearts go out to the family of our wonderful base camp doctor, Eve Girawong, and the others who perished at Everest Base Camp as a result of the earthquake. The overall loss of life in Nepal is very tragic, and we recommend the below relief fund if you wish to donate. There is much work to be done in helping the people of Nepal and in rebuilding the areas devastated by the earthquake, we will continue to support these efforts.
Although this season on Everest was challenging on many levels, we will continue to climb, and we will return to Everest.
Garrett Madison, Expedition Leader
Madison Mountaineering
The climbers are all back in Kathmandu and preparing to head home soon.
Garrett, Vibeke, Andrea, and Karl arrived in Lukla yesterday and are hoping to be able to fly to Kathmandu today. The rest of team has already made their way to Kathmandu and some on to their home countries.
More details as we get them.