Madison Mountaineering teams on K2 and the Unclimbed Peak are making great progress so far! Our K2 expedition team climbed from Advanced Base Camp today up to Camp 1 where they are settled into their tents for the night. Meanwhile, our Unclimbed Peak team is moving up the route with our Sherpa team hard at work fixing lines towards the summit. The team plans to take a rest day tomorrow and is aiming to make their summit push the following day! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from camp on the Unclimbed Peak:
Cacho, Benny, and 4 climbers are in Camp 1 (6065m/19,900ft) on the Abruzzi route. We had a short climb today, resting tomorrow in prep for our summit attempt!
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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/20220702_K2_AIR2S_TerraySylvester_0022.jpg7981200Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2024-07-10 15:19:082024-07-10 16:28:51Progress on K2 and the Unclimbed Peak
Climbing for the Madison MountaineeringKarakoram expedition teams has begun! Our K2 expedition team has started their first rotation on the Abruzzi route where they’ll acclimate at higher altitudes and familiarize themselves with the route along the way. Meanwhile, the Unclimbed Peak expedition team has moved to their advanced base camp and is getting ready to make their ascent later this week. It’s an exciting time with lots of climbing action going on in the Karakoram! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from advanced base camp on the Unclimbed Peak:
Greetings from the Unclimbed Peak Advanced Base Camp (ABC)! We’ve moved up here for a few days, hoping to climb it on July 11-13. All is well here!
Cacho and Benny are heading up today with our K2 (8611m/28,251ft) team on a rotation to spend five nights total on the Abruzzi route. (ABC, C1, C2)
Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive. (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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/20220701_K2_R5_TerraySylvester_0070.jpg8381200Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2024-07-09 15:39:522024-07-09 15:39:52Unclimbed Peak and K2 climbs have commenced!
The Madison MountaineeringKarakoram expedition teams have settled into their base camp at the foot of K2! The team enjoyed excellent views of some of the world’s great peaks like the Trango Towers, Masherbrum, and Gasherbrums throughout the five-day trek from Askole. Now in base camp, the team has begun technical skills review and organizing for the climbing ahead. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from base camp:
The team is doing well! We did training today. Tomorrow we’re going for an acclimatization hike up to advanced base camp (5303m/17,400ft). The weather has been great and we’ve been enjoying our time here settling into base camp, taking showers, having great meals, watching movies, and getting organized and ready for the climbing ahead!
We’re happy to celebrate the American Independence Day here! Great evening here with the team and we’re looking forward to some good days ahead. We’ll check in soon! All is well here at K2 base camp.
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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/20220628_K2_R5_TerraySylvester_0037.jpg8001200Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2024-07-04 14:51:252024-07-04 15:27:55Settled into K2 Base Camp
The Madison MountaineeringKarakoram expedition teams are nearing their base camp at the foot of K2! The trek has been excellent so far with great views of awe-inspiring peaks and time well spent together as a team. It won’t be long until we’re settling into our base camp tents, beginning skills review, and organizing equipment for the climbing to come! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from the Karakoram:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the K2 (8611m/28,251ft) expedition team along with our Unclimbed Peak team and Broad Peak (8051m/26,414ft) climber. We are trekking to base camp (4968m/16,300ft)!
We’ve had a great trek so far. We’re at Goro 2 Camp (4285m/14,058ft), just before Concordia (4570m/14,993ft). We’ve had great weather, amazing views of all the surrounding peaks, and looking forward to arriving in K2 Base Camp in a day or two.
All is well here! We’re having a great time and will check in soon.
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:
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.“
After an adventurous Jeep ride from Skardu to Askole, the team is excited to hit the trail and begin the trek through the Karakoram on the way toward base camp. Clear skies will make for excellent views as they trek up the valley with peaks in every direction. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Askole:
We made it to Askole (3040m/9,974ft) yesterday from Skardu (2220m/7283ft). We had an adventurous Jeep ride and a restful night in Askole – nice and cool up here in the high country! Today we are starting the trek to base camp. It’s beautiful weather here, the group’s doing well, and we’re excited to get underway! First day heading up the trail and looking forward to reaching Jhola camp (3151m/10,338ft) this afternoon.
All is well and we’ll check in soon!
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:
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.“
Here we go! The 2024 Karakoram season is underway in Pakistan. Our K2, Unclimbed Peak, and Broad Peak teams have since arrived in Islamabad where they kicked off their expeditions, and shortly after continued their journey to Skardu. The team did some sightseeing today and made final preparations before they start the trek through the Karakoram to K2 Base Camp. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Skardu:
We made it to Skardu (2220m/7283ft) yesterday! We had a flight from Islamabad (540m/1,770ft) and got to Skardu yesterday morning, spent the day organizing our equipment, and had a nice team dinner here in Skardu. Today we’re doing some sightseeing, checking out the local market, picking up a few last-minute items, and finishing up sorting our equipment before we head out tomorrow by Jeep to Askole (3040m/9,974ft).
Everyone’s doing well here! It’s hot, the weather is good, we’re excited, happy to be here, and looking forward to the journey ahead!
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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/PHOTO-2024-06-25-21-50-39.jpg11551600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2024-06-26 04:51:322024-06-26 15:13:22Expeditions in Pakistan are off!
The Madison MountaineeringMount Everest expedition team descended from Camp 4 today on Mount Everest, down the Lhotse Face and over 4,000 vertical feet back to Camp 2. Now back in the Western Cwm and the comforts of a heated dining tent, the team recounts the memories from yesterday’s summit day. Again, we are so proud of the entire team and their accomplishments this season! Climber, Courtenay Roche checks in with this celebratory dispatch from Camp 2:
Hello, friends of Madison Mountaineering! Courtenay here with a very exciting post-summit dispatch. As you probably heard from Garrett yesterday, all of our climbers and our amazing Sherpa team summited Everest (8848m/29,032ft) at 8:00 AM on Thursday, May 23rd – a day none of us will soon forget!
After basking in the warmth of our accomplishments and our -40 degree sleeping bags in Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft) on Thursday night, it was time to head down the mountain. As my childhood idol and friend of Madison MountaineeringEd Viesturs famously says, “Getting to the top is optional, getting down is mandatory.” Well, we have used his directive and have made it safely down to Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) losing over 4,000 feet of elevation in just a few hours.
I’m currently dispatching from the comfort of our heated Camp 2 dining tent – a luxury after four days of freeze-dried meals up high on the mountain! We are all certainly eager to be reunited with our base camp (5364m/17,598ft) friends and the amenities tomorrow. Thank you for following along with our many expeditions this season. We’ve got just one more dispatch to go!
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:
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.“
It comes with great pleasure to share that 100% of the Madison MountaineeringMount Everest expedition team has successfully reached the highest point on Earth at 8,848 meters/29,032 feet – the summit of Mount Everest! The team all gathered on the top to share photos, hugs, and high-fives before safely making the descent back to Camp 4. After some well-deserved rest tonight, they’ll continue their descent tomorrow down to Camp 2. Congratulations to the entire team on this incredible achievement! We are so proud and look forward to welcoming everyone back into base camp soon. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Camp 4:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison MountaineeringMount Everest (8848m/29,032ft) expedition climb. Today is May 23rd and I’m happy to report that we all summited Mount Everest, 100 percent success and all safely back in Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft)! That’s four climber/clients, myself as the guide/expedition leader, plus our stellar Sherpa team! We’ll put out that name list shortly, but all in all there was about 15 of us on the summit of Everest this morning.
We had a great day, a beautiful sunrise up on the Southeast Ridge! Not too many climbers on the route. It was very uncrowded, so we enjoyed the climb and the summit! We were all up there together to celebrate and savor the moment on top, and then of course made our way safely back down to Camp 4 by about midday here on May 23rd. Everyone’s just resting, rehydrating, eating some noodles and other food, and looking forward to a good night’s rest here on oxygen, then we’ll head down to Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) tomorrow!
All is well here! (I’m) really proud of our team. Great job to everyone! (We’re) looking forward to getting down to Camp 2 tomorrow and we’ll check in then. Thank you!
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:
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.“
The Madison MountaineeringMount Everest expedition team is primed and ready to make their summit push! In just a few short hours, with packs shouldered, crampons on, and after some food and liquids, they’ll be headed out their tent doors and on their way to the world’s highest point. Their training and acclimatization is done – so much hard work and dreaming of this day and it is finally here! Best of luck to the team as they set off on their summit push. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from the South Col:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison MountaineeringEverest (8848m/29,032ft) climb – today is May 22nd. (It is) 6:40 PM and we are about to go to sleep up here at the South Col (7900m/25,919ft) on Mount Everest, Camp 4 at nearly 8,000 meters, 26,000 feet.
We had a great rest day up here after pulling in about 24 hours ago. The team is doing excellent! Everyone has been very productive on their rest, eating, drinking, and getting their gear organized and ready for the big climb tonight! The weather forecast looks amazing. It looks like we’re going to have awesome weather tomorrow on the 23rd, so fingers crossed that the forecast holds true.
We’re just feeling very lucky, very fortunate, and grateful to be up here in position at Camp 4 on Mount Everest, ready to go for the summit tonight! The team has worked really hard for this night, months if not years of sacrifice! We’re here in position. We’re feeling strong and healthy! Our team is excited to go for the big climb tonight! So, wish us luck.
We’re going to start out around midnight, hopefully get to the top around 7:00 or 8:00 AM, and be back midday in high camp here, Camp 4. We’re going to bed with anticipation for a beautiful summit day ahead and returning back safely here to Camp 4!
All is well. Check in soon!
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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PHOTO-2024-04-29-06-19-24.jpg10001500Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2024-05-22 12:55:222024-05-22 15:23:50Primed and ready for the summit push!
The Madison MountaineeringMount Everest expedition team has settled into Camp 4 after ascending the final section of the Lhotse Face and is in position to make their summit push! Over the Yellow Band and past the Geneva Spur the team went, making good time as they had the route mostly to themselves. It won’t be long before we set out for the summit! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Camp 4:
We are in Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft) at the South Col on Mount Everest! We had a great day. We started out from Camp 3 (7230m/23,720ft) and climbed from about 6:30 AM all the way up the Lhotse Face. The team did an amazing job! We had incredible views all throughout the Western Cwm of Nuptse (7861m/25,791ft), Cho Oyu (8188m/26,864ft), and of course Everest. We got up here to Camp 4 in great time – we got in a little after noon and set up our camp a little ways away from the main group of tents to have some privacy. We had a late lunch with some [garbled], relaxed, everyone had dinner, and now we’re just going to bed.
Our plan is to rest tonight and tomorrow, then leave the following night and summit on the morning of the 23rd. It looks like great weather, shouldn’t be too crowded, and we’re looking forward to a glorious day on the mountain!
Everyone’s doing great. (I’m) really proud of the team. Everyone did awesome today and we’re enjoying our night up here at Camp 4! We’ll check in soon.
Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive. (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:
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.“
