Peak Lenin Base Camp

Alpenglow on Peak Lenin (photo by Terray Sylvester)

We’ve arrived in base camp at the foot of Peak Lenin! The Madison Mountaineering team enjoyed an adventurous drive today, with new views around every corner and several obstacles along the way. As we neared camp, Peak Lenin came in to view, offering the team a good look at the climbing to come! Everyone is doing great and looks forward to a day of active-rest tomorrow. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from base camp:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Peak Lenin (7134m/23,406ft) Expedition. Today is July 2.

Today we drove from Osh (963m/3,159ft) to Peak Lenin Base Camp (3600m/11,800ft) in Onion Valley at the foot of the mountain. The drive took about five hours, and it was very beautiful. From Osh, we drove up through lush, green river valleys, over two high passes, where we had great views of the Pamir, and the Alay Pamir, a subrange of the Pamirs. We passed nomads tents on the way, many horses, and cows, and other livestock grazing on the steppe. Then we descended down into the massive Alay Valley with the Trans-Alay on the far side and Peak Lenin.

It’s beautiful in base camp right now. A warm, sunny evening. We can see Peak Lenin up the valley above us, and we’re just about to head in for dinner. Tomorrow, we’re planning an active rest day here at base camp.

We’ll be in touch tomorrow!

Achyk Tash Base Camp at the foot of Peak Lenin

Achyk Tash Base Camp at the foot of Peak Lenin

Winding roads between Osh and Base Camp

Winding roads between Osh and Base Camp

The team on a 4,000m / 13,000’ pass en route to base camp

The team on a 4,000m / 13,000’ pass en route to 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:

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Mount Elbrus team summits!

Summit photo atop Mount Elbrus!

We are happy to share that the Madison Mountaineering Mount Elbrus expedition team reached the summit of the highest peak in Europe on July 1! The team switched to the south side of the mountain after experiencing high winds while gearing up for their summit push from the north side. It was a beautiful climb with the entire team topping out. Congratulations to everyone on the team and to those who completed their seven summits journey: Robert, Meredith, and Josh. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this celebratory dispatch from Mount Elbrus:

Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Elbrus (5642m/18,510ft) program.

Today we summited Mount Elbrus! 100% of the team made the top; Seven climbers, plus myself, and two Russian guides. We had a great day. We were the first team up there, had the summit all to ourselves, no clouds, so beautiful views all around! Little bit of wind, but not too much. And then we made our way back down and back to Pyatigorsk (500m/1,600ft). A few of us flew out today to Istanbul (537m/1,762ft), and the rest are flying out tomorrow.

So it’s been a great trip! We started off on the north side of Elbrus. And we’re getting ready for our summit attempt, but the winds were very high. So, we came off the mountain and then reverted to the south side of the mountain. We got lucky with the weather, good conditions, and had a great climb!

Three of our climbers finished their seven summits today. That would be Robert Alt, Meredith Mercer, and Josh Gates. Big congratulations to those three climbers on our team for finishing their seven summits!

It was a great trip and we’re looking forward to coming back to Mount Elbrus later this summer.

Sunrise while climbing towards the summit.

Sunrise while climbing towards the summit.

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

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Exploring Osh

Our team high above Osh on Sulaiman Mountain

The Madison Mountaineering Peak Lenin expedition team caught an early flight from Bishkek to Osh today. Tomorrow, they’ll begin the drive to Peak Lenin Base Camp, but spent today touring the city; it was a great way to stretch the legs after several days of flying in the last week! The team enjoyed several different stops around the city, with beautiful blue skies overhead. The journey continues tomorrow with hopefully many more views to take in. Everyone is in good spirits and excited to move into their base camp at the foot of the mountain tomorrow! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Osh:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Peak Lenin (7134m/23,406ft) expedition. Today is July 1st.

This morning we woke up early and flew from Bishkek (800m/2,600ft) south to Osh (963m/3,159ft). We got settled into our hotel here, and then we walked just around the corner and had breakfast in a nice little Italian restaurant. After that, we headed out to explore the city. Osh has a lot of history; it was a major stop on the Silk Road, and just a few minutes walk from our hotel is a UNESCO World Heritage site called Mount Sulaiman. We spent most of the morning there. There are petroglyphs there that date back 3,000 years. There are two mosques on the site that date back to the 16th century. And up on the shoulder of the mountain is a great viewpoint where we had really nice views of the Fergana Valley. That’s where Osh is located.

We’re looking forward to more great views tomorrow. Tomorrow we drive to Peak Lenin Base Camp (3600m/11,811ft). The drive will take most of the day, and we’re looking forward to getting moved into our tents and starting the expedition.

So we’ll be in touch tomorrow!

Relaxing in Osh

Relaxing in Osh

A petroglyph exhibit in Sulaiman Mountain

A petroglyph exhibit in Sulaiman Mountain

Our climber, Mike, visiting a sacred cave on Sulaiman Mountain

Our climber, Mike, visiting a sacred cave on Sulaiman Mountain

Our climber, Chris, visiting a mosque at the foot of Sulaiman Mountain.

Our climber, Chris, visiting a mosque at the foot of Sulaiman Mountain.

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

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Off to Peak Lenin!

Kicking off the Peak Lenin expedition.

Hello, from Kyrgyzstan! The Madison Mountaineering team has arrived, marking the start of their Peak Lenin expedition. Our team has slowly trickled in over the last few days, and came together today for a gear check, orientation, and team dinner to kick things off. It’s been an enjoyable start with tours of the city and some rest after the long days of travel. Tomorrow, we’ll be boarding another flight to continue the journey towards the climb ahead! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this inaugural dispatch to kick off the 2026 Peak Lenin expedition:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Peak Lenin expedition. Today is June 30th and we are in Bishkek (800m/2,600ft), the capital of Kyrgyzstan!

Over the last few days, our climbers have arrived from their home countries. So we spent today doing an orientation and gear checks, and then enjoying Bishkek in the summer. It’s a beautiful city! We were out sightseeing today, and we had some great views of the Tian Shan Mountains, just outside of town. We just wrapped up our team dinner and now we’re heading to bed early.

The plan for tomorrow is to fly south to the city of Osh (963m/3,159ft). We’ll spend one night there and then we’ll start the drive to Peak Lenin Base Camp (3600m/11,811ft).

All is well here in Central Asia, and we’ll be in touch tomorrow.

Downtown Bishkek

Downtown Bishkek

Osh Bazaar in Bishkek

Osh Bazaar in Bishkek

Osh Bazaar in Bishkek

Osh Bazaar in Bishkek

Nomadic history on display at the national history museum

Nomadic history on display at the national history museum

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

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Success on Mont Blanc!

Summit photo on Mont Blanc!

We are excited to report that the Madison Mountaineering Mont Blanc expedition team successfully summited over the weekend! It’s been an unforgettable week in the Alps filled with excellent weather, a rockstar team, smooth climbing and enjoying all that Chamonix has to offer. Climbing in the French Alps is a unique experience offering comfortable accommodations, beautiful climbing, good food, and more! Reach out about 2027 dates to get signed up. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Mont Blanc:

Hey! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Mont Blanc (4808m/15,774ft) expedition.

We had a great climb, reached the summit of Mont Blanc the other day. It was perfect weather, great views all around, no clouds, and safe descent. We had a great week here in Chamonix, France, climbing throughout the French and Swiss Alps. Everyone had a wonderful time. We climbed many different peaks while we were here. And we’re looking forward to more mountain adventures in the future!

Thanks for following along! And off to the next expedition on Mount Elbrus, Russia.

Climbing towards the summit under sunny morning skies.

Climbing towards the summit under sunny morning skies.

Taking in the views!

Taking in the views!

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

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Ready for Mont Blanc

The Madison Mountaineering team topped out on an acclimatization climb in recent days!

The Madison Mountaineering Mont Blanc expedition team has been hard at work over the course of the last few days, training and getting ready for the climb ahead. With a few smaller climbs under their belts, they’re heading back up and onto the Mont Blanc Massif for an attempt in a few days time. Good luck, team! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from the French Alps:

Hey! This is Garrett checking in for the Mont Blanc (4808m/15,774ft) program.

Our private team here has had a few nice days up high in the alpine zone. We hiked up above the village of Le Tour to the Albert Premier Hut, and the following day, climbed Petite Fourche (3512m/11,522ft)! From Petite Fourche, we traversed over into Switzerland and stayed in the Cabane du Trient, the Trient Refuge. (We) dad a nice meal there, and then the following day, yesterday, climbed Aiguille du Tour (3540m/11,614ft) and descended back down to Chamonix (1035m/3,396ft).

We are now heading up Mont Blanc for the next few days. Fingers crossed for good weather, good conditions! We’re excited for some spectacular views, and we’ll be back in Chamonix on Saturday or Sunday.

All is well here! We’ll check in soon.

Early morning sunshine in the French Alps

Early morning sunshine in the French Alps

Perfect climbing conditions

Perfect climbing conditions

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

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100% Summit Success on Carstensz!

Summit photo atop Carstensz Pyramid!

And just like that! We are happy to report the summit success of our entire Carstensz Pyramid team on the morning of June 16. After crawling out of their sleeping bags, gearing up, and leaving their tent walls, clear and starry skies shined overhead. Climbers scarfed down some food and coffee to fuel up for the climb ahead, before shouldering their packs and starting up the route. We enjoyed excellent climbing and conditions through the night and into the morning, making great time while climbing higher up the mountain. There were some of the best views and climbing conditions we’ve ever experienced on Carstensz, with views as far as the eye can see and the mountain entirely to ourselves; not another soul was up there! The team celebrated together on the summit before descending back down to camp, safe and sound. What a day, and what an expedition it’s been so far! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in from the Yellow Valley Base Camp after successfully topping out on Oceania’s highest peak, Carstensz Pyramid:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid (4884m/16,024ft) Expedition. Today’s June 16th.

This morning, we left base camp (4285m/14,050ft) under perfectly clear, starry skies at about 5 a.m. By four hours later, the entire team was standing on the summit of Carstensz Pyramid, the highest point in Oceania, and one of the ‘seven summits!’ We had a really nice climb. The weather was perfect. We had perfectly clear skies as the sun rose over the Sudirman Range, which is just a really beautiful, kind of magnificent range with lots of exposed limestone, craggy peaks. And as we gained the summit ridge, we had clear skies looking down to the south as well, toward the Arafura Sea. I felt like if we’d been able to see just a little bit farther, we would have caught a glimpse of Australia! Really nice weather for Carstensz Pyramid.

Yeah, the clear skies and good weather continued all the way to the summit and back down. We are all back in base camp now and relaxing in t-shirts and shorts in the sunshine, and preparing for our flight back to Timika (31m/103ft).

All in all this expedition has gone really well so far! We arrived in Timika on schedule, flew to the mountain on schedule, summited on the day we planned to, according to our itinerary, the next day, and hopefully we’ll fly out of base camp later today or tomorrow. So, yeah, really special expedition here in the New Guinea Highlands.

This was a custom itinerary. So we are climbing outside of the usual seasons on Carstensz Pyramid, which means that we have the mountain all to ourselves. There’s no one else in base camp, just our little team, and we were the only ones on the mountain. Felt very peaceful, really special.

So yeah, all good here in the tropics in Papua. And we’ll be in touch tomorrow.

Before leaving camp on the summit push.

Before leaving camp on the summit push.

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

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Mont Blanc Expedition Underway!

Technical training as we prepare for Mont Blanc in a few days time!

The Madison Mountaineering team has arrived in the beautiful Chamonix Valley, taken to the hills with eyes set on the legendary peak, Mont Blanc! Chamonix is a magical place with lots of mountaineering history. Treated with excellent weather and views so far, the team is psyched to be underway! They’ll spend the next few days acclimatizing and practicing technical skills before making their attempt on this famed summit. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from the French Alps:

Hey! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Mont Blanc (4809m/15,777ft) program.

Our team is enjoying the Chamonix Valley. We arrived here yesterday. And today, we set out for Le Tour at the end of the valley and hiked up to the Albert Premier refuge. It was a great day, beautiful views of Mont Blanc in the valley. We got up to the refuge in the afternoon, had some cakes and coffee, and then went out and did some technical training on the glacier and on rock. We just had dinner, winding down here.

Great to be up here at the hut! The team’s doing well, weather looks good, spectacular views up here, and we’re looking forward to our climb of the Peak Petite Fourche (3512m/11,522ft) tomorrow.

So all’s well here in France. French Alps are magnificent, “magnifique,” as the French say! And we’re looking forward to more great days ahead. We’ll check in soon!

Excellent views of Mont Blanc!

Excellent views of Mont Blanc!

Beautiful day for climbing in the French Alps.

Beautiful day for climbing in the French Alps.

 

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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Summit attempt coming up!

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archives. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid Expedition team reached their base camp today, tucked into the Yellow Valley at the foot of the peak. The flight into base camp is an exciting one, which we carried throughout the day. After settling into their tents, the team took to the lower section of the route for some technical skills review and acclimatization. Everyone did great! It won’t be long now before we start out on the summit push. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Carstensz Pyramid:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid (4884m/16,024ft) Expedition. Today is June 15.

Today we woke up early, headed over to the airport in Timika (31m/103ft), and the weather cleared! We were able to fly to base camp (4285m/14,050ft). So our entire team is now up at base camp, which is fantastic. It’s common for there to be some delays, because the weather in Papua is so wet and variable. But yeah, we had really good conditions and it’s fantastic to be here!

We spent the morning relaxing, and then this afternoon we headed up to the first, the “first terrace,” as it’s called. The first of three major ledges, on the lower portion of the route, just to get acquainted with the climbing on the lower route before we do it in the dark during our alpine start, and to stretch our legs and get a little bit of an activity to help us acclimatize now that we’re at 14,000 feet.

So, uh, yeah, we had really good foray on the route, rappelled back down to base camp, and now we’re just waiting for dinner. Dinner will be tuna steaks, and chicken wings, salad, french fries. Should be really good!

Yeah, it’s a beautiful evening here; calm with some mist drifting through the Yellow Valley. We’re really looking forward to making our first attempt at the summit tomorrow, if the weather cooperates. So we’ll be in touch tomorrow!

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

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Back to Carstensz Pyramid!

Carstensz Pyramid (photo by Terray Sylvester)

We’re thrilled to be back on Carstensz Pyramid with a strong team of climbers this June! The Madison Mountaineering team arrived in Timika over the weekend and look forward to their move up to the mountain soon. Our staff have been hard at work setting up base camp and are excited to welcome the rest of our guides and climbers tomorrow! With good weather, helicopters will take us over the lush jungle below, to the foot of Carstensz Pyramid, the highest peak in Oceania and one of the famed seven summits. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Timika:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the June Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid  (4884m/16,024ft) Expedition. Today is June 14th.

Our guests all arrived in Timika (31m/103ft) today and we just wrapped up dinner at our hotel. We’re looking forward to flying to the mountain tomorrow morning, weather permitting.

Our staff all flew up there today. They’ve got base camp (4285m/14,050ft) all set up in the Yellow Valley at the base of the highest peak in Oceania, at about 14,000 feet. And the forecast is looking promising for tomorrow, so we’re hoping that we’ll head up to the mountain and be able to get started with the climbing portion of the expedition.

It’s a relatively beautiful day here in Papua. Had a little bit of rain in the morning. But otherwise, it was sunny, wonderful day here in one of the lushest rainforests on the planet. We’ll be in touch tomorrow.

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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