Dispatches

Vinson 2021/2022

Third Vinson team arrives Union Glacier

Boarding the Boeing 757 to Union Glacier, Antarctica (2022.01.05 Vinson)

Moving day! At long last our triumphant Mount Vinson climbers have returned to Punta Arenas, Chile and our third and final team of the season with guest guide Ed Viesturs have arrived in Union Glacier Camp. Terray Sylvester has today’s expedition dispatch via sat phone from Antarctica:

Hello, this is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition. It’s Monday, January 10th.

Our second Mount Vinson summit team flew back to Punta Arenas today and our third team of the season arrived here at Union Glacier. We had a nice dinner and settled into camp. Now it’s a beautiful sunny evening and we are just going to bed. We are looking for continuing on to Vinson Base Camp as soon as possible.

So, we’ll be in touch!

2022.01.05 Vinson team dinner in Punta Arenas

2022.01.05 Vinson team obligatory Punta Arenas photo

Ed Viesturs and climber Steve M. studying the Mount Vinson map

Ed Viesturs and climber Steve M. studying the Mount Vinson route

Climber Kristin B. checking for the flight to Union Glacier, Antarctica (2022.01.05 Vinson)

Climber Kristin B. doing the required daily COVID-19 testing in Punta Arenas (2022.01.05 Vinson)

Ed Viesturs and Quazi R. on the bus to the Punta Arenas airport (2022.01.05 Vinson)

Climber Eva Z. has her boarding pass and is ready to finally get to Antarctica! (2022.01.05 Vinson)

Climber Quazi R. boarding the Boeing 757 to Union Glacier, Antarctica (2022.01.05 Vinson)

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 guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 11, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Vinson 2021/2022

Punta Arenas – Union Glacier flight delayed

Union Glacier Camp (📷: Jeffrey Doerschler)

An extra day at Union Glacier Camp for our Mount Vinson Team Two. Inadequate landing weather at Union Glacier forced the delay of the flight between Punta Arenas and Union Glacier until at least tomorrow. Guide Terray Sylvester lets us know how they have been staying busy:

Hello, this is Terray calling in the second Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition of the season. It’s January 9th.

Today we woke up to light snowfall and low lying clouds, so the flight from Punta Arenas was unable to make into the ice, but tomorrow’s weather look better, so our fingers are crossed that our next team of climbers will be able to arrive and this team of climbers will be able to fly back North.

To keep ourselves busy today there were two talks: one on penguins in Antarctica and another on Roald Amundsen’s historic trip to the South Pole. We also got some exercise in on the 10k walking, biking, running loop here at camp.

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 guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 9, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Ecuador 2022.01.02

Chimborazo High Camp

Our Ecuador Volcanoes team is in a position for their attempt at the summit of Ecuador’s highest mountain, Chimborazo! Lead guide, Estalin Suárez has the day’s audio expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition.

Yesterday we went up to the high camp, which is at 17,400 ft., more or less. We did this hike just to acclimitize and also to load some gear to the high camp. We had a really great day and then after we went to our lodge at the bottom of Chimborazo.

Today is January 8th. We are again at the high camp on Chimborazo. Our plan is to get up at 11:00 PM and to start the summit push at midnight. Dan and Jason are feeling pretty well and now they are resting after dinner for a couple of hours.

We are going to give a try for the summit of Chimborazo, the highest mountain in Ecuador. That’s all for now. The weather looks pretty good at the moment. So, yeah!

I’ll keep in touch. Bye!

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 guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 9, 2022/0 Comments/by Kurt

Vinson 2021/2022

In Between Days

Our adventures in Antarctica continue! We are in the in-between days separating the second Mount Vinson expedition and the long-awaited third Mount Vinson expedition with special guest guide Ed Viesturs. Guide Terray Sylvester checks in with the description of some of the fun things the team has been doing in and around Union Glacier Camp while they await their return flight to Chile and the guides Terray and Madison await the arrival of Ed and the third team of climbers:

Hello, this is Terray calling in the second Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition of the season. It’s January 8th.

For the last few days we’ve been here at Union Glacier Camp waiting for this team to fly back to Chile and our next team to arrive here on the ice from Punta Arenas.

So we’ve been seeing some of the sites here around Union Glacier. A couple of days ago we went to a marble buttress known as The Elephant’s Head. It’s an interesting location. It’s at the head of a valley that’s scowered free of snow, one of the few snow-free landscapes here in Antarctica.

We were also able to see tracks of an ancent tirlobite in a rock there. Those tracks were probably left many, many years ago when that rock was at the bottom of the sea floor. We’ve also been enjoying talks on Antarctic history and exploration and nightly entertainment of documentaries and scrabble games.

So, with any luck this team will be flying back to Chile tomorrow, it just depends on the weather. And our next group will be arriving here in Antarctica with Ed Viesturs. We are looking forward to seeing them and getting the next climb started!

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 guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 8, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Vinson 2021/2022

Hanging Tight at Union Glacier

Yet another satellite phone transmission that is incomplete from our team at Union Glacier Camp, but expert guide Terray Sylvester is able to squeeze out a little bit of detail today:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the second Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition of the season. It’s January 7th.

For the last couple of days we’ve been in Union Glacier Camp as we wait for this team’s flight home on the 9th – the flight back to Chile – and our next team to arrive. So there’s plenty of … [garbled and transmision cuts out] …

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 guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 7, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Ecuador 2022.01.02

Illiniza Norte Summit!

Our Ecuador Volcanoes team reached the summit of Illiniza Norte today! They are on a roll! Lead guide, Estalin Suárez has the day’s audio expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition. Today is January 6th.

We just got the summit of Illiniza Norte, which is 16,813 ft. So, we just got another beautiful, beautiful day on the mountain with almost no wind and with a beautiful sunrise! We started very early in the morning at 5:00 AM from the hut. So, it took us about 2 hours – a little bit more than 2 hours – to the summit and, yeah, we got just a beautiful, beautiful day. Dan and Jason did very, very well and now we are back in our lodge, just resting.

Tomorrow we are going to move to the Chimborazo area. Probably we are going to do a short hike just to keep moving and then on Saturday we’re going to push to our main (ultimate) summit, which is Chimborazo, the highest mountain in Ecuador.

So I will keep in touch! Bye!

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 guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 6, 2022/0 Comments/by Kurt

Vinson 2021/2022

The wonders of technology!

Aerial View of Union Glacier Camp in Southern Ellsworth Mountains

Our team is still checking in for Union Glacier Camp and doing well but the satellite phone transmission was pretty broken up this time! We’ll try again tomorrow, stay tuned!!

Hello, this is Terray calling in for the second Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition of the season. It’s January 5th.

Since our travel to Antarctica with this team and… [garbbled] …Union Glacier Camp… [garbbled and cuts out]

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 guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 6, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Ecuador 2022.01.02

Illinizas Refuge

Today our Ecuador Volcanoes team climbed up to the Nuevos Horizontes refuge (aka the Illiniza Hut) on Illiniza to get into position for their summit attempt of Illiniza Norte early tomorrow morning. Lead guide, Estalin Suárez has the day’s audio expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition.

Today is the 5th of January and we hiked up to the hut of Illiniza, which the altitude is about 15,000 feet. So, Dan and Jason are feeling pretty good, so we did about 3 hours up to the hut and now we are just resting, waiting for dinner, and getting ready for tomorrow to push to the summit of Illiniza Norte.

Okay, bye!

At the trailhead and ready to head up to Nuevos Horizontes Refuge, the high hut on Illinizas

On the way up to Nuevos Horizontes Refuge

Day one on Illiniza Norte

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 guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 5, 2022/0 Comments/by Kurt

Vinson 2021/2022

Rest Day at Union Glacier

Another relaxing rest day at Union Glacier Camp in between Mount Vinson climbs. The climbers from the second team are waiting to catch their flight back to Punta Arenas and the third team is ready to fly into Union Glacier. Guide, Terray Sylvester, phones in today’s expedition dispatch from Union Glacier Camp, Antarctica:

Hello, this is Terray calling in for the second Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expediton. It’s Wednesday, January 5th.

Today we woke up to a bit of stormy, cloudy weather. So, we hunkered down, took hot showers, enjoyed some great meals, and attended a history lecture on the famous polar explorer Ernest Shackleton. And then in the evening, we watched a movie and stepped outside to see that the skies had cleared. Antartica has some of the clearest, cleanest air on the planet and of course it is sunny 24 hours a day here. So we stepped out into bright blue skies with mountains that surround us on both sides and the massive glaciers that pour down between them as well as the flat expansive ice that extends out towards the Weddell Sea to the northeast of us.

Tomorrow we will have a rest day while this group of guests waits for their flights and with luck we will go explore the Drake Icefall, which is a several hundred meter tall icefall just to the west of us.

So, we will be in touch!

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 guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

January 5, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Ecuador 2022.01.02

Corazón Summit!

Our Ecuador Volcanoes team continued their acclimatizing today with the hike up the inactive, eroded stratovolcano Corazón (4790m/15,720ft). Lead guide, Estalin Suárez has the day’s audio expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ecuador Volcanoes expedition. Today is January 4th and just hiked up to the summit of Corazón volcano, which is 15,700 feet. We had a really amazing day with blue sky, sunny and no wind. It was a really, really beautiful day. We started to walk very early in the morning at 13,000 feet more or less and we did a little more than 6 hours around, up and down.

Dan and Jason feel really good and they are really excited about the next because every day they are breaking records that they have never been at this altitude before! So, every day is a new adventure for them. That is great, everybody’s feeling well, and really motivated for the next.

So, I will keep in touch. Bye!