Congratulations to our Aconcagua team members that stood on the summit of South America yesterday! At 6961m / 22,837 ft., Aconcagua is the highest point in both the Western and Southern hemispheres. They made quick work of climbing up from Plaza Argentina base camp on 12/18 through camps 1, 2, and 3.
Today they made the descent from high camp (5989m / 19,650ft) to Plaza de Mulas base camp (4367m / 14,327ft). Everyone is safely off the mountain and looking forward to hiking down the Horcones valley tomorrow to the end of the trail and back to civilization with cold drinks and warm showers!
We will have more pictures and details soon. Merry Christmas to all!
Today the Vinson team #1 made the move from base camp to Low Camp (2940m/9,100ft). Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, reports in with today’s dispatch via sat phone:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition. Today is December 23rd and today we climbed from Vinson base camp up to Low Camp.
It took us about five and half hours and we got up to Low Camp in the evening, dug out our cache and set up camp. We had a nice dinner.
All tucked into our tents now and getting ready to go to sleep here. Everyone did great today! We had beautiful weather – it was a nice warm day, hardly any wind, and great views all around. So a wonderful day climb up Mount Vinson.
Our plan for tomorrow is to take a rest. Everyone’s doing great. We will check in soon. Thanks!
(photo: Madison Mountaineering archive)
By the way, it’s not too early to start making your plans to join us on Mount Vinson for the 2020/2021 season next December! Contact our office for details.
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow the teams as they make their attempts to summit the highest mountain in Antarctica on:
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_1221-credit-Linda-Wohlgemuth-scaled.jpg11732560Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2019-12-24 02:15:502019-12-24 02:15:50Moved up to Low Camp
After a day of carrying loads up towards Low Camp, expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in via sat phone from Vinson base camp:
Hello, this is Garrett Madison calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedtion #1. Today is December 22nd and we are at Vinson base camp. We had a great day. We carried a load up part way to Low Camp, returned back to base camp and organized our gear and our food for our move up tomorrow to Low Camp. Everyone is doing great here in base camp, weather is improving and we’re looking forward to moving up the mountain soon. Everything’s well here at Vinson. We’ll check in soon!
(photo: Madison Mountaineering archive)
By the way, it’s not too early to start making your plans to join us on Mount Vinson for the 2020/2021 season next December! Contact our office for details.
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow the teams as they make their attempts to summit the highest mountain in Antarctica on:
Our team has arrived at Mount Vinson Base Camp and expedition leader, Garrett Madison, provides a brief recap of today’s activities via satellite phone:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson climb #1. We made it to Mount Vinson base camp today. The Twin Otter flew us out of Union Glacier camp. We arrived at Vinson base camp in the afternoon, set up our camp and cooked dinner. We had a great meal and now were just tucked into our tents and our sleeping bags getting ready for a good night’s rest. All’s well here at Vinson base camp. We’ll check in soon. Thanks!
(photo: Madison Mountaineering archives)
By the way, it’s not too early to start making your plans to join us on Mount Vinson for the 2020/2021 season next December! Contact our office for details.
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow the teams as they make their attempts to summit the highest mountain in Antarctica on:
Garrett and our first Mount Vinson team for the season have arrived at Union Glacier camp, Antarctica and are looking forward to flying on to Mount Vinson base camp today:
Hello, this is Garrett Madison calling in for the Mount Vinson team #1. We have arrived at Union Glacier camp! We got in about 1:00 AM today, Saturday December 21st. We’re really happy to get out of Punta Arenas and had a smooth flight to Antarctica and landing at Union Glacier camp.
We got in, had a nice meal and set up our tents and now we are all tucked in and looking forward to a good sleep and having breakfast tomorrow at 9:00 AM. Hopefully the weather will be good tomorrow and we can fly over to Vinson base. We’ll check in soon, thanks!
(photo: Linda Wohlgemuth from the Madison Mountaineering archives)
By the way, it’s not too early to start making your plans to join us on Mount Vinson for the 2020/2021 season next December! Contact our office for details.
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow the teams as they make their attempts to summit the highest mountain in Antarctica on:
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_1379-credit-Linda-Wohlgemuth.jpg9601280Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2019-12-21 06:44:462019-12-21 06:44:46Vinson team arrives Union Glacier camp, Antarctica
Congratulations to our Mexico Volcanoes team that went two for two by submitting Pico de Orizaba today! Lead guide, Terray Sylvester, has this recap of their summit day:
We enjoyed a great climb to the top of Pico de Orizaba today, with good route conditions, excellent weather and all team members reaching the summit!
We left our private base camp near the popular Piedra Grande Refuge at 1 a.m., then picked our way up scree slopes to the toe of the Jamapa Glacier at about 16,500 feet with the lights of Tlachichuca twinkling below us. The bottom of the glacier was icy, so we swung to the right to join the Espolón de Oró (Ridge of Gold), a variation on the standard Jamapa Glacier Route that approaches the summit via somewhat lower angle slopes. As we ascended, route conditions improved until we were climbing efficiently up a well-established track in good styrofoam snow. We stepped onto the top of the third highest peak in North America at about 8 a.m., an hour earlier than we had expected.
With cold temperatures in the forecast, we had braced for a chilly, short stay on the summit. Instead, the weather was ideal — relatively warm and no wind. We took our time, snapping photos and enjoying views of Orizaba’s precipitous summit crater and plumes of smoke rising from Popocatépetl to the west. Then we descended back to camp and transferred via 4WD back to our lodge in Zoapan for a late lunch.
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/image4-3-scaled-1.jpeg19202560Kurthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgKurt2019-12-21 00:49:532020-01-29 14:02:14Full team tops out on Orizaba!
As the Mexico Volcanoes team makes their way from Puelba, Mexico to the start of their Pico de Orizaba climb, lead guide, Terray Sylvester, provides this update:
We are en route to the mountain. We’ll stop at Zoapan for lunch in our lodge there, and then take a 4WD to our private base camp near Piedra Grande Refuge below the Jamapa Glacier.
The plan is to start early and summit tomorrow via the Espolón de Oró, a slight variation that is currently in better condition than the more standard Jamapa Glacier route.
We had a relaxing day in Puebla yesterday, with visits to the main cathedral on the zócalo near our hotel, a photo exhibition and great food!
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/image0-3.jpeg15122016Kurthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgKurt2019-12-19 17:19:472020-01-29 14:12:45En route to Pico de Orizaba
Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, called in today reporting on the kick-off of our first Mount Vinson expedition of the season in Antarctica:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition #1. Today is Wednesday, December 18th, and we are in Punta Arenas. We’ve been here a few days, all packed up, and ready to go. Everything is loaded on the Ilyushin Il-76 jet ready to fly us from here to Union Glacier camp, Antarctica.
But, the weather is bad so we can’t fly so we’re just waiting here. But, we are making the most of it. We’ve had a great time visiting the penguins, checking out the museums in town, walking along the coastline, and enjoying some great meals here in Punta Arenas. Some wonderful restaurants!
So everyone’s doing well, we’re having a good time, and just hoping with fingers crossed that we will have some good weather in a couple of days to fly to Antarctica.
Mount Vinson team #1 ready to go!
Dinner in Punta Arenas
By the way, it’s not too early to start making your plans to join us on Mount Vinson for the 2020/2021 season next December! Contact our office for details.
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow the teams as they make their attempts to summit the highest mountain in Antarctica on:
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/PHOTO-2019-12-18-14-57-12.jpg10341600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2019-12-18 23:02:172020-01-29 13:24:33Vinson team #1 standing by in Punta Arenas
We had a great climb on Iztaccihuatl with excellent weather and 100% success!
Our day started early with a midnight wake up at the Altzomoni Refuge at the foot of the mountain. We had originally considered launching our summit bid from a high camp, but the mountain is extremely dry right now and no running water or snow was available at the camps we considered. Since we have a strong, well-acclimatized team we decided to skip high camp entirely in favor of a one-day ascent that would allow us to enjoy the entirety of the route with light summit packs. Our decision was also influenced by the fact that we had the usually popular Altzomoni Refuge all to ourselves, ensuring that we’d have space and quiet to relax and fuel up before our ascent.
Iztaccihuatl means the “white woman” or the “sleeping woman,” so named for the way the volcano’s multiple summits resemble the features of a person lying down when viewed from the west. By 1 a.m. we were climbing past “los pies,” the feet, with Popocatépetl rising behind us in a starry sky and coyotes yipping in the valley below. The climb went smoothly with only a short section of ice that demanded crampons, and eight hours later we stood on top of Mexico’s third highest peak under clear, sunny skies with a light breeze. We had the summit all to ourselves.
After an uneventful descent we transferred to our hotel one block from the main square in nearby Puebla. We’ll relax here for the next 36 hours and then head to our next objective, Orizaba! And in the mean time, we’ll likely enjoy a celebratory cerveza.
Within the past hour, our Mexico Volcanoes expedition team reached the summit of the third highest peak in Mexico, Iztacihuatl (5230m / 17,160 ft)! They are on their way down now. Their track to the summit left the La Joyita trailhead and gained over 1310m (4,300 ft) of elevation gain over 5.67km to reach the summit in just about 8 hours. Whew!
We will have some pictures to share when they are back down. Meanwhile, here are a few shots from yesterday to enjoy.
Next up: Pico de Orizaba (5636m/18,490ft), Mexico’s highest mountain and the third highest in North America.
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Izta-summit.jpg11522146Kurthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgKurt2019-12-17 16:18:112020-01-29 13:57:59Summit of Izta!
