Environmental restoration expedition is off!

Here we go! Another environmental restoration trip is underway in Nepal. We are thrilled to have this special team come together in support of the Madison Mountaineering Foundations efforts to remove waste and restore the environment in high-altitude climbing destinations worldwide. Now together in the bustling city of Kathmandu, the team has conducted their gear check, enjoyed a welcome dinner, and headed out into the city to tour some of its most sacred places. With good weather tomorrow, we’ll fly to Lukla to officially begin the trek! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Nepal:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Gokyo Ri, Lobuche East, and Island Peak environmental restoration expedition – today is October 19.

Over the last two days, all of our climbers arrived here in Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft), and today we headed out for our city tour. We visited Pashupatinath and Boudanath, two of the UNESCO World Heritage sites here in Kathmandu. It was a beautiful fall day here in the Kathmandu Valley. Clear, sunny skies, warm, pleasant temperatures, and actually we had great views of some of the mountains to the north! We could see some snowy peaks up in Ganesh Himal and Langtang areas, and some peaks in the Everest zone as well.

This evening, we headed out for our welcome dinner at La Sherpa restaurant here in Kathmandu, and now we’re just heading to bed. We’re looking forward to our helicopter flight up into the Khumbu Valley early tomorrow morning. We’ll fly to Lukla (2860m/9,383ft), and then begin trekking to Phakding (2610m/8,562ft).

Everything’s going really well here in Nepal, and we’ll be in touch tomorrow.

Good times at Pashupatinath! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Bhoudhanath Stupa (photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our team touring Pashupatinath (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:

– 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:

• @MadisonMtng
• @GarrettMadison1
• @terray_s