Tag Archive for: 7 Summits

First Vinson team of the season tops out!

On the summit of Mount Vinson!

It comes with great excitement to share that the first Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team of the season successfully reached the summit and returned to their high camp safe and sound! The team topped out together, slapped high-fives, shared hugs, and snapped some summit photos while taking in the scenery from the highest point in Antarctica. After turning back the way they came to descend down the mountain to their camp, the team crawled into their sleeping bags after a warm meal for a good nights rest. Today, the team will continue their descent down the fixed-lines and onward to Vinson Base Camp. Awesome work, team! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson:

Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition – first one of the season.

We topped out on Mount Vinson yesterday. (We) had a bit of a stormy day up there, but everyone made it to the top! (We) had a fun climb, got some great photos at the summit, had a clearing there for a couple of minutes on top, and could see some of the surrounding peaks and the polar plateau. So, it was really beautiful!

(We) all made it back down to high camp (3536m/11,600ft) last night, had a good nights rest, and planning to head down to Vinson Base Camp (2140m/7,020ft) today.

So all’s well here! And we’ll check in soon.

Taking in the views after topping out!

Taking in the views after topping out!

The view looking out from the summit.

The view looking out from 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:

  • 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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Aconcagua team reaches Plaza de Mulas Base Camp

Blue skies for the trek to Plaza de Mulas Base Camp.

After several days trekking up the Horcones Valley, the Madison Mountaineering expedition team has reached their base camp at the foot of Aconcagua. The team worked on building acclimatization along the way, and are psyched to begin moving up the mountain! With carries up the mountain set to start soon, we’re in good spirits and feeling prepared for what’s to come. Expedition leader, Cacho Beiza checked in with this brief dispatch from Plaza de Mulas Base Camp:

We arrived today at Plaza de Mulas Base Camp (4367m/14,327ft) with all the team. Now resting after dinner. All the members in a good mood and condition!

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 push on Mount Vinson coming up!

Climbing towards Mount Vinson High Camp.

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team has reached their high camp! That means they are in position to make a summit push, which is expected to take place tomorrow assuming good weather. The team moved strongly up the fixed-lines which separate low camp from high camp and crawled into their sleeping bags for the night. Today, the team rested and made preparations to go for the summit! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison and guide, Phunuru Sherpa checked in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson High Camp:

Hello! This is Garrett and Phunuru Sherpa checking in for the Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition, first one of the season from Mount Vinson High Camp (3536m/11,600ft)! We arrived yesterday after a good climb up from low camp (2774m/9,100ft), had some clouds, some wind, but the team was strong and pushed through and made it to high camp. We set up our tents and made our dinner, and we got to bed before the wind picked up, and we had a good blow over the night of wind and snow, but today, it’s much nicer! The sun’s poking out. So our team’s resting today, and we’re hoping to make our summit attempt tomorrow, fingers crossed! And here’s Phunuru.

Here we go! I look forward to the summit tomorrow. Thanks!

All right, check in soon!

The team ascending fixed-lines between low camp and high camp.

The team ascending fixed-lines between low camp and high camp.

Up the headwall.

Up the headwall.

All smiles from Antarctica!

All smiles from Antarctica!

Mount Vinson High Camp

Mount Vinson High 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:

– 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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On up to Low Camp

Mount Vinson Low Camp

And they’re on the move! The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team wasted no time moving from Base Camp to Low Camp. After a good day climbing up the valley towards Low Camp, we settled in, fueled up with tasty meals, and took a rest day here with plans to continue up the route soon! The team reviewed fixed-line training and is feeling sharp and ready for what lies ahead in the coming days. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson Low Camp:

Hey, this is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering first Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) climb of the season. We are up at Low Camp (2774m/9,100ft)!

We flew into Vinson Base Camp (2140m/7,020ft) a couple nights ago, had a great night there. And then yesterday moved up to Low Camp here, settled in, and taken a rest day today. Team’s doing great! We did some fixed line training, had a couple of good meals and got organized. We’re planning to move up to High Camp (3536m/11,600ft) tomorrow if the weather’s good, and see what lies in store.

So all is well here on Mount Vinson, highest peak on the continent of Antarctica here, bottom of the world! I’ll check in soon.

The team together in Union Glacier Camp before their flight to the mountain!

The team together in Union Glacier Camp before their flight to the mountain!

Excellent views while flying to Base Camp!

Excellent views while flying to Base Camp!

Mount Vinson Base Camp

Mount Vinson Base Camp

Our Mountain Hardwear Trango tents set up in Vinson Base Camp.

Our Mountain Hardwear Trango tents set up in Vinson 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:

– 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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Greetings from Union Glacier Camp!

The team together after touching down in Union Glacier Camp!

The Antarctic season is officially underway! The first of our Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expeditions teams went wheels up out of Punta Arenas and have settled in on the ice. After a scenic flight, the team took their first steps onto the frozen continent, breathing in the cold air while welcoming excellent views of Union Glacier Camp and the surrounding areas. We look to move to Mount Vinson Base Camp tomorrow. Fingers crossed for clear and sunny skies! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Antarctica:

Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the first Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) climb of the season.

Today is December 4th and we made it to Union Glacier Camp (700m/2,297ft) in Antarctica! We flew in from Punta Arenas (34m/112ft) on the Boeing 757, landed at Union Glacier, and settled into our camp here. We’re hoping to fly over to Mount Vinson Base Camp (2140m/7,020ft) tomorrow, so fingers crossed for good weather.

And we’re just enjoying Union Glacier Camp here! It’s bright and sunny, beautiful scenery, great food, nice people, and really magical to be here.

So all’s well in Antarctica! We’ll check in soon.

Looking out the plane window over the frozen continent.

Looking out the plane window over the frozen continent.

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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Carstensz climb comes to a close!

Our Carstensz Pyramid expedition has come to a close! That marks the second successful climb in 2025, with two more climbs scheduled later this year. Today, the team flew back to Bali where they’ll spend one last night before saying their goodbye’s and heading back home, with good memories from their time on the highest peak in Oceania. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this closing dispatch for this Carstensz climb:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid (4884m/16,024ft) private climb – today is March 12th!

Yesterday morning we woke up to starry skies a little bit before dawn in Yellow Valley Base Camp (4285m/14,050ft) up at Carstensz Pyramid. By a little after 6:00 helicopters were landing in base camp, so we caught a really scenic flight over the mine and down across the forests of West Papua and back to Timika (31m/103ft)! When we arrived here, it was a bit too late for flights back to Bali (4m/13ft), so we spent one last night in our really pleasant hotel here in Timika and this morning we’re getting ready to catch out flight back to Denpasar and the beaches of Bali.

So, all in all it’s been a really great trip and successful summit. I’m looking forward to coming back again! So, this will be the last dispatch of this trip.

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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Waiting out the weather

Final steps to the summit! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid expedition team spent the day relaxing in base camp and recounting good memories from the day prior up on the mountain. While the team hoped that they’d be able to fly back to Timika today, some clouds prevented helicopters from flying. But, that didn’t stop them from soaking in the sunshine and making the most of their time as the expedition nears its end. 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) private climb – today is March 10th.

Today we hoped to fly by helicopter back to Timika (31m/103ft). But, although the morning was sunny, a few clouds lower in the valley prevented helicopters from getting through. So instead,  we spent a peaceful day here in base camp (4285m/14,050ft) and we will try again tomorrow.

So all is well and we’ll be in touch!

Flying to base camp (photo by Terray Sylvester)

Flying to base camp (photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our climber, Scott, climbing the systems of ledges that leads to Carstensz’ summit ridge (photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our climber, Scott, climbing the systems of ledges that leads to Carstensz’ summit ridge (photo by Terray Sylvester)

Gaining the summit ridge at about 15,500’ (photo by Terray Sylvester)

Gaining the summit ridge at about 15,500’ (photo by Terray Sylvester)

The famous cable crossing (photo by Terray Sylvester)

The famous cable crossing (photo by Terray Sylvester)

Negotiating the ridge (photo by Terray Sylvester)

Negotiating the ridge (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:

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Another successful climb on Carstensz Pyramid!

Summit photo atop Carstensz Pyramid!

It comes with great excitement to share that another Madison Mountaineering team has successfully reached the summit of Carstensz Pyramid! This marks the last of the ‘seven summits‘ for our climber, Scott, and the last of our climbs on the highest peak in Oceania for the current season. A huge congratulations goes out to our team who enjoyed excellent weather for the their time on the mountain, making great time up the route as they navigated engaging terrain on their way to the summit. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this celebratory dispatch following their summit on Carstensz Pyramid:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid (4884m/16,024ft) private climb – today is March 9.

Today we summited Carstensz Pyramid, the highest point in Oceania and one of the ‘seven summits‘, depending on how you count. It was a fantastic climb! We left camp a little after 3:30 and stood on the summit around 7:00. It was a quick climb and excellent conditions! There was a high overcast which kept things cool as we came down, but the rock was dry and the route was in great shape. It was really spectacular moving up the fun and varied terrain that takes you up the series of ledges and steep sections up to the summit ridge, and then across the famous cable crossing, and then along the ridge winding around towers with a few crack step overs, and onto the summit!

We dropped back down in time for lunch and just had a nice meal of potato-beef soup, fresh greens, curried chicken, and rice! So, now we’re heading to bed and we’re looking forward to hopefully, hopefully flying out tomorrow depending on the weather.

Okay, yeah! Great news and the last element of this is that this was the final one of the ‘seven summits‘ for our guest, Scott! So, it was great to be able to join him for that milestone.

All is well here in West Papua and we’ll 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 daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

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Another Mount Vinson Summit!

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive.

It’s with great excitement to share that the Madison Mountaineering team has safely and successfully reached the summit of Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, and one of the famed ‘seven summits!’ After some stormy weather the past few days, the team took advantage of a weather window when it presented itself to go for the summit. The team climbed under beautiful weather with great views all around and shared lots of hugs and high-fives upon reaching the summit. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from the roof of Antarctica:

Hey, this is Garrett with the Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) team! We are on the summit of Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica! It is a beautiful day!

Hey, it’s Hunter Argenbright. Happy to be here!

Hey, it’s (garbled) on the summit. Loving Madison – have a good day!

Hi, it’s Laura from (garbled). Thank you to Garrett for getting us up this mountain! To all of those (garbled) kids out there, keep on taking it one step at a time and follow your dreams, don’t ever give up! (Garbled) boys, I love you more than you’ll ever know.

Oh, beautiful day up here on the summit with the team! We’re looking forward to getting back down to high camp (3536m/11,600ft) this afternoon. All is well here on Vinson! 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:

– 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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Made it to High Camp!

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Ted Hesser)

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team has reached their high camp, putting them one camp closer to reaching the summit of Antarctica’s highest peak! While the day started out nice, a bit of a storm rolled in as the team was coming into camp. But, the team quickly worked together to set up their temporary home and then sat down for hot water, a warm meal, and to reflect on another good day in Antarctica! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from high camp:

Hey, this is Garrett and Benny up here at high camp (3536m/11,600ft) on Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft)! We climbed from low camp (2774m/9,100ft) today with our team up to high camp.

It started off a beautiful day, but then the winds picked up and some clouds rolled in, so it was pretty stormy getting into high camp! We had to set up our tents in a bit of a blizzard, but got all of our tents set up and every person moved into their tents. We melted some snow for hot water, had dinner, filled hot water bottles, and now we’re getting ready to go to bed. We’re going to take a rest day tomorrow – it’s supposed to be very windy tomorrow and then hopefully a nice day after that. Fingers crossed it’s a good day coming up for the summit day!

Everyone’s doing well, we’re happy to be up here, had some great views on the way up, and looking forward to a rest day tomorrow! 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:

– 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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