The Madison MountaineeringCho Oyu expedition team has safely arrived at Camp 1. The team is settled into their camp, spirits are high, and views of the surrounding Himalayan giants plentiful. The team will rest here tonight, hydrating and acclimatizing before continuing their ascent toward Camp 2 soon.
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Here we go! The highly anticipated Madison MountaineeringCho Oyu expedition’s summit rotation is about to begin. Despite multiple hurdles along the way, the team has stayed motivated and in good spirits. With the climbing set to resume again tomorrow and a possible summit date on October 13, the team is psyched and ready to go! After a good nights rest in our advanced base camp, we’ll shoulder our packs and begin the move up the mountain. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Cho Oyu:
Today is October 10th, and we are finally going to make our summit rotation. We’re heading up tomorrow on the 11th to Camp 1, hopefully Camp 2 on the 12th, and then go for the summit on the 13th. So wish us luck!
Looks like the winds are finally dropping here on the night of the 11th or morning of the 12th. So fingers crossed we have good conditions. No one’s been up on the mountain since before the big storm. So, hopefully the high winds have scoured the upper slopes and it’s good climbing and clear skies ahead!
So, we’ll check in soon! All’s well here on Cho Oyu.
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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/PHOTO-2024-10-07-20-57-01.jpg12001600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2025-10-10 11:00:042025-10-10 14:42:27Summit rotation about to begin!
The Madison MountaineeringCho Oyu team is settled back into advanced base camp and waiting for their weather window to move up the mountain and go for the summit. While we’ve been enjoying the sunny skies in camp, high winds continue to hit the upper mountain. The team plans to continue evaluating weather and route conditions, hoping for an opportunity to move up the mountain in the next few days! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this update from advanced base camp on Cho Oyu:
We are back up here in our advanced base camp and it seems like the weather has been improving. We’ve got some sunshine, but the winds are quite strong at the moment. Sounds like they’re going to be strong through about the 11th of October. So, we’re just watching the forecast, and boy, there’s a lot of snow here in base camp from the big snowstorm, probably about a meter or so.
But we’re happy to be here with our Sherpa team, and we’re doing well. We’ll check in soon!
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The Madison MountaineeringCho Oyu expedition team returned to their advanced base camp today which sits at the foot of the climbing route. After spending the last few days at lower elevations, the team is psyched and ready for a possible summit attempt in the coming days! The team will evaluate weather and route conditions before starting up the mountain. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this update from Cho Oyu:
We have returned to advanced base camp. We left Tingri this morning at 8:00 a.m., and drove up to the trailhead and started trekking at 9:00 a.m and got into camp about 6:30-7:00 p.m. this evening.
So it was a good day! We’re glad to be here, and a lot of snow here in our advanced base camp. But, everybody’s doing well. We’re looking forward to a good night’s rest! Nice to be reacquainted here with our Sherpa team. They’ve done a great job holding down camp here the last few days, and we’re going to see what lies ahead! 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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/PHOTO-2025-09-30-03-23-00.jpg16001200Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2025-10-07 11:28:072025-10-07 14:43:37Back in Advanced Base Camp
The Madison MountaineeringCho Oyu expedition team is in Tingri, waiting out the snow storm that hit the Himalayas over the last few days. A huge shoutout to our Sherpa team who has been keeping the camp in order! Without them, these expeditions would not be possible. The team is looking forward to moving back up to camp again soon! Once back in advanced base camp, our sights will turn to the summit with the highly anticipated summit rotation set to start when weather and route conditions allow. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Tibet:
We are down in Tingri at about 14,500 feet. We dropped down a couple of days ago from advanced base camp to wait out the big snowstorm that hit the Himalayas the last couple of days. Sounds like our advanced base camp got about four feet of snow. So we’re very thankful that our Sherpa team was up and taking care of our tents to make sure they didn’t collapse under the big snowfall.
We’re going to try to head up to advanced base camp tomorrow if we can to rejoin our Sherpa team there and set our focus on the climb of the upper mountain.
So fingers crossed we get some good weather and good route conditions in the days ahead, and 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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/PHOTO-2025-10-05-04-06-40.jpg12001600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2025-10-05 11:01:422025-10-06 15:29:04Waiting to move back to ABC
The Madison MountaineeringCho Oyu expedition team is back in Tingri resting up and getting ready to make their summit rotation! With some weather expected to roll in over the weekend, the team is taking advantage of the lower altitude to rest, breathe in some extra oxygen, and enjoy a few acclimatization hikes. Once the weather clears, the plan is to head back up to Advanced Base Camp on Monday and continue the climb! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Tibet:
We have dropped down from Advanced Base Camp to Tingri at about 14,000 feet to wait out the big snow storm that’s expected to hit later tonight for a couple of days over the weekend. So, our plan is to hunker down here in Tingri and enjoy the lower elevation, soak up the oxygen, get in a few hikes, and then we’ll head back up to Advanced Base Camp on Monday to resume our expedition climb.
Hopefully we get lucky with some good conditions up there on the upper mountain! We had a good first rotation last week – couple nights at Camp 1, we climbed higher up towards Camp 2. Beautiful views up there, but we decided to drop back down to rest up. Fingers crossed for good weather next week and hopefully a summit attempt!
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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/PHOTO-2025-09-09-09-04-40.jpg12001600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2025-10-03 10:26:212025-10-03 21:30:07Resting up for the summit rotation!
The Madison MountaineeringCho Oyu expedition team is back in their base camp after a successful rotation up the mountain to Camp 1 and beyond. Climbing to nearly 22,000 feet, the team had excellent weather, great views, and good times on the world’s sixth-highest peak! The team is in good health and high spirits, glad to be back at base camp enjoying some well-earned rest before the next phase of the expedition. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison check in with this dispatch from Cho Oyu:
Today is September 30th, and we’ve just come back down to base camp from our first rotation up in Camp 1 (6,400m/21,000 ft) for a couple of nights. We climbed up a little bit higher on the route to about 21,700 feet, had some good weather up there, some nice views, and now we’re back down in base camp.
We’re going to rest and get ready for the summit push here. It looks like there might be a big storm coming in on October 4th and 5th, so we might have to delay until after that big precipitation event, so we’ll keep watching the weather.
Meanwhile, everyone’s doing good. We’re happy to be back down in base camp and looking forward to some good rest here.
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/PHOTO-2025-09-30-03-23-03.jpg12001600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2025-09-30 10:22:322025-09-30 15:09:42First rotation done on Cho Oyu
The Madison MountaineeringCho Oyu expedition team has been enjoying themselves in advanced base camp! It’s been a busy few days as we prepare to move up the mountain on our first rotation. With the Puja ceremony and some technical skills training behind us, we’ll soon be shouldering our packs and stepping onto the route up to Camp 1! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from advanced base camp on Cho Oyu:
We have been enjoying a few great days in advanced base camp here at 18,700 feet, about 5,700 meters. Did our Puja ceremony yesterday, been doing more training and review practice here in camp with our technical equipment, and our plan is to move up tomorrow to Camp 1 (6,400m/21,000 ft) for a couple of nights for our first rotation to acclimatize and get a feel for the route. Our Sherpa team will be up there with us. Hopefully the good weather will continue, and we can enjoy some nice views up there and build some more acclimatization, and then we’ll be back in a few days time!
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/PHOTO-2025-09-26-04-24-41-1.jpg12841600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2025-09-27 10:42:012025-09-29 14:48:50Enjoying life at over 18,000 feet
The Madison MountaineeringCho Oyu expedition team moved on up to their advanced basecamp today under beautiful, blue skies and with excellent views of Cho Oyu along the way! Now moved into their tents, the team has a few more orders of business to take care of before starting their first rotation up the mountain. That said, the team is feeling excited and ready to get the climbing underway! We’re full of gratitude to be in this magnificent place with a wonderful team. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Cho Oyu:
Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison MountaineeringCho Oyu (8,188m/26,864ft) expedition team. Today is Thursday, September 25th and we have arrived at our advanced basecamp at about 18,600 feet on Cho Oyu!
It was a beautiful day hiking up from basecamp to advanced basecamp, or “ABC.” We’re looking forward to settling in and acclimatizing, continuing our training, doing our Puja ceremony before moving up on our first rotation to gain some acclimatization and elevation higher up on the mountain.
All is well here. The trip’s going wonderful, right on time, and we’re really happy to be here! All is well here on Cho Oyu in Tibet.
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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/PHOTO-2025-09-24-23-57-29.jpg16001200Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2025-09-25 06:58:202025-09-25 15:59:25Up close views of Cho Oyu!
Thin air and excellent views in and above Chinese Basecamp! The Madison Mountaineering team got all settled in yesterday and are wasting no time as they continue their acclimatization efforts and get ready to move higher. The team plans to move up to Advanced Basecamp in the next few days, situated at the foot of the mountain where we’ll be in position to begin making rotations on the route before looking ahead to a summit push! The team is in high spirits and doing great. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Tibet:
We are in Chinese Basecamp! We arrived yesterday, settled into our basecamp here at about 15,400 feet, and today we did an acclimatization hike up to over 18,000 feet. It felt great and had nice views all around! The team is feeling strong and doing well! We’re really excited to be here – great weather…
We’ll be sending some loads up on yaks to basecamp tomorrow. Probably the following day, our team will head up there and settle into our advanced basecamp (5,650m/18,530 ft) for the season – a little bit higher at the base of the mountain.
All is well here in Tibet on Cho Oyu and we’ll check in soon!
The Madison Mountaineering climbing and Sherpa team in Chinese Basecamp.
Mountain Hardwear Trango Tents.
Our Mountain Hardwear basecamp dining tent.
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:
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.“