Andes Archives

Aconcagua 2024 / 2025

All teams for the 2024 / 2025 Aconcagua season reach the summit!

The January 5, 2025 expedition team on the summit!

We are so proud of all our teams who climbed the mighty “Stone Sentinel” this season! The 2024 / 2025 Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua season has come to a close. Climbers have returned safely back to their homes where they recount memories with friends and family, and ease back into their daily lives. It was an excellent season on the highest peak in all of the America’s with every one of our teams landing boots on the summit, with nearly 100% summit success, climbed via two different routes on the mountain!

The season kicked off in early December, and four more teams reached the summit in January and February. Climbing via the Normal Route, the teams had favorable weather overall and were treated with days of sunny skies for their time in the Andes! The season was capped off with two teams reaching the summit in consecutive days on February 6 and 7. One of the teams was led by legendary mountaineer, Ed Viesturs climbing the Normal Route under clear, blue skies after several days of high winds near the summit. On the next day, a private team led by Garrett Madison stepped onto the summit after climbing the Polish Glacier Direct route, an aesthetic and far less climbed, technical route with similarities to K2. A special congratulations goes out to our guide Cacho Beiza who now has over 60 summits on Aconcagua!

We’re so thankful for the opportunity to share this time with amazing clients in a special place! It’s been another unforgettable year and we’re already looking forward to coming back next season. Reach out to our team now to get signed up! To higher places…

The December 7, 2024 expedition team on the summit!

The January 24, 2025 expedition team on the summit!

Climbing amongst penitentes on the way up the mountain.

The team together on a beautiful day in the Andes!

Our guide team, including Ed Viesturs on the summit on February 6, 2025.

Sunset on Aconcagua!

Our private team who climbed via the Polish Glacier on the summit, February 7, 2025.

Up the Polish Glacier route!

Climbing through technical terrain on the Polish Glacier.

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:

February 12, 2025/0 Comments/by Garrett

Aconcagua 2023/2024

Aconcagua Summits!

Cumbre! We’re thrilled to announce the Madison Mountaineering team’s recent success on Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) – the first of five expeditions this season!

Reaching the summit on December 19, the team battled through windy weather conditions throughout the expedition. Their hard work, determination, and well-thought-out strategy put them in a position to make a summit push when a window presented itself. While many other teams and climbers on the mountain were unable to reach the summit, our team persevered and earned themselves a spot on top of South America’s highest peak, and one of the famed ‘seven summits!’

We’re very proud of the teams’ efforts and look forward to the expeditions ahead now that everyone is off the mountain. Strong work, team!

Climbing with beautiful views of the surrounding Andes!

Sunset from one of the team’s camps on Aconcagua.

Climber, Matthew Russell on the summit of Aconcagua!

Climbing amongst penitentes.

Climber, Matthew Russell descending with a heavy pack down the mountain.

360-degree views of the surrounding Andes from high on Aconcagua!

Guide, Cacho Beiza cooking up a warm meal!

Celebrating back in base camp!

Beautiful weather after an unforgettable climb on South America’s highest peak!

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:

December 22, 2023/0 Comments/by Garrett

Aconcagua 2023/2024

Aconcagua season is underway!

The 2023 Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua expedition team loading up to leave Mendoza to begin their climb!

The 2023 / 2024 Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) season is off in Argentina! We are thrilled to be back in the Andes and on the trail with our eyes set on the highest peak in all of the Americas, Aconcagua. After a long day of traveling, our climbers touched down in Mendoza (746m/2,449ft) and were picked up by private transportation and dropped off at the team hotel. After some rest, the team came together for the first time completing a gear check and orientation, before heading out for dinner and later going to bed with departure for the trailhead scheduled for the following day.

The team awoke to blue skies and pleasant temperatures as they loaded the truck and hit the road towards Los Horcones, the gateway to Aconcagua. We’ve arrived in Plaza de Mulas (4367m/14,327ft) which will serve as our base camp on Aconcagua, and are getting ready to continue on up the mountain to Camp Canada (5060m/16,600ft).

The team is doing well and are in good spirits! We hope for good weather in the coming days as we continue to ascend the highest peak outside of Asia.

Stay tuned for more!

Madison Mountaineering private transportation loaded up and ready to go!

Dawning packs and hitting the trail en route to Aconcagua!

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:

December 13, 2023/0 Comments/by Garrett

Peru 2023

Alpamayo High Camp!

The team enjoying Alpamayo base camp under beautiful, clear-blue skies!

The 2023 Madison Mountaineering Alpamayo and Artesonraju expedition is off to a great start in Peru! The team has had beautiful weather thus far for their acclimatization hikes and trek into base camp. Next up, they will attempt Alpamayo – the first of two peaks they plan to climb on the expedition. Expedition leader, Estalin Suárez checks in with this dispatch from Peru:

Hello! This is Estalin calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Alpamayo (5947m/19,511ft), Peru expedition – today is July 12th. We just got to high camp on Alpamayo which is 5,400 meters. We’ve had a great day, blue skies! Our plan is tonight to attack to the summit, but we are going to see how everybody feels and decide later, or probably stay one more night here.

We departed from Huaraz a couple of days ago. We had really beautiful days hiking to the base camp. Now we are pushing a little bit harder to our first main summit.

Keep in tune. Ciao!

The team at High Camp on Alpamayo!

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:

July 12, 2023/0 Comments/by Garrett

Aconcagua 2023.01.24

Successful end to another season on Aconcagua!

The team atop the highest point in all of the America's!

It’s been another great season on Aconcagua for us! Our teams enjoyed spending time on the highest peak in the Andes and pushing to new heights. While not every climber we had made the summit, all had a fun and safe experience on the highest peak in the southern and western hemispheres. We pride ourselves on our small groups, high quality guiding / logistics and attention to detail throughout our program on Aconcagua. As noted in the recent Explorer’s Web Aconcagua article, the mountain is sometimes dangerous and fatal, so should not be underestimated. We look forward to returning to Aconcagua next season for more good times in the Andes mountains!

The whole experience you’ve assembled is just a total class act! So pleased to have this opportunity to spend some time with you on the mountain!” – Bill Chapman, 2023 Aconcagua

Above the clouds after an alpine start on summit day!

Breaking to refuel with food and water!

The camp hangout spot sitting below Aconcagua and alpenglow on the upper mountain!

Guides, Garrett Madison, Ed Viesturs and Cacho Beiza working hard!

Taking in the views above 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:

February 9, 2023/0 Comments/by Garrett

Aconcagua 2023.01.24

Aconcagua Summit!

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive.

We’re ecstatic to announce that the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua expedition team successfully reached the summit of South America’s tallest peak and have returned safely and soundly to their comforts in Camp 3! While it was a long day, the team had great weather on the ascent, and was able to enjoy a hot meal before crawling into their tents this evening. Expedition guide, Ed Viesturs, checks in with this dispatch after a successful summit on Aconcagua:

Hello everyone! This is Ed Viesturs reporting for Madison Mountaineering. We’re back at Camp 3 (5989m/19,650ft) now, we had an amazing day!

We reached the summit (6961m/22,837ft) today after an eight and a half hour climb. We had spectacular weather – it was sunny, very little wind, and once we reached the summit, the afternoon (inaudible) kind of rolled in and we got a little snow and it got a little spicy. But all in all, it was a great climb! 13 hours round trip and we’re safe and sound back at Camp 3. We just had a nice hot meal, called guamen, and tomorrow we’re heading down back to base camp (4367m/14,327ft).

Thanks for checking in!

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:

February 3, 2023/0 Comments/by Garrett

Aconcagua 2023.01.24

Summit Push Ahead!

The Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua expedition team has arrived in their high camp and are primed for their summit push! While the anticipation built, the team spent the evening relaxing, eating dinner, and packing their bags for their alpine start. Stay tuned to hear if they make the summit! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with today’s dispatch before the team goes for the summit tomorrow:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expedition climb. Today’s February second, Thursday, and we are up at our high camp (5989m/19,650ft), Camp 3 Colera at about 19,600 feet. Everyone’s doing great!

It was a beautiful day climbing up here – not much wind and clear skies as far as the eye can see, great views all around! We just finished our dinner, did a little packing and preparation for tomorrow. The plan is to wake up at 3:00 (AM) and depart by 5:00 AM, go for the summit on the third of February, and fingers crossed we’ll get lucky with good weather and route conditions!

We’ll check in tomorrow after we get back down, but the weather is looking good right now at the moment. Really happy to be here and the team’s doing great!

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:

February 2, 2023/0 Comments/by Garrett

Aconcagua 2023.01.24

Ed Viesturs and Team in Camp 2!

All is well on Aconcagua! The team will take a rest day today and spend a second night in Camp 2 so they can rest and acclimatize, with the plan to move up to Camp 3 tomorrow. Their move up to Camp 3 means that their summit attempt will come in the next few days! Legendary mountaineer and guide, Ed Viesturs, checks in with todays dispatch from Camp 2:

Hey everyone! Ed Viesturs here reporting from Camp 2 on Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) with Madison Mountaineering. This is our rest day here – we’ll be spending a second night here at about 16,600 feet. Everybody’s doing well, we’re acclimatizing, weather’s very, very nice. We haven’t had a lot of clouds, we have had some wind.

The plan from here is to get up tomorrow and move to Camp 3 which is at about 18,100 feet, spend a very short night, and then hopefully on Friday get up at around 3:00 AM and leave camp at 5:00 (AM), and make our way to the summit of Aconcagua, hoping to return back to Camp 3 late in that day.

So, everybody’s doing great! We’ve had awesome weather, the team is a lot of fun to be with, we’ve made a lot of good friends… (inaudible) See you 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:

February 1, 2023/0 Comments/by Garrett

Aconcagua 2023.01.24

Climbing Higher to Camp 2!

Aconcagua Camp 2. Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive.

The team awoke to more good weather today in Camp 1 and is getting ready for their move up to Camp 2! After another beautiful sunset last night, a good dinner prepared by guide, Cacho Beiza, and a restful nights sleep, the team is feeling strong and doing great on their ascent of Aconcagua. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with todays dispatch from Argentina:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expedition team. We are up here in Camp 1 (5060m/16,600ft)! We arrived yesterday, everyone has done great, we had nice weather, great views and a good evening here in high camp watching the sunset. Cacho cooked us an amazing pasta with tomato sauce and everybody had a good nights rest.

Today we’re just up making breakfast, taking down the camp, and preparing to climb up to Camp 2 (5522m/18,117ft) where we’re going to spend a couple of nights. So, looks like good weather now and we’re excited to get a move on today and start climbing up to Camp 2 on Aconcagua!

All is well here! 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:

January 31, 2023/0 Comments/by Garrett

Aconcagua 2023.01.24

Smooth Climbing on Aconcagua!

Tomahawks for dinner at Aconcagua Base Camp!

The team has successfully made their first carry up to Camp 1 to cache some of their load, in preparation for the move up to Camp 1 to follow! Making multiple carries between camps not only lightens the load each member has to carry between camps, but also helps in the acclimatization process as they ascend the tallest mountain in South America. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with this dispatch from Plaza de Mulas:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expedition. Today we did a carry up to Camp 1 (5060m/16,600ft), brought a load of gear up there and cached it. It was a beautiful day, great views all around, the team did awesome! We came back down, and had a restful afternoon and then dinner here in base camp (4367m/14,327ft), and now we’re off to bed.

Our plan tomorrow is to have breakfast and then move up to Camp 1, set up camp, sleep there, and then the next day, move up to Camp 2 (5522m/18,117ft) for a couple of nights. Check the weather, hopefully we’ll have a summit weather window sometime around February third or fourth!

Everyone is doing well! We’re enjoying Aconcagua, having a great time here in Argentina! It’s great to be here with so many good friends – old friends, some new friends and really great times here in Argentina!

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:

January 30, 2023/0 Comments/by Garrett

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