Tag Archive for: Atacama Camp

Next stop: Ojos del Salado!

The team ready to move to their base camp on Ojos del Salado!

After a period of rest following several acclimatization climbs, the Ojos del Salado and Aconcagua expedition team is recharged and ready for their first objective, Ojos del Salado! The team has enjoyed the beautiful scenery and dips in the lake and hot springs, have packed their bags once again, and are en route to their base camp. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Chile:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ojos del Salado (6893m/22,615ft) and Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expedition – today is January 4th.

This morning we’ve been packing up our camp here at beautiful, Laguna Verde. Our guests went for a dip in the lake and then a nice soak in the hot springs. Now we’re all ready to go, we’re going to head back up the hill behind us and drive a little ways to the southwest, then we’ll split off the carretera, and head up the valley off-road to Atacama Base Camp (5251m/17,227ft), which is base camp for Ojos del Salado. That’s at a little over 5,000 meters!

So, it’s a beautiful day here! Not a cloud in the sky this morning, a little bit of normal afternoon build-up right now, but since this is the driest non-polar desert on the planet, we don’t expect any precipitation. The weather forecast looks good for the next few days while we acclimatize a bit more, and then make our summit push on Ojos del Salado!

We’ll be in touch via inReach message over the next few days.

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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Ojos Expedition Wraps Up!

Our climbers John, Joe and Kris on the summit of Cerro Doña Inez! Photo: Terray Sylvester

Our Ojos del Salado expedition is nearing its conclusion, complete with multiple summits, amazing food, incredible views and many memories to take away! The team is all safely off of Ojos del Salado and will return to Copiapó shortly. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with one final dispatch before the team departs back home in the coming days:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2022 Madison Mountaineering Ojos del Salado expedition – it’s December 19th.

Yesterday was our summit attempt on Ojos! The day started windy and pretty cold actually, but conditions improved quite a bit as we climbed higher and we had just spectacular views of the surrounding Atacama and all the volcanoes near us here. We made it to the summit crater at about 6,700 meters, and at that point we made the difficult, but I think correct decision to turn around to ensure our climbers safety on the descent. It was a tough decision, but the wise one.

Now we’re back in base camp! Our team is all happy and healthy, and we’re packing up and preparing to drive back to Copiapó. That will wrap up our itinerary! Right now, our climbers are deciding whether they’ll fly directly home, or whether they’ll head over to the coast nearby and spend a few days relaxing on the beach.

All in all, it was a great expedition! Beautiful scenery, great food and we got to soak in hot springs as well. We summited two other volcanoes: Cerro Doña Inés at about 5,000 meters and Cerro San Francisco at over 6,000 meters. And, all over our climbers set new personal altitude records which was gratifying too.

So, that’s a wrap and can’t wait for the next one!

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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Primed for the Summit Push!

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering archive. Photo: Ted Hesser

The Madison Mountaineering Ojos del Salado team took an active rest day today, going for a hike above base camp and preparing for their summit push ahead! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with a brief update from base camp:

Hello from Ojos Base Camp (5251m/17,227ft)! Today we went for an acclimatization hike above camp, then spent the afternoon resting and packing for tomorrow’s summit push. Since the “road” is passable to Camp 1, we’ll begin our ascent by driving that high. The forecast looks good and the team is excited for tomorrow’s climb. 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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Carry to Camp 1 is Complete!

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering archive.

The Madison Mountaineering Ojos del Salado expedition team completed their first carry up to camp 1 today, touching 20,000 feet and returning to their base camp. Tomorrow, the team plans to move up to Camp 1, and hopefully make their summit push the following day! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with another brief update from Atacama Camp:

Hello from Ojos del Salado Base Camp (5251m/17,227ft)! Today we hiked above Tejos Hut (Camp 1) while acclimatizing for our summit push. Since we’re currently able to drive to about 19,000′, we touched 20,000′ during our hike today then returned to our base camp at the Atacama Hut. We had a lunch of seafood soup and are relaxing until dinner.

All is well here. We’ll be in touch tomorrow!

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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Arrival in Atacama Camp!

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering archive. Photo: Ted Hesser

The Madison Mountaineering Ojos del Salado expedition team has arrived in Atacama Camp, which will serve as their base camp on Ojos del Salado! After one final soak in the hot springs, the team hit the road towards the next stop on their journey, with views galore of the surrounding volcanoes. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with a brief update from Chile:

Hello from Atacama Camp (5251m/17,227ft)! After a leisurely morning featuring another soak in the hot springs at Laguna Verde, we drove here to Ojos del Salado Base Camp, AKA Atacama Camp. We set up camp and ate a lunch of cheese and fresh veggie quesadillas. Now we’re resting and taking in the views of the surrounding volcanoes.

All is well! Hasta mañana!

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering archive. Photo: Ted Hesser

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering archive. Photo: Ted Hesser

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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