Tag Archive for: Camp 1

We climbed from Camp 1 to Camp 2 on the Abruzzi ridge on K2, House’s Chimney was one of the most interesting parts of the climb, steep rock and ice for about 60 feet. We had some inclement weather in the afternoon, big gusts of wind and some snow, now it has calmed down, and the view was spectacular! We are all tucked into our tents and resting, everyone is doing well.

-Garrett Madison

Photos taken by Stuart Erskine

.

Climbers, guides, sherpas and Pakistani high altitude porters are climbing from Camp 1 to Camp 2 on K2. Camp 1 and Advanced Base Camp are visible in the background directly below the climbers.

IMG_3592

.

Climbers getting ready to leave Camp 1 on K2 to climb to Camp 2 on July 1, 2016. Broad Peak and the Godwin Austin Glacier are in the background.

IMG_3593

.

Climbing from Camp 1 to Camp 2 on K2, July 1 2016

IMG_3595

.

Climbing from Camp 1 to Camp 2 on K2, July 1 2016

IMG_3596

.

Climbing from Camp 1 to Camp 2 on K2, July 1 2016. K2 is extremely steep and rugged with highly erratic weather.

IMG_3598

.

Climbing up the steep section of K2.

IMG_3603

.

Climbing up from the chimney section towards Camp 2 on K2.

IMG_3606

.

Two climbers make their way up through fog, wind and light snow to Camp 2. The weather is notoriously changeable on K2. Being prepared for the extremes of K2’s weather is a challenge, especially at higher altitudes.

IMG_3609

.

Camp 2 on K2. It’s way steeper than it looks. At Camp 1 and 2 you need your boots, crampons, harness and to be clipped into a fixed rope or to a tent if you want to walk around. Broad Peak, the Godwin Austin Glacier, Concordia, and the Baltoro Glacier are all in the background.

IMG_3611

Today we climbed up the Abruzzi ridge about 3000 ft to our Camp 1. The terrain was steep, sometimes up to 70 degrees on snow and rock. We are doing well and will climb to camp 2 tomorrow.

-Garrett Madison

Photos below are taken by Stuart Erskine. Enjoy!

.

Having supper at K2 Advanced Base Camp.

IMG_3577

.

Our guides Garrett and Shinji doing some great domestic duties after supper at K2 Advanced Base Camp. 

IMG_3578

.

Our climbers and guides climbing from Advanced Base Camp to Camp 1 on K2 on July 30, 2016.

IMG_3579

.

Garrett Madison, our expedition leader is leading our group of climbers that are moving toward Camp 1 on K2 on July 30, 2016. 

IMG_3581

.

Climbing from K2 Advanced Base Camp to Camp 1 on fixed ropes.

IMG_3582

.

Climbers arriving around noon to Camp 1 on K2 on June 30, 2016. 

IMG_3583

.

Tent sites are limited at Camp 1 on K2 and the locations are precarious and prone to serious rock fall and avalanche risk. We use Mountain Hardware Trango 3 tents. We use the Trango 3 tents as a one person tent at Base Camp, two person tents on our trek in and climbing on the mountain, and at camps where space is limited or at high altitude camps, we may have three persons per tent. The Trango 3 is well tested in the world’s harshest environments and is one of the most common tents used on many extreme expeditions.

IMG_3584

.

Camp 1 on K2 at 20,000 ft ASL on June 30, 2016. Broad Peak, one of the world’s highest fourteen 8,000 metre peaks and the 12th highest mountain in the world is in the background. The Godwin Austin Glacier is in the valley below and flows down into the large Baltoro Glacier.

IMG_3585

After successfully making it through the Khumbu Icefall yesterday our team has enjoyed a rest at Camp One. Today our lead guides, (Garrett, Conan, and Billy) made a nice breakfast for the team before taking off on a day hike to continue to acclimatize. Everyone is in good health and ready to continue the journey up Mt. Everest tomorrow. With weather conditions stable our team will climb 3-5 hours to reach Camp Two at 6,400m (21,000ft) tomorrow. Spending a couple nights at Camp Two our team will complete their first acclimatization rotation and return to base camp to rest. The views are spectacular and we will have photos up of Camp Two tomorrow!

.

Madison Mountaineering Camp One

Screen Shot 2016-04-21 at 10.01.44 PM

Early this morning our climbers departed from base camp and successfully navigated through the Khumbu Icefall to reach Everest Camp One. Crossing the many crevasse’s with ladders fixed together and steep fixed lines our climbers worked as a team to overcome the obstacles and reach the safety of our tents above the icefall. Our weather reports in the weeks to come will be from our good friend Micheal Fagin with Everest Weather. Michael will be providing tailored weather analytics that provide the most up to date and accurate assessments, allowing our team to make data driven decisions closer to summit day. Right now we are not seeing any storms that may move out of the Bay of Bengal with light precipitation on Mount Everest over the next few days.

Tomorrow our team will go on a 2-3 hour day hike and return to Camp One in the evening. All members are doing well and I’m sure will have a good night sleep after their ascent through the Khumbu Icefall. Below is a shot of Madison Mountaineering Camp One!

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 7.39.52 PM

It’s an early morning as our team gears up for an alpine start toward Everest Camp 1. It is now 2 am and the team is having a light breakfast and grabbing lunch snack packs before taking off into the Khumbu Icefall toward Camp 1. Backpacks and gear were packed before dinner and the stars and moon are out in full. The weather looks great for the ascent and everyone is excited to begin this next stage of their journey.

Yesterday we went up into the Khumbu Icefall for a 3 hour trip up toward the ladders for continued ice practice. All members of the team did very well and moved up and down the fixed ropes with ease. Garrett will be able to send brief messages and pictures via satellite connection and I will upload from base camp. To the top!

 

Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 1.45.08 AM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 1.45.17 AM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 1.45.32 AM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 1.45.42 AM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 1.45.54 AM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 1.46.03 AM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 1.46.16 AM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 1.46.28 AM

Today we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and a few of us wondered around exploring Everest Base Camp throughout the afternoon. Surprisingly it takes about an hour to get from one side of the camp to the other! There are three helicopter landing zones that we found and dozens of camps with climbers gearing up for their first rotations. We met many interesting characters along the way including a man that is here for 6 weeks collecting personal postcards to put into a traveling art gallery. I will try and get pictures and details as his collection grows!

Our team is healthy and ready to make their first rotation up through the Khumbu Icefall tomorrow night. The plan is to trek into the icefall in the morning then relax and double check our gear before taking off at 1am the following night. Our team will spend two nights at Camp 1 and then move up to Camp 2 for an additional two nights. Camp 2 for us is a bigger establishment with a dining tent similar to base camp. Today we met all of the climbing Sherpa that will be with us as we journey to the top.

Photos from our trek around base camp! Enjoy 🙂

Screen Shot 2016-04-18 at 9.49.46 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-18 at 9.50.05 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-18 at 9.50.17 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-18 at 9.50.32 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-18 at 9.50.47 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-18 at 9.51.07 PM

Today was our third day training on the edge of the Khumbu Icefall, with our climbing team gearing up for their first rotation to Camp 1 early this coming week. On the course today we had multiple ladder crossings and fixed rope circuits that continued to challenge the team and allowed each climber to grow stronger. Tomorrow we will rest up and go for a short hike around base camp. All of the climbing team’s in base camp are taking the day off from climbing in the icefall tomorrow in remembrance of the 2014 icefall avalanche.

The weather has been beautiful in the mornings with snow clouds rolling in early afternoon and  throughout the evening. All members of the team are in good health and are excited to begin the next stage of their journey. Our meals are plentiful and delicious, we are all convinced that we will be gaining weight on this expedition.

Screen Shot 2016-04-17 at 9.57.30 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-17 at 9.57.41 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-17 at 9.57.53 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-17 at 9.59.06 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-17 at 9.58.05 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-17 at 9.58.16 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-17 at 9.58.27 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-17 at 9.58.39 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-17 at 9.58.52 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-17 at 9.59.24 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-17 at 9.59.36 PM

Today our team had another great day training on the ice with evening snow showers picking up after dinner. Each day we set up progressively more difficult training courses along the Khumbu Icefall that challenge each of the climbers with different techniques and provide safe procedures for navigating across the ice. Everyone is doing very well and enjoying the training circuits that we have put together. With a couple inches of fresh snow on the ground the views are spectacular with stars in the sky and some of the largest mountains in the world surrounding our camp. Tomorrow we will continue our glacier training and design a new course to challenge each of the climbers. We plan to move to Camp 1 in early next week to begin the acclimatization rotations.  Onward!

Screen Shot 2016-04-16 at 3.01.04 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-16 at 3.01.19 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-16 at 3.01.37 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-16 at 3.01.49 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-16 at 3.02.02 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-16 at 3.02.17 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-16 at 3.02.29 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-16 at 3.02.53 PM

.

Screen Shot 2016-04-16 at 10.02.26 PM

Today Garrett Madison checked in via satellite phone to report that under great weather conditions the team made a successful carry of gear and supplies up to Camp 2 (5492m / 18,020ft) on the north flank of Aconcagua as they prepare to move to Camp 2 tomorrow. This “double carry” strategy (that is, carrying a load of gear up to the next camp and dropping it off, then descending back back down to sleep at the lower camp, then moving up the following day) lightens the load when advancing up the mountain and adds to the acclimatization process following the ‘climb high / sleep low’ approach.

Garrett reports that the team is healthy, strong, and in excellent spirits and are all hoping for continued great weather!
.

Audio dispatch from expedition leader Garrett Madison:

.

Team dinner:

Team Pre-Summit Huddle

Yesterday our team had a successful ascent to Camp 1 at an elevation of 16,100′ on Aconcagua following  Saturday’s carry of food and gear up the mountain. With clear skies and little to no wind our team is enjoying the beautiful weather and spectacular views. All climbers are in great condition and ready to continue the exciting climb all the way to the 22,837′ summit of the Aconcagua, also known as the ‘Stone Sentinel’.  After setting up camp Audrey, Bernd, Ginna, Linda, Walter, Peter, Weny, and Garrett enjoyed an afternoon siesta with gorgeous views to the west looking over Chile as the sun went down. The weather appears to be clear for a great shot at a successful summit in the days to come!

Tomorrow our climbing team will complete a carry to Camp 2 at an elevation of 18,00′ with the estimated summit day in 3-4 days. To the top!

.

Audio dispatch from expedition leader Garrett Madison:

.

Mountain life on the ascent!

128 2016-01-24 Aconcagua DSC_0560

.

Wildlife sighting days earlier while enroute to Aconcagua! ‘South American Fox (photo by Bernd)’

South American Fox (photo by Bernd)

.

Blue skies and moderate wind as our Aconcagua team makes the ascent of the highest mountain in the western hemisphere!

040 2016-01-15 Aconcagua P1020689

.

Onward and upward!

2016-01-23 Descent to Basecamp