Tag Archive for: Camp 2

Summit Push Called Off

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

With the recent snow on the upper reaches of K2, our team has made the prudent decision to abort their summit push. While ascending from Camp 3, the team experienced deep snow that accumulated in the days prior and had not fully consolidated. While the whole team made a strong effort to reach  K2‘s summit, it was not meant to be. We are so thankful that our team is safe and look forward to receiving them back into base camp soon. The team is making their descent now and is expected to arrive back in base camp later today.

We are very proud of the entire teams effort and special thanks to our Sherpa team who played an integral role in the expedition, fixing lines above Camp 3 and to the summit. Congratulations to Siddhi Ghising and Ahmed Hussain who are both members of our rope-fixing team and did reach K2‘s summit at 8611m/28,251ft!

Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from K2:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the K2 (8611m/28,251ft) expedition team – today is July 27th.

Today our team made their summit attempt and reached the bottleneck on K2 above Camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft) and decided to turn around due to deep and unconsolidated snow, and several soft snow avalanches. So, they are on their way down and everyone’s doing fine. They’re below Camp 3 (7250m/23,800ft) now on their way to Camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft), and we’re looking forward to welcoming them back into base camp (4968m/16,300ft) later this afternoon!

They had a good climb, good effort getting up to the bottleneck where they decided to turn around around 3:00 AM along with some other teams due to the risk. We’re happy they made the safe call and will be back in base camp later today.

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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Camp 3 – Summit Rotation

Madison Mountaineering clients and guides move from Camp 2 to Camp 3. Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Hello from Camp 3 on K2! Today the team ascended K2‘s famous Black Pyramid and is settled into their tents for the night, with plans to move up to Camp 4 tomorrow! Our rockstar Sherpa team has been helping in the rope fixing efforts with hopes to fix ropes to the summit tomorrow. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with today’s dispatch for the team in Camp 3:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 (8611m/28,251ft) expedition. Today is July 25th and our team is up at Camp 3 (7250m/23,800ft) on the Abruzzi route of K2. It was a good day climbing from Camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft) to Camp 3 up the Black Pyramid. Had some cloudy conditions, but a little bit of sunshine later in the day!

The plan for the team tomorrow is to move up to Camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft) and the rope fixing team, which were proud to be apart of, has been fixing lines from 3 to 4 today. So hopefully climbers can move up to 4 and hopefully they will be able to continue fixing, conditions dependent, go on up through the shoulder, the bottleneck, the traverse and to the summit of K2 on the 27th! So the goal is a summit on the 27th if conditions permit and weather of course. The fixing team is working hard up there, breaking trail through deep snow to put in the ropes for everybody.

All is well here on K2! Fingers crossed that conditions are good for them up there. The weather looks good for the next couple of days. Our prayers are with the team and for good conditions on the mountain.

All is well here on K2! 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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Camp 2 – Summit Rotation

Drone photos of Camp 2 on K2’s Abruzzi Ridge, and surrounding mountains. Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The 2023 Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition team has crawled into their tents at Camp 2, with hopes of continuing on up the mountain tomorrow to Camp 3! The team is doing great so far on their summit rotation. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this brief update from Pakistan:

Our team is up in camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft) now, hoping to reach camp 3 (7250m/23,800ft) tomorrow! Fixing team reached camp 3 and fixed some lines to 400m above en route to camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft).

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 Rotation Underway!

Morning light on Camp 1. Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our summit rotation is on and the team has settled into their tents at Camp 1! With good weather tomorrow, the team plans to continue their push up the Abruzzi Ridge. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Pakistan:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 (8611m/28,251ft) expedition. Today is July 23rd and our team is on the summit rotation and up at Camp 1 (6065m/19,900ft) now and planning to move to Camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft) tomorrow. However, it’s been tough weather recently and the rope fixing team has been delayed in Camp 2 for a couple of days, waiting to move up to Camp 3 (7250m/23,800ft) where they would be fixing Camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft) and beyond. So hoping that tomorrow’s a better day and good weather, good route conditions so the fixing team can move up, our team can move up, and all the other climbers on the mountain who are making their summit rotation at this point. So fingers crossed that!

All is well here at K2! We are here hoping for good weather and praying for some great route conditions up there for the team. This is Garrett Madison checking in from Base Camp (4968m/16,300ft) – all is well.

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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Acclimatization Rotation: Complete

Morning light on the summit of K2 from the Madison Mountaineering base camp. Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

After five nights spent on K2 during their acclimatization rotation, the team has safely and successfully descended back down to base camp! We had a great rotation up on the mountain, familiarizing ourselves with the route and acclimatizing to the altitude that we’ll experience during the summit rotation. The team plans to spend the next few days resting and preparing to make their summit push! With good weather in the forecast, the team will look to head back up the mountain soon, only this time going for the summit. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from K2 Base Camp:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 (8611m/28,251ft) expedition. Today is July 19th and our team is all in base camp (4968m/16,300ft) resting and doing well! Yesterday the team came down from Camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft), descending all the way from Camp 2 to Base Camp after concluding a great rotation – five nights of acclimatizing up on the route between Advanced Base Camp (5303m/17,400ft), Camp 1 (6065m/19,900ft), and Camp 2.

The weather has been really nice! Sunny skies, it’s warmed up quite a bit, and we are just getting ready to strategize for our final rotation – our summit push, which hopefully will come in a few days time. We’re watching the weather forecast and working with other teams, coming up with a good plan for fixing the final ropes from Camp 3 (7250m/23,800ft) to Camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft), and onto the summit!

So everyone is doing well here in K2 Base Camp 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:

– 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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Acclimatization Rotation – Camp 2

Drone photos of Camp 2 on K2’s Abruzzi Ridge. Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Good news from K2! The Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition team’s acclimatization rotation has gone smoothly so far and will come to a conclusion tomorrow with the team descending back to base camp. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Pakistan:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 (8611m/28,251ft) expedition. Our team is up at Camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft) currently doing well on their acclimatization trip. (It’s) their first night up at Camp 2 and they reported good conditions climbing up from Camp 1 (6065m/19,900ft) today. Our Sherpa team and Pakistani porter team is also up in Camp 2 and they are planning to carry the oxygen and supplies up to Camp 3 (7250m/23,800ft) tomorrow.

So the first rotation is going well and it looks like some good weather ahead in the forecast for the next couple of days. So we’re looking forward to more good days climbing on K2!

This is Garrett calling in from base camp (4968m/16,300ft). All is well here on K2! 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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First Rotation Coming Up!

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The 2023 Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition team is primed and ready to move up the mountain for their first rotation! They’ve completed technical trainings to sharpen their skills for what they’ll face in the climbing ahead, organized their gear, and all there’s left to do is start the climb. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this update from K2 base camp:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 (8611m/28,251ft) expedition team. Today is July 12th and we had another great day here training in base camp (4968m/16,300ft), reviewing all of the fixed line climbing techniques with the ascender and repelling down. We got organized for our first rotation – the plan is the team will head up to advanced based camp (5303m/17,400ft) tomorrow on the 13th, spend one night, and then head up to Camp 1 (6065m/19,900ft) for a couple of nights and up to Camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft) for a couple of nights. Back down in base camp by the 18th.

So the weather forecast is looking very [garbled] the next few days. Our team is ready to go and gain some altitude on K2, and get some good acclimatization in! So, all is well here in base camp. 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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Lhotse Summits!

On May 25th at approximately 10:25 AM local time, our team of Lhotse climbers successfully reached the summit of the world’s fourth highest peak and are returning to Camp 2! We are extremely proud of the team and this tremendous accomplishment. With that, we are pleased to present the 2023 Madison Mountaineering Lhotse summiteers list:

# NAME COUNTRY
1 Garrett Madison United States
2 Debbie Bulten Canada
3 Danah Al Ali United Arab Emirates
4 Javier “Cacho” Beiza Argentina
5 Peter Horsman Netherlands
6 Lakpa Sherpa Nepal
7 Aang Phurba Sherpa Nepal
8 Dawa Tenji Sherpa Nepal

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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Top of the World!

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

We are thrilled to announce that the 2023 Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition team has successfully reached the summit of the tallest mountain on Earth, and safely returned to their tents at Camp 4! The team all reached the top between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM NPT (local time) and enjoyed a magnificent summit day complete with sunshine, little wind, great route conditions, and the route (mostly) to themselves.

Congratulations to the team and and a heartfelt thank you goes out to our rockstar Sherpa team and support staff! This incredible feat would not be possible without them.

Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with today’s dispatch as he tries to find the words for a truly special day on Mount Everest:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in from the South Col (7900m/25,919ft) for the Madison Mountaineering Everest (8848m/29,032ft) and Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) expedition team. We had a great summit today on Mount Everest! Best summit day ever that I can remember.

We started about 2:00 AM after a brief snowstorm here on the South Col, made our way up the triangular face to the balcony, up to the south summit, and up to the top of the world – summit of Mount Everest, about 9:30 – 10:00 AM. It was a glorious day! The best conditions and best route conditions that I can remember, perfect weather. It was warm, hardly any wind, hardly any other climbers on the mountain. We spent about two hours total, some of us, after summit just basking in the views, warmth and enjoying being at the top of Mount Everest. So, we had eight clients, four guides and 15 Nepal Sherpas get to the top today, including Aang Phurba Sherpa. And now, we’re all back safe in Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft)!

Our plan is to go to bed, we just had some dinner. Some of us are going to wake up in a few hours, and head off to climb Lhotse – a neighboring peak of Mount Everest, the fourth highest mountain in the world.

So, the perfect summit day! (I) can’t believe how lucky we were, it was so nice up there. So lucky in so many ways! It was a glorious day and glad we’re all back safe.

Tomorrow some of us will go to Lhotse, the rest of us down to Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft), and the following day down to base camp (5364m/17,598ft). All is well here on Everest! 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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Summit Push – Camp 3

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Onward and upward! Having rested up yesterday, the team got back to work today and climbed part way up the Lhotse Face to Camp 3 (C3) where they are settled into their tents for the night. With good weather, they’ll continue on up the mountain tomorrow to their high camp at 7,900m / 25,919ft. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from C3:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest (8848m/29,032ft) and Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) expedition. Today is May 21st, and today we climbed from Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) up to Camp 3 (7230m/23,720ft). We left a little after 6:00 AM and had great weather today, sunny and clear all the way up to Camp 3. Then moved into our tents, had some lunch, relaxed… We had a little bit of snow in the afternoon, some clouds, but nice weather overall, hardly any wind.

The team’s doing great and we are really excited to climb up to Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft) tomorrow! Thank you for following along and we will 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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