Tag Archive for: Camp 2

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

With the collective team all together in Everest Base Camp (EBC), the team spent the majority of today resting up, with an acclimatization hike to get their bodies moving! With the second rotation coming, the team will continue to rest and will spend some more time practicing technical skills in the neighboring Khumbu Glacier to keep their mind and skills sharp before heading further up the mountain. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with today’s dispatch from EBC:

Hello! It’s Friday, April 28th. This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest (8848m/29,032ft) expedition!

Today we had a nice, restful day in base camp (5364m/17,598ft)! All of our climbers are here; our team that did the first rotation up to Camp 1 (6050m/19,849ft) and Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) was taking it easy here in base camp, and our team that climbed Lobuche peak (6119m/20,075ft) recently, and just arrived in base camp yesterday was taking it easy. Although, we did go for an acclimatization hike today just up above base camp. (We) had some great views, nice opportunity to stretch the legs, get some oxygen in the body. We’re just enjoying base camp!

We’re going to start doing a little more technical review over the next few days and start gearing up for our next rotation up to Camps 1 and 2, and touching Camp 3 (7230m/23,720ft)!

It’s great weather at the moment, although there is a little snow in the forecast the next few days. But, the team’s doing well and we’re happy to be here! We’re looking forward to more good days ahead here on Mount Everest.


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:

Everest Express climber, Danah Ali, acclimatizing above Pheriche! (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

The team all gathered together in base camp today after the completion of their first acclimatization rotations! With the first rotation under their belts, the team will enjoy some rest and relaxation the next few days before beginning preparation for their second rotation on the mountain. Expedition guide, Terray Sylvester, checks in with this dispatch from Pheriche:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest (8848m/29,032ft), Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) and Nuptse (7861m/25,791ft) expedition – today is April 27th.

Today our first wave of Everest climbers took a rest day in base camp (5364m/17,598ft) after returning down from Camp 2 after their first acclimatization rotation on the mountain.

Our second wave of climbers hiked back to base camp after successfully summiting Lobuche East (6119m/20,075ft) yesterday morning.

Down here in Pheriche (4371m/14,340ft), I went for a hike with our express climber, who arrived yesterday via helicopter. We went for a great hike above Dingboche (4410m/14,470ft) with fantastic views of Ama Dablam (6812m/22,349ft) and a nice sunny morning!

So, all continues to go well here in Nepal and we’ll be in touch tomorrow!

Everest Express climber, Danah Ali, during today's acclimatization hike. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Everest Express climber, Danah Ali, during today’s acclimatization hike. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)


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:

Our Lobuche East climbers just after summiting this morning! Photo: Tenzi Sherpa

Today was a big day in the Himalayas for the 2023 Madison Mountaineering Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse expedition teams! Over the course of the last few days, our teams have been busy on their first rotations in the Himalayas. Our first wave of climbers successfully completed their first rotation up to Camp 2, and are safely back in Everest Base Camp after descending through the icefall. Further down the Khumbu Valley, our second wave of climbers enjoyed good weather and climbing conditions on Lobuche East, and successfully reached the summit this morning before descending back to the village of Lobuche for the night! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with today’s dispatch from Everest Base Camp:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest (8848m/29,032ft) expedition. Today is Wednesday, April 26.

We’ve got great news to report! Today, our first wave of climbers just returned down to base camp (5364m/17,598ft) from our first rotation up at Camps 1 (6050m/19,849ft) and 2 (6500m/21,325ft). We had a great rotation, four nights up high, and spent time hiking around Camp 2 at 21,300 feet, and made it down safely through the Khumbu Icefall today!

Our second wave of climbers, with guide Cacho Beiza, climbed Lobuche East (6119m/20,075ft) today and reached the summit ridge – beautiful views all around! They are now headed back to base camp tomorrow. So, our team will be all together!

Also, our Everest Express climber, Danah Ali arrived in Nepal and flew to the Khumbu Valley, and was met in Pheriche (4371m/14,340ft) village by guide, Terray Sylvester. She will be integrating with our team in the next few days!

So, we’ve been enjoying good conditions here on Everest. Our Sherpa team has been doing a fantastic job carrying loads up the mountain and helping us climb safely. We look forward to some good weather in the coming days and weeks ahead! 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:

Our team acclimatizing above Camp 1 during an active rest day on April 23! (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

With the bulk of our collective team all in the Khumbu region, the teams are well on their way towards the objectives forthcoming! Our first wave of climbers have had great climbing conditions so far, as they navigated their way through the complex terrain of the Khumbu Icefall and are now spending time acclimatizing in the Western Cwm. After a few days of technical training in Everest Base Camp, our second wave of climbers is on their way to start their first rotation on Lobuche! Expedition guide, Terray Sylvester, checks in with this update from Nepal:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest (8848m/29,032ft), Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) and Nuptse (7861m/25,791ft) expedition – today is April 24th.

Today our first wave of climbers here in Nepal moved from Camp 1 (6050m/19,849ft) to Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft). They plan to spend two nights at Camp 2, and then return to base camp (5364m/17,598ft). That will complete their first acclimatization rotation! The’ve had great conditions so far. They had particularly good climbing conditions two days ago when the moved to Camp 1 up through the Khumbu Icefall. They were essentially the only team in the icefall that night, which made for really pleasant, smooth climbing without any lines!

Meanwhile, our second wave of climbers just left base camp. They hiked down to the village of Lobuche (4940m/16,210ft) today, and tomorrow they’ll move up to the Lobuche high camp, and then hopefully summit Lobuche peak (6119m/20,075ft) the following day. They spent the last two days practicing their technical skills here on the ice towers next to base camp.

So, all is well here in Nepal and we’ll be in touch tomorrow!

The "second wave" about to depart for Lobuche! (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

The “second wave” about to depart for Lobuche! (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Lhotse climber, Karl Yoder, near the top of the Khumbu Icefall! (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Lhotse climber, Karl Yoder, near the top of the Khumbu Icefall! (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Our team in the Western Cwm! (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Our team in the Western Cwm! (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Our "second wave" of climbers training near base camp!

Our “second wave” of climbers training near base camp!

Technical training near base camp!

Technical training near base 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:

The team climbing into the Khumbu Icefall! Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

The first rotation for our Mount Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse teams is underway through the Khumbu Icefall! The team got an alpine start out of base camp and will move up to Camp 1 for the first time on this years expedition. After a few days of rest and training in base camp, the team is psyched and ready to start making their way higher up the mountain! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with today’s dispatch from the Himalayas:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest (8848m/29,032ft) expedition ‘first wave.’ Today is April 22nd, it’s 2:00 A.M and we’re headed out from base camp (5364m/17,598ft) to start our first rotation up to Camps 1 (6050m/19,849ft) and 2 (6500m/21,325ft). Our plan is to go up through the icefall to Camp 1 today and spend a couple of nights there, and then up to Camp 2 for a couple of nights!

It snowed yesterday and it looks like it’s cleared a little bit tonight. We’re excited to head up to the icefall, it looks like we’ll be the only team at the moment climbing up, with a little fresh snow on the route and hopefully a beautiful day ahead! We’ll check in when we’re down in a few days.

Our next wave with Cacho is arriving in base camp later today! All is well here on Mount Everest.


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:

Our 'second wave' of climbers on top of Kala Patthar this afternoon, after hiking to Gorakshep!

While snow fell over base camp, our first team rested today and prepared for their first rotation through the Khumbu Icefall! They plan to wake up around midnight to start their climb towards Camp 1, knowing that they may push back their plan another day due to the fresh snowfall. Not far away, our second team reached Gorakshep and hiked up Kala Patthar. Despite the limited views, the team is in good spirits and psyched for the days ahead! Expedition guide, Terray Sylvester, checks in with today’s dispatch from the Khumbu:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2023 Madison Mountaineering Everest (8848m/29,032ft), Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) and Nuptse (7861m/25,791ft) expeditions – today is April 21st.

Today we took a rest day here in base camp (5364m/17,598ft) while we packed and prepared for our first rotation up to Camp 1 (6050m/19,849ft) for two nights, and then Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) for two nights, and then back down. However, this evening it’s snowing hard in base camp, so there’s a chance we’ll wake up at midnight and defer the beginning of that rotation for another day.

Meanwhile, the other group of climbers here in the Khumbu Valley is in Gorakshep (5164m/16,942ft)! Today they hiked up Kala Patthar (5644m/18,519ft) – great acclimatization hike even though their views were limited due to the storm. And tomorrow they plan to move to base camp!

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:

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive.

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:

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:

Last light on Ama Dablam from Camp 1. Photo: Terray Sylvester

The first members of the Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam team have reached the summit and safely returned to Camp 1! The other members of our team still on the upper mountain are making their summit push right now! Everyone is looking forward to being safely back in base camp and the celebration that follows. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in via Garmin inReach Mini with an update from Camp 1:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Ama Dablam (6812m/22,349ft) expedition team – today is November 5th.

We had a great summit day today – clear skies, calm winds, great views all around! About two-thirds of the team left from Camp 3 (6277m/20,594 ft) this morning – it was 4:00 AM and we reached the top around 9:00 AM, and we made our way back down to Camp 1 (5791m/19,000ft). The other third of our team moved up from Camp 2 (5980m/19,619ft) to Camp 3 today, and they will be going for the summit tomorrow morning, early. Fingers crossed they will have good weather and route conditions, but everyone’s doing well!

We’re just so thrilled that we had an amazing summit day, great weather and conditions all around. It’s been a great expedition! We’re looking forward to getting down to base camp tomorrow and then joining up with the rest of our team the following day for celebration! 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:

Our climber, Brian, with Pemba Sherpa on the way to Camp 2. Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering archive. Photo: Terray Sylvester

The Ama Dablam expedition team is staged to make their summit push from Camp 2 and Camp 3, very soon now! Spirits are high and the weather conditions continue to be all-time. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in via Garmin inReach Mini with this brief update:

We just arrived in Camp 3 (6277m/20,594 ft). Half of our team is here and half in Camp 2 (5980m/19,619ft) now. Nice weather and all good.


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: