The 2023 Madison MountaineeringK2 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).
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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 MountaineeringK2 (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.
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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 MountaineeringK2 (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!
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We are thrilled to announce that the 2023 Madison MountaineeringMount 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 MountaineeringEverest (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.
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https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/PHOTO-2022-05-13-00-39-26-Everests-South-Summit.jpg355766Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2023-05-24 13:43:302023-05-24 15:26:58Top of the World!
The 2023 Madison MountaineeringEverest expedition team is primed and ready to make their summit push on the world’s highest peak! In just a few short hours, the team will emerge from their tents, dawn their packs, and leave the South Col in the direction of Mount Everest’s summit ridge which will take them to the summit. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from the South Col:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison MountaineeringEverest (8848m/29,032ft) and Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) expedition team. Today is May 23rd and we are up here at Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft) on the South Col. We got up here yesterday afternoon and had a good nights sleep, a restful day recovering and preparing for our summit attempt tonight. So the weather looks great, probably the best day of the season coming up, fingers crossed.
The team is ready and our plan is to wake up in a few hours time and head out around midnight to make our summit attempt on Mount Everest! So we are doing our last minute preparations here, finishing our dinner, filling our water bottles, we’ll sleep for 2 hours before we get up and go.
Wish us luck! We’ll check in 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:
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The 2023 Madison Mountaineering team is safely settled into their tents at Camp 4 (C4) on the South Col, between the summits of both Everest and Lhotse. This being their high camp, they plan to take a rest day tomorrow so that they are ready to go when it becomes time to make their summit push! Weather permitting, the team aims to begin their summit push tomorrow night. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with today’s dispatch from C4:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison MountaineeringEverest (8848m/29,032ft) and Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) expedition. Today is May 22nd, and we are up at Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft) on Mount Everest, also known as the South Col here at 26,000 feet or just under 8,000 meters.
We’re doing great! We had a good climb up from Camp 3 (7230m/23,720ft) today – it was a long day. We started at about 6:30 and got up here at about 3:30 in the afternoon. We’ve had dinner and filled up some hot water bottles, changed our oxygen cylinders, and we are getting ready for bed now. Our plan is to have a restful night, rest day tomorrow, and then leave tomorrow night for the summit. So, aiming for May 24th! The weather looks great, snowing right now – it’s been snowing this afternoon, but the wind is supposed to be calm on May 24th and 25th. We’re looking forward to a nice day up here tomorrow to recover, enjoy some good views, and get all prepped and ready for our summit climb tomorrow night!
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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 MountaineeringMount 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:
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With our “first wave” of climbers recuperating and enjoying the comforts of Namche Bazaar, our “second wave” of climbers is currently up at Camp 2 with plans to descend to Everest Base Camp tomorrow. They’ve had a very successful second rotation as they prepare for their summit push! A few members of our team will continue higher into the Himalaya as they make their summit attempt on Nuptse! Expedition guide, Terray Sylvester, checks in with today’s dispatch from Namche Bazaar:
Today our “second wave” of Everest and Lhotse climbers were in Camp 2! They climbed part way up the Lhotse face toward Camp 3 (7230m/23,720ft), and then returned back down to Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) at the head of the Western Cwm. Tomorrow, they plan to descend back to base camp (5364m/17,598ft), and that will wrap up their acclimatization rotation. They’ve spent two nights at Camp 1 (6050m/19,849ft) and three nights at Camp 2 as of tomorrow.
Meanwhile, our “first wave” of Everest–Lhotse climbers are down here in Namche Bazaar (3440m/11,290ft). We flew down here yesterday morning from base camp. It was a beautiful helicopter flight, and since then, we’ve been enjoying hot showers, eating good food and sucking up all the extra oxygen down here, which feels great! So, we’re just resting and biding our time, recuperating for our summit push which is still a little ways off. Right now we’re waiting for high winds to ease on the upper mountain so that our Sherpa team can carry oxygen and other supplies up as high as the South Col (7900m/25,919ft), and then we’ll start looking for a summit window.
Our Nuptse climbers moved up to high camp at the foot of the route this afternoon. They’re currently resting in high camp and preparing for a summit attempt that will start late tonight. Most of the route is fixed, and if the weather permits, then our climbers and our rope-fixing team will complete the route to the summit tomorrow morning.
So, lots of things going on here in Nepal, but all is well and we will be in touch tomorrow!
Camp 1. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)
Climbing out of Camp 1. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)
Climber, Erwin Visser crossing a ladder in the Khumbu Icefall. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)
Our “first wave” of climbers descending through the icefall back to EBC. (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:
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The Madison Mountaineering “second wave” of climbers is busy at Camp 2 acclimatizing, and for some, looking ahead to an ascent on Nuptse! The team has had great weather today, a restful afternoon and evening, and is in high spirits as they look forward to the days ahead. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with today’s dispatch from Camp 2:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison MountaineeringMount Everest (8848m/29,032ft) expedition. Today is May 5th and I’m with the “second wave” with guide, Cacho Beiza and climbers, Eva, Krisli, Danah and Rich, Mark and Steve!
We had a great day starting out from Camp 1 (6050m/19,849ft)where we spent the last two nights, and some of our team that was just up at Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) finishing their rotation is coming down. They were heading to base camp (5364m/17,598ft) today for a good rest!
We climbed up to Camp 2, settled in, and had a nice afternoon and a restful evening, good dinner and just said goodbye to some of our team that were heading up to do a carry to the South Col this evening. They’re planning to climb all through the night and deposit a load of oxygen at Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft), back tomorrow.
For Nuptse (7861m/25,791ft), our rope fixing team is hard at work right now! Today they were able to fix up the ice arête on the Nuptse route, under the rock band, which is good news! They’ll have another good day tomorrow.
All is well up here at Camp 2 on Mount Everest! 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:
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.“
We are pleased to announce the following Madison Mountaineering team members successfully obtained the summit of K2 (8,611 m / 28,251 ft) on July 22, 2022 at approximately 3:00 AM PKT (local time):
#
Name
Country
1
Mr. Terray Ellington Sylvester
USA
2
Mr. Claudio “Cacho” Javier Beiza
Argentina
3
Ms. Nelly Attar
Lebanon
4
Ms. Krisli Melesk
Estonia
5
Mr. Aang Phurba Sherpa
Nepal
6
Mr. Siddhi Bahadur Tamang
Nepal
7
Mr. Dorji Gyeljen Sherpa
Nepal
8
Mr. Kamdorji Sherpa
Nepal
9
Mr. Lhakpa Wongchu Sherpa
Nepal
10
Mr. Mingdorji Sherpa
Nepal
11
Mr. Lakpa Bhote
Nepal
12
Mr. Rinji Sherpa
Nepal
13
Mr. Temba Sherpa
Nepal
14
Mr. Lakpa Sherpa
Nepal
15
Mr. Inayat Ali
Pakistan
All members are now back safely in camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft) and will continue their descent to camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft).
Sunrise on summit day from above the serac.
Climbers on the upper slope of K2, above the serac.
Members of the team at the top of the bottleneck.
Climbers making their way down from the summit!
Looking down from the summit of K2!
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:
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.“
