Tag Archive for: Cho Oyu

Madison Mountaineering team tops out on Cho Oyu!

From the summit of Cho Oyu!

It comes with much excitement to share that the Madison Mountaineering expedition team has reached the sixth-highest summit on Earth of Cho Oyu! Starting in the dark, the team emerged from their tents under clear, starry skies and started up the route. With our amazing Sherpa team leading the way having to break trail and help fix lines to the summit, the team moved strongly as they moved up the route. After reaching the top, the team embraced with hugs, high-fives, and a short celebration before snapping some photographs and turning back the way that they came. A huge congratulations goes out to the team! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checked in with this dispatch from Camp 2 on Cho Oyu:

Hello, this is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team!

Well, today is October 13th, and we finally made the summit of Cho Oyu! Glorious day, beautiful views all around, good climbing conditions. I’m very proud of our team, myself, along with our three climbers who continued on, Denisa, Nicole, and Serge, along with our amazing Sherpa team, Dawa Tenji, Siddhi, Ming Dorchi, Temba, and Lhakpa Wongchu. Just an amazing crew!

Great team work. We stuck it out over a week past the end of our expedition end date to wait out the storm, the high winds. Our Sherpa team led the way up the route today and broke trail and help fix lines to make it climbable for us.

So, fantastic day here! We’re heading down. We’re at Camp 2 making our way down, and just admiring the beautiful views here. It’s been a wonderful expedition here on Cho Oyu in Tibet!

On fixed-lines climbing up towards the summit.

On fixed-lines climbing up towards the summit.

Looking out at the surrounding Himalaya while climbing up the route.

Looking out at the surrounding Himalaya while climbing up the route.

Some of the team on the summit!

Some of the team on the summit!

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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Cho Oyu team ready for the summit push!

Blue skies while climbing towards High Camp on Cho Oyu.

The Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team is settled into their tents for the evening in high camp, with plans to leave for the summit in just a few hours! Under the cover of darkness, the team will awake for their alpine start, get kitted in their summit gear, hydrate and fuel before shouldering their packs and leaving for the sixth-highest summit on the planet. It was an excellent day climbing from Camp 1 to Camp 2, and we hope for more good conditions on the rest of the route! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this pre-summit push dispatch from High Camp on Cho Oyu:

Hello, this is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu team.

We are up at High Camp – 7,200 meters, about 23,600 feet. We did great today climbing up from Camp 1 to Camp 2, up over the ice cliff. We’re all tucked in here, ready for bed. We’re gonna sleep for a few hours and then wake up and depart to climb up towards the summit around midnight.

So, beautiful evening here, wonderful views, amazing sunset here from High Camp. Fingers crossed we get lucky with some good conditions tomorrow. No one summited the mountain in oh, almost two weeks since before the big snowstorm and the high winds came in.

So, wish us luck, and we’ll check in soon!

Sunset as seen from High Camp this evening.

Sunset as seen from High Camp this evening.

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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Cho Oyu expedition team reaches Camp 1

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archives.

The Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team has safely arrived at Camp 1. The team is settled into their camp, spirits are high, and views of the surrounding Himalayan giants plentiful. The team will rest here tonight, hydrating and acclimatizing before continuing their ascent toward Camp 2 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 rotation about to begin!

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archives.

Here we go! The highly anticipated Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition’s summit rotation is about to begin. Despite multiple hurdles along the way, the team has stayed motivated and in good spirits. With the climbing set to resume again tomorrow and a possible summit date on October 13, the team is psyched and ready to go! After a good nights rest in our advanced base camp, we’ll shoulder our packs and begin the move up the mountain. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Cho Oyu:

Hello, this is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team.

Today is October 10th, and we are finally going to make our summit rotation. We’re heading up tomorrow on the 11th to Camp 1, hopefully Camp 2 on the 12th, and then go for the summit on the 13th. So wish us luck!

Looks like the winds are finally dropping here on the night of the 11th or morning of the 12th. So fingers crossed we have good conditions. No one’s been up on the mountain since before the big storm. So, hopefully the high winds have scoured the upper slopes and it’s good climbing and clear skies ahead!

So, we’ll check in soon! All’s well here on Cho Oyu.

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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Watching for our window

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archives.

The Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu team is settled back into advanced base camp and waiting for their weather window to move up the mountain and go for the summit. While we’ve been enjoying the sunny skies in camp, high winds continue to hit the upper mountain. The team plans to continue evaluating weather and route conditions, hoping for an opportunity to move up the mountain in the next few days! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this update from advanced base camp on Cho Oyu:

Hello, this is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team!

We are back up here in our advanced base camp and it seems like the weather has been improving. We’ve got some sunshine, but the winds are quite strong at the moment. Sounds like they’re going to be strong through about the 11th of October. So, we’re just watching the forecast, and boy, there’s a lot of snow here in base camp from the big snowstorm, probably about a meter or so.

But we’re happy to be here with our Sherpa team, and we’re doing well. 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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Back in Advanced Base Camp

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archives.

The Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team returned to their advanced base camp today which sits at the foot of the climbing route. After spending the last few days at lower elevations, the team is psyched and ready for a possible summit attempt in the coming days! The team will evaluate weather and route conditions before starting up the mountain. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this update from Cho Oyu:

Hello, this is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team – today’s October 7th.

We have returned to advanced base camp. We left Tingri this morning at 8:00 a.m., and drove up to the trailhead and started trekking at 9:00 a.m and got into camp about 6:30-7:00 p.m. this evening.

So it was a good day! We’re glad to be here, and a lot of snow here in our advanced base camp. But, everybody’s doing well. We’re looking forward to a good night’s rest!
Nice to be reacquainted here with our Sherpa team. They’ve done a great job holding down camp here the last few days, and we’re going to see what lies ahead! 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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Garrett Madison joins CNN

Over the weekend, a storm hit the Himalayas that dropped over a meter of fresh snowfall in some places, leaving hundreds stranded in different areas. The Madison Mountaineering team remains safely in Tingri, with plans to resume the Cho Oyu expedition when the weather improves. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison joined CNN to comment on the storm and it’s impact on the current climbing and trekking season:

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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Waiting to move back to ABC

Waiting out the storm in Tingri!

The Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team is in Tingri, waiting out the snow storm that hit the Himalayas over the last few days. A huge shoutout to our Sherpa team who has been keeping the camp in order! Without them, these expeditions would not be possible. The team is looking forward to moving back up to camp again soon! Once back in advanced base camp, our sights will turn to the summit with the highly anticipated summit rotation set to start when weather and route conditions allow. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Tibet:

Hello, this is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu (8,188m/26,864ft) expedition team.

We are down in Tingri at about 14,500 feet. We dropped down a couple of days ago from advanced base camp to wait out the big snowstorm that hit the Himalayas the last couple of days. Sounds like our advanced base camp got about four feet of snow. So we’re very thankful that our Sherpa team was up and taking care of our tents to make sure they didn’t collapse under the big snowfall.

We’re going to try to head up to advanced base camp tomorrow if we can to rejoin our Sherpa team there and set our focus on the climb of the upper mountain.

So fingers crossed we get some good weather and good route conditions in the days ahead, 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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Resting up for the summit rotation!

Cho Oyu

The Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team is back in Tingri resting up and getting ready to make their summit rotation! With some weather expected to roll in over the weekend, the team is taking advantage of the lower altitude to rest, breathe in some extra oxygen, and enjoy a few acclimatization hikes. Once the weather clears, the plan is to head back up to Advanced Base Camp on Monday and continue the climb! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Tibet:

Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team.

We have dropped down from Advanced Base Camp to Tingri at about 14,000 feet to wait out the big snow storm that’s expected to hit later tonight for a couple of days over the weekend. So, our plan is to hunker down here in Tingri and enjoy the lower elevation, soak up the oxygen, get in a few hikes, and then we’ll head back up to Advanced Base Camp on Monday to resume our expedition climb.

Hopefully we get lucky with some good conditions up there on the upper mountain! We had a good first rotation last week – couple nights at Camp 1, we climbed higher up towards Camp 2. Beautiful views up there, but we decided to drop back down to rest up. Fingers crossed for good weather next week and hopefully a summit attempt!

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 done on Cho Oyu

Looking up towards the summit from Camp 1 on Cho Oyu

The Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team is back in their base camp after a successful rotation up the mountain to Camp 1 and beyond. Climbing to nearly 22,000 feet, the team had excellent weather, great views, and good times on the world’s sixth-highest peak! The team is in good health and high spirits, glad to be back at base camp enjoying some well-earned rest before the next phase of the expedition. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison check in with this dispatch from Cho Oyu:

Hello, this is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu (8,188m/26,864ft) expedition team.

Today is September 30th, and we’ve just come back down to base camp from our first rotation up in Camp 1 (6,400m/21,000 ft) for a couple of nights. We climbed up a little bit higher on the route to about 21,700 feet, had some good weather up there, some nice views, and now we’re back down in base camp.

We’re going to rest and get ready for the summit push here. It looks like there might be a big storm coming in on October 4th and 5th, so we might have to delay until after that big precipitation event, so we’ll keep watching the weather.

Meanwhile, everyone’s doing good. We’re happy to be back down in base camp and looking forward to some good rest here.

All is well on Cho Oyu! We’ll check in soon.

Looking out the tent door in Camp 1

Looking out the tent door in Camp 1

Alpenglow on Cho Oyu as seen from base camp

Alpenglow on Cho Oyu as seen from 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:

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