It’s with great excitement that we share that the Madison Mountaineering environmental restoration expedition team successfully reached the summit of Island Peak! Despite lots of snow accumulation over the days prior, the team persevered and topped out under beautiful, blue skies and with great views of the surrounding Himalaya. The team descended safely and are now making their way down and out of the valley. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from the Khumbu:
Today was summit day on Island Peak (6189m/20,305ft). Our team summited successfully in beautiful weather! It was the first perfectly clear day after several days of snowy, stormy weather here in the Khumbu. And then, descended to Chukhung (4730m/15,520ft).
Tomorrow morning, we are looking forward to heading farther down the valley in what should be another beautiful day. Tomorrow morning we’ll go to Pangboche (3985m/13,074ft).
So all is well here and 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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/162408010015.jpg10371565Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2025-11-02 14:00:292025-11-04 17:50:23Summit success on Island Peak!
The Madison Mountaineering environmental restoration team has descended down the valley to Dingboche after their successful climb on Lobuche East! The team welcomed the comforts of Cafe 4410 – a frequent stop of ours while trekking and climbing in the Everest region of Nepal! It’s been a productive rest day full of pastries, coffee, rest, and communications with friends and family back home. Tomorrow, the team continues on their way to Island Peak! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Nepal:
Today we’re taking a rest day in Dingboche (4410m/14,470ft). We arrived yesterday afternoon after a nice descent through beautiful, snowy weather from Lobuche East High Camp. Today we’ve just been enjoying showers, and catching up on emails and communications with home, and the great food and drink available at Cafe 4410 – one of our favorite places here in the Khumbu Valley!
Tomorrow we plan to move up to Island Peak Base Camp to prepare for our ascent of Island Peak (6189m/20,305ft).
The weather was snowy over the last three days, but actually today, the precipitation has been very light, and the forecast is looking good. We will 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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/PHOTO-2025-10-24-04-48-09.jpg7261024Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2025-10-31 10:17:082025-10-31 15:40:01Enjoying the comforts of Cafe 4410!
The Madison Mountaineering environmental restoration team has been hard at work in the Everest region of Nepal! The team summited Gokyo Ri and began their cleanup initiative, collecting about 16 kilos of waste from Gokyo Ri before moving to Lobuche East High Camp and collecting an additional 61 kilos of trash. Following the cleanup efforts, the team set out to climb Lobuche East, landing all boots on the summit today despite challenging weather conditions, including steady snowfall, limited visibility, and wind. Now safely back in camp, the team plans to rest and descend back down the valley tomorrow. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Nepal:
Today was a great day! We had an excellent summit on Lobuche East (6119m/20,075ft), 100% success! Conditions were a little bit challenging. Yesterday, it began to snow, and the snow continued falling steadily all day today. But, I’m really proud of our team. They did a great job pushing through abnormal conditions on this peak. The visibility wasn’t that great, and it was a little windy on the summit, and the footing was a little tough occasionally because of the new soft snow. But, conditions were safe for climbing and the team did a really great job with everybody touching the summit this morning at about 11 a.m. And then, we made it back down here to base camp, and we’re relaxing. We’ll stay another night here in base camp before descending down to the village of Dingboche (4410m/14,470ft) tomorrow.
We’ve had a great few days here in Nepal actually! Several days ago, we summited Gokyo Ri (4750m/15,583ft), and we started our clean up effort, picking up about 16 kilos of waste from the summit of Gokyo Ri. We’ve also conducted a cleanup here at Lobuche East High Camp. Fortunately, we got that started before the snow fell. We’ve picked up a total of about 61 kilos of waste here at Lobuche East. Now, unfortunately, there’s a lot of snow on the ground, so picking up waste is a little tougher, but we’ll still look for fixed lines and other trash in the days to come – old fixed lines I should say.
So all is well here in Nepal! We’ll be in touch tomorrow.
Our climber Steve with Tendi Sherpa and Guide Terray Sylvester on the summit of Lobuche East (photo by Terray Sylvester)
Guide and Sirdar Aang Phurba Sherpa with the 61kg / 134lbs of waste our team has collected from near Lobuche East High Camp (photo by 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:
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.“
