Tag Archive for: Everest

Blessing with the High Lama of the Khumbu Valley

Blessing from Pangboche

Today the team received a blessing with the High Lama of the Khumbu Valley as they made their way from Debuche to Dingboche, as reported by expedition leader, Garrett Madison:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Mount Everest expedition.  Today we trekked up from Debuche to Dingboche, stopping in the village of Pangboche for a blessing with the High Lama of the Khumbu Valley.  It was a very enjoyable, and sacred, special ceremony.  After that, we finished out today off here to Dingboche.  Everyone’s doing great!  Beautiful weather now, the rain’s past, it’s been sunny, warm and beautiful views of all the surrounding peaks.  We’re looking forward to an acclimatization hike tomorrow here in Dingboche and another night in this village before moving up to Lobuche the day after.  All’s well here in Nepal.  We’ll check in soon.  Thanks!

(photo:  Mona Shahab)

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Heading up the trail to Deboche

Today the team has left Namche Bazaar and is heading up the trail to Deboche (3770m/12,369ft).  Here’s Garrett with the update from the trail:

Hi, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest expedition.  We had our blessing today in Namche and now we’re heading up the trail towards Deboche.  Lots of yaks on the trial today carrying loads up and down the valley.  Nice and cool, cloudy, overcast, so not too hot today which is actually a nice change.  Everybody’s doing great and we’ll check in from Deboche.

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Trekkers reach Nachme Bazzar

lunch stop on the way to Nachme

From Lukla, the Everest team has made their way up the valley, overnighting Phakding, and continuing on up the big hill to Namche Bazaar.  Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, provides this report:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest expedition team!  Today is April 5th and we trekked up to the village of Namche Bazaar.  A beautiful day trekking up over the suspension bridges and the river gorge.  Got up to Namche, had a hot shower, and explored some of the village.  We just had a wonderful dinner and we are getting ready to head off to bed.  Everybody is doing great!  We had a beautiful day, not too hot, no rain, some nice mountain views, and everybody’s really happy to be here.  We’ll check in soon.  Thanks!

 

Bridge to Namche

Bridge to Namche

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Lukla and the trek begins…

The team has arrived Lukla and the trek begins to Everest base camp.  Garrett called in from Lukla via satellite phone with this update:

Hello, good morning!  This is Garrett calling in for the Mount Everest expedition.  Today is April 4th and we have arrived in Lukla, Nepal (2850m) in the Khumbu Valley!  This morning we flew from Ramechhap, near Kathmandu, to Lukla and landed about 6:30 AM.  Now, we are having a leisurely start to the day:  a nice breakfast, fresh coffee and getting our bags and gear organized.  So, we are going to head out shortly and trek to Phakding (2640m), the first village for our night here on the trek towards base camp.  Everyone is doing well and are excited to be up in the mountains with the fresh air.  Good views of surrounding peaks with snow and ice on them.  We are ready to get a little exercise and get things underway.  Check in again soon.  Thanks!

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Heading to Ramechhap

Everest 2019 Team Photo

Everest 2019 expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with an update on Day 2 and the team heading to Ramechhap:

Hey!  This is Garrett calling in for the Mount Everest expedition team!  We had a great day in Kathmandu doing gear checks, going out to dinner, had a city tour today, did some final shopping and this afternoon we are leaving to drive from Kathmandu towards the town of Ramechhap (27.393889°, 86.061389°).  Tomorrow morning we are going to fly from there to Lukla (2850m).  The Kathmandu airport is undergoing some renovation repairs right now on the runway.  So domestic flights are a little bit jammed up.  From Ramechhap we should have a smooth flight up to Lukla.  We are looking forward to that tomorrow and getting started on our trek to base camp.  Everyone is doing great and the whole team is here and we are excited!  The weather is good.  We will check in again soon.  Thanks!

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Welcome to Kathmandu

picture of hotel and swimming pool

Welcome to Kathmandu!  The Madison Mountaineering Everest 2019 team has nearly all arrived in Kathmandu to kick off the Everest expedition and base camp trek.  Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, provided this update:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in on April 2, 2019 for the Mount Everest expedition.  Today most of our members are arriving Kathmandu, Nepal.  Later, we are going to do our equipment check and then have a team dinner.  Tomorrow we are going on a city tour.  After the city tour, we are going to prepare for our departure to Lukla.

 

Great weather here in Kathmandu at the minute.  Everyone is doing fine.  There was a big rain storm in southern Nepal recently which didn’t affect us here.  We didn’t even notice it.  Everyone is doing well so far and we look forward to a few more of our members arriving Kathmandu today and getting started!  Thanks for checking in!

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The Blog on alanarnette.com

Garrett on Everest

As Alan Arnette continues his outstanding all-things Everest news coverage, we are delighted to see his interview with Garrett Madison posted today: http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2019/03/28/everest-2019-interview-with-garrett-madison-a-leader-on-everest/.

In addition to our Madison Mountaineering expedition dispatches, Alan’s Everest 2019 blog provides a nexus of information for the ‘big picture’ of the Everest season.  Check it out and be sure to support his drive to end Alzheimer’s.

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Welcome to Everest 2019

Welcome to Everest 2019!  Our annual spring Mount Everest expedition begins in just 45 days.  Our strong team of international climbers will gather at the Hotel Yak and Yeti, our Kathmandu home-base and the launching point of countless Mount Everest expeditions over the years.  Here in Seattle, we are now gathering expedition equipment, food and supplies, making logistical arrangements with our Nepal support staff, and ensuring that all of our climbing team members and trekkers have everything ready to go.  Busy times at Madison Mountaineering HQ!  We are looking forward to our continued best-in-class rate of success and safety on Everest.  Leaders in setting the fixed ropes, we have put the first team on top in 2016, 2017, and 2018.  And we aim to do so again this year!

We are very excited to announce that we have added a second Mount Everest expedition for this year!  In addition to the Spring expedition, we are leading another in the much lesser-climbed Autumn season.  Looking for an alternative to climbing in the busy Spring Everest season?  In Autumn we will pretty much have the entire mountain to ourselves.  The conditions will typically be more winter-like and the days shorter, but the Autumn weather-window should present a great chance for success.

Limited spots on the team are currently available for qualified climbers, contact our office for details.

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Day 41: Main Everest Team moving up!

The main Everest team is at camp 3, with guides Garrett, Conan, Sid with climbers Josh, Matt, Randy, Tym and David. Everyone is doing well. We had a great day with nice weather climbing from our Camp 2 to Camp 3 on the Lhotse Face. The total climb took us about 5 hours. Additionally, After moving into camp 3 we had some soup and have been rehydrating, and enjoying the views from this spectacular location.

Also, we had the pleasure of seeing our advance team of Everest climbers Ed & Ant as they descended the Lhotse face after their successful summit of Mount Everest yesterday with 4 of our amazing climbing Sherpas. They were a little tired which is to be expected. But, they were in good spirits as they made their way down the Lhotse face to our camp 2 where they will spend the night. Tomorrow, they will descend to our Everest base camp.

Furthermore, our second team of Kenton, Ben, and Mark decided to rest today at the South Col high camp (Camp 4) with their Sherpas. They are planning to start their climb tonight!  Fingers crossed for good weather!

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Madison Team Opens Everest Route!

everest route Madison Sherpas open Everest Route!

Our Sherpas worked very hard today to break trail through waist deep snow and some strong winds. They have now established the climbing route to the summit of Mount Everest! They are now back at the south col high camp (camp 4).

The Rope Fixing Team Members are: Pasang Tenzing, Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, Pas Dawa Sherpa, Tenzing Gyalzen, Datuk Bhote, Pemba Sherpa, Jenjen Bhote, Siddhi Bahadur Tamang.

We are happy that our team made the first summit of Mount Everest in 2018. Now, hopefully many other climbers will be able to follow the route safely to the summit over the next week if we have good weather.

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