We left Lobuche, and heading towards Gorak Shep as we make our way closer to Everest. Yesterday we had a light snow in the evening so today its blue sky with the sun reflecting off the new snow. Furthermore, Everyone is doing well and we are excited to climb Kala Pattar this afternoon! Tomorrow we plan to reach Everest base camp.
Tag Archive for: Everest
Arrived At Dingboche!
Today we awoke to a clear sky in the village of Dingboche, enjoyed our breakfast, then went on an acclimatization hike . Our Team reached an elevation of 16,300 ft. The views of Ama Dablam, Makalu, and Cho Oyu were spectacular as well as the view over the villages of Dingboche & Pheriche. This afternoon we enjoyed coffee and pastries in the french bakery and now are sitting down for dinner, everyone is doing well. We are excited to continue our trek tomorrow and make our way closer to Mount Everest!
Depart From Namche!
We have had 2 great days on the trail trekking up towards Everest base camp. The weather has been cool and moist which is a pleasant suprise as normally its warm and dusty during the first half of the trek. Our friends at the Panorama lodge in Namche gave us a blessing before we said our good byes, then we made our way to the Tengboche monastry for a short visit and then to the Rivendell lodge for the night. Today, we had our first glimpse of Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse, then trekked to the village of Pangboche for a blessing with the high lama, and onwards to the village of Dingboche where we will stay for 2 nights. Everyone is doing well!
Arrived At Namche!
Today we awoke to clear skies in the village of Namche ,enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the Panaroma Lodge and then went on an acclimatization hike up to Everest View Hotel. Mount Everest was hidden behind some clouds but Ama Dablam was visible and also part of Mount Lhotse. We enjoyed some lemon tea as we admired the view and then descended back to Panaroma Lodge in Namche. Everyone is doing well as we slowly make our way up the Khumbu valley towards Mount Everest !
Today we had breakfast at 7 AM in the sunrise lodge in the village of Phakding. Afterwards we made our way through the lush valley and across suspension bridges to the village of Namche, the capital of t he khumbu. We just finished a marvelous dinner at the Panorama lodge and are ready to fall fast asleep! Another great day in the khumbu as we trek closer to Mount Everest!
Arrived At Lukla!
Today we flew early this morning from Kathmandu to Lukla, and then had a hearty breakfast in the Paradise lodge. We set off and enjoyed a casual day trekking up the Khumbu valley to the village of Phakding. It is wonderful to be enjoying the fresh mountain air and exercising after the long journey to Nepal from the USA. All members of our trekking and climbing team are doing well! The team heading up the trail!
Team Arrived At Kathmandu!
Our Mount Everest climbing team and trekking team is in Kathmandu and scheduled to fly to Lukla tomorrow . They will begin to trek to base camp from there! Today everyone is sightseeing around Kathmandu and excited to get up to the fresh mountain air in the Khumbu valley! Please check out the tracking links above for location of the team as they make their way up to Everest base camp. Stay tuned for more dispatches…
Yesterday at 9:15 AM the Madison Mountaineering team reached the top of the Unclimbed Peak, Tharke Khang, located in the Nepal Himalayas near Mount Everest at over 22,000′ (6670m). We began our summit day just after midnight on November 3rd, and departed our high camp (19,200′ / 5820m) on the Nup La glacier near the China – Nepal border at 2 AM. This was the culmination of more than a year’s planning, we were anxiously anticipating what the route to the summit would entail, and wondering if we would be able to ascend to the top of a peak that no climbers had yet attempted before us. Although seemingly doable in our eyes from google earth and helicopter reconnaissance, we expected the route would likely have some unexpected challenges in store for us, perhaps preventing us from reaching the summit.
From our high camp we traversed the Nup La glacier 45 minutes to the North Face of the peak, ascending a firm 45 degree snow slope about 500 ft. up to the ridge line, breaking through the corniced ridge, then ascending the ridge through varying degrees of steepness, sometimes vertical for sustained portions. Over the previous 2 days our team had ascended about two thirds of the route and placed fixed ropes over the steep and exposed sections, however the remaining 1/3 of the route to the summit was still unclimbed and our plan was to find and establish this portion of the route as we climbed on our final summit push, in a ‘make or break’ style. As our team ascended the route in the very cold and dark night, we were divided into two groups. The first group was focused on climbing ahead and fixing (problem solving) the remaining portion of the route and the second group was making steady progress towards the goal of reaching the top. I climbed with my friends Aang Phurba and Lakpa Dandi Sherpa, Aang Phurba led the final steep pitches to the ridge just before the highest point on the peak. Aang Phurba and I have climbed together many times in recent years on Mount Everest, K2, Lhotse, etc. His brother was part of my team in 2014 on Mount Everest and perished tragically during the avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall on April 18th that ended the climbing season for us, Aang Phurba and I have a special bond that goes beyond the singular focus of climbing.
Before reaching the summit, Lakpa Dandi and I climbed up to join Aang Phurba just below the highest point on the peak, unfurled some prayer flags and silk Khata scarves, anchoring them near the top where they would float in the breeze, then together walked the final steps to the highest point and true summit of Tharke Khang. We could not have had a better day for climbing in the Himalayas, there was not a cloud in the sky and only a small breath of wind. We gazed upon Mount Everest, Mount Lhotse, Mount Cho Oyu, and many other of the surrounding Himalayan peaks. Shortly thereafter, a few of our other climbers ascended to the summit and reveled in the majesty of this spectacular mountain range on such a glorious day. After savoring our time at the summit, we began our descent down the ridge, a series of rappels over exposed terrain, where often both sides of the ridge dropped away into nothingness. After descending around 2800′ (910m) we traversed the Nup La glacier back to our high camp and settled in for the night. Today, we awoke at 6 AM and helicoptered down to our base camp located at the Gokyo 5th lake, then continued by helicopter to Kathmandu for a celebratory dinner this evening. It’s been somewhat of a culture shock for us today, going from isolation in a high altitude alpine zone in a remote corner of the highest mountain range on Earth, to a bustling city. We all feel very blessed to have concluded a safe climbing expedition in a beautiful mountain environment, and to now be heading home to our friends and loved ones. For me personally, yesterday was an extra special summit day, as it was my 39th birthday and I was able to share it with friends in a spectacular place never before visited by anyone.
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On November 3rd our unclimbed peak expedition team reached the Tharke Khang summit! Garrett Madison checks in via satellite phone and reports beautiful conditions with views of surrounding peaks in the Himalayas. Our climbers will now descend to high camp to eat and rest up. Nice work team!
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Audio dispatch by Garrett Madison
Mount Everest 2017 Guide Sidney Pattison: 35 year old
Hometown: Winthrop, WA
First started climbing in the North Cascades, first big peak was the west ridge of Forbidden Peak at the age of 16. In 1997, became intern at the Northwest Mountain School, led climbs on Glacier Peak, rock instruction at Smith Rock, other mountaineering programs on Mount Baker, etc.
Notable ascents include ski decent of Denali, unclimbed peaks in the Himalayas (7000m), Mount Baker & Mount Shuksan combo in 1 day.
Favorite mountaineering equipment:
-ATC guide, due to the auto blocking abilities for both belaying and rappelling. Can be used as a rope ascension device, for crevasse rescue, a simple device without any mechanical parts.
-Down Suit: Mountain Hardwear Absolute Zero Suit: A slim fitting one piece suit with deep hood, pockets in all the right places, and good length on the arms and legs, doesn’t bunch up in the middle.
Sid is very excited to be guiding Mount Lhotse with our team, the 4th highest peak in the world at 27,940’ (8516m). The Lhotse couloir will be the final ascent route to the summit of Lhotse. The couloir is the ‘corridor to the impossible’, allowing one to be in a place where without that ‘weakness’ the climb would be near impossible. As Madison Mountaineering is the only guide company regularly offering the ‘Everest & Lhotse’ combination climb, this means that climbers will reach the summit of Mount Everest and then return to high camp at the south col (Camp 4), rest about 9 hours then depart high camp to climb to the summit of Lhotse, usually reaching the summit of Lhotse the next morning just after sunrise. Sidney will be waiting for our team to return from the summit of Everest to high camp, and then he will be fresh to climb with us to the summit of Lhotse. As the support person at high camp while we are on our Mount Everest summit attempt, Sid will also be supporting us by looking after the camp with our Sherpa staff that remain in high camp preparing water, food, and making sure the tents are secure as high winds regularly torment the South Col high camp, resulting in many tents blowing away.
Sidney is scheduled to guide our unclimbed peak expedition in the Gokyo region of Nepal (near Mount Everest) this autumn, a beautiful virgin peak over 6000m! This will be an amazing experience with aesthetic ridge climbing on steep snow, ice, and rock!
In the late winter and early spring before our Mount Everest season Sidney works as a heli ski guide in the North Cascades of Washington State. During the summer Sidney works as a mountain guide on Mount Rainer and other notable peaks in Washington State such as Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan, Mount Olumpus, and the North Cascades, etc.
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