Tag Archive for: Everest

Our climbers and trekkers have all made it safely from Kathmandu to Tenzing Hillary Airport in Lukla. From here we passed through several Sherpa villages, and entered the beautiful Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park. After crossing the river by suspension bridge, we arrived in the village of Phakding. After a good nights sleep we continued trekking along the scenic Dudh Kosi River through the village of Monjo, then up the steep hill to Namche Bazaar. Currently we are spending our second night in our comfortable lodge acclimatizing and enjoying the sights, cafes and tasty pastries in Namche. This afternoon we saw our first view of Mount Everest!

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Onward and upward!

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Prayer wheel in Kathmandu 

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Early morning flight from Kathmandu to Lukla

Tenzing Hillary Airport

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Tenzing Hillary Airport

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Last chance for Starbucks 🙂 

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Prayer wheel near Lukla

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2017 Mount Everest climbing and trekking team leaving Lukla 

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Relaxing at a local tea house

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Geoff and John

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Amazing views on the trek to Namche

Madison Mountaineering’s 2017 Himalayan expedition team of Everest & Lhotse climbers have arrived from around the world. We are now  in the final stages of logistical preparation before our exciting flight to Lukla. After our short flight tomorrow from Kathmandu to Lukla, we will begin the journey toward Mount Everest, known by the locals as Sagarmāthā. Mount Everest is earth’s highest mountain at 8,848m (29,035ft) above sea level. Tonight our team of trekkers and climbers will enjoy the comforts of the city before we take off early tomorrow morning. Here we go!

Expedition dispatches will be posted here as frequently as possible. Follow us on social media @MadisonMtng on InstagramFacebook, and Twitter!!

Below are some photos of our city tour today around Kathmandu.

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2017 Himalayan

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2017 Himalayan

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Local Nepal street art

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Monkey Temple 

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Money Temple

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Received a departing blessing for a safe passage through the Himalaya.

2017 Himalayan

Our 2017 Everest expedition is preparing to launch! This March we will lead a group of climbers and trekkers from around the world as we journey through the Khumbu Valley toward Mount Everest base camp. If you would like to join our team of trekkers and spend a night at base camp please contact us here. To higher places!

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2017 Everest

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2017 Everest

Our Mount Everest expedition team is now back in Kathmandu after a successful and safe climb of Mount Everest.  All climbers are heading home, after what has been a great experience in the Nepal Himalaya.  On May 19th, our team reached the summit with 7 climbers, 5 guides (1 of whom was working as a high altitude camera man) and 15 Sherpas.  We all made it back down safely without any injuries such as frostbite, etc.  There have been recent fatalities on Everest, and we are thankful that our team was very fortunate and did not suffer any losses.  100% of the climbers who embarked on the summit rotation made it to the top, we are very proud of this achievement.
Our decision to abandon our Lhotse climb after the fatality in the Lhotse couloir was in part ethical and also taking into consideration of the hazardous nature of the existing terrain that likely contributed to that accident, likely no climbers will reach the summit of Lhotse this season.
Thanks for following our climb of Mount Everest!

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Today our climbing team made a safe descent to Camp 2 on Everest and will be arriving into base camp tomorrow. After resting at Camp 4 last night the team enjoyed warm drinks and food after their successful summit. All team members are in good health and look forward to hot showers and thicker air back at base camp. We are expecting the whole team to arrive early afternoon and we will have a celebration in order here at our camp. I will have more pictures up tomorrow and look forward to hearing the team tell of their journey to the top of the world!

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What a day!! Our climbers are now resting at Camp 4 at 7,950m (26,085ft) on Everest after their successful summit bid earlier today. The weather was perfect and the views from what I hear were nothing short of spectacular. Tonight the team will rest on oxygen before descending to Camp 2 tomorrow. Our Lhotse team is waiting and will not make an ascent tonight due to uncertain route conditions. The current plan is to descend together tomorrow and re-evaluate Lhotse conditions before making a decision. All members are in good health and have accomplished what many dream of today.

Will have pictures and videos up as soon as possible! 🙂

Just minutes ago our climbers departed Camp 4 at 7,950m (26,085ft) and began their 2016 Everest summit bid. The team spent the night at the South Col after battling heavy winds on the ascent yesterday. Now well rested having been on oxygen all day, they are ready to begin their push to the top of the world. We will be up all night monitoring the team’s progress throughout the ascent.

Yesterday we had very unusual weather here at Everest Base Camp, snowfall with heavy winds accompanied by a thunderstorm. Our wifi network was knocked offline until early this morning. Tonight the conditions are looking great for our team with low winds and no precipitation on the forecast. We are very excited here and I will update this dispatch tomorrow morning.

To the top!

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The Everest climbing team is safely tucked in for the night at the South Col (Camp 4)! Listen to Garrett’s sat phone audio dispatch:

Hey, this is Garrett Madison calling in from the Everest climbing team. Today is Tuesday, May 17th at 9:30PM and we are tucked in here at the South Col. We moved up from Camp 3 to Camp 4 today. The weather forecast did not play out the way it was supposed to. It was supposed to be a nice, sunny day. But uh, it turned into a very blustery day with high winds and some precipitation in the form of snow coming down. Our plan is to rest tomorrow. Hopefully the weather improves and we can make a summit attempt on the evening of the 18th and hopefully get up to the top the morning of the 19th. So, everyone is doing well. We are all tucked in here at the South Col trying to stay warm and enjoying being here at 26,000 feet. All is well and we’ll check in again soon. Thanks!

Garrett called in via sat phone from Everest Camp 3 on the Lhoste face (7230m/23,720ft) to report:

Hey this is Garrett calling in for the Everest team. Today is May 16th, it’s 5:00PM and we are up at Camp 3! Everyone’s doing great and we are tucked in here getting ready to have dinner and go to bed. Tomorrow we are going to head up to Camp 4 on the South Col. We are on schedule for a summit of May 18th. The weather is looking good. And hopefully Lhotse May 19th! So we are just keeping an eye on the weather and moving up the mountain slowly here. Everyone is doing well and we’ll check in soon.

Early tomorrow morning our climbing team will have the much anticipated departure toward Camp 3 at 7,200m (23,625ft). After spending a few days at Camp 2 waiting for the weather to materialize we are all very excited here for our team’s movement up the mountain. The team is in good health and spirits with bags packed and ready to go. Weather forecasts are looking positive for our summit date of May 18 or 19, seems to be changing between the two days as we receive new weather data. The 18th has higher humidity with lower winds while the 19th has lower humidity but slightly higher winds at 20-30 kilometer’s per hour. Tomorrow our team will reach Camp 3 and spend the night on oxygen.

Happy Birthday to Fred, our virtual reality camera man and guide! He enjoyed a mountain birthday up high at Camp 2 today.

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Beautiful image taken of our climbers!

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