Garrett Madison Archives

Vinson & South Pole 2017

Antarctica Expedition Team Reaches the South Pole!

Hi, this is Garrett Madison calling in for the Antarctica South Pole ski expedition. I’m calling in from the South Pole, we made it in here yesterday afternoon and had a wonderful celebratory dinner, toasted some champagne. Today had a tour of the United States – South Pole station. Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. Now we are getting ready to fly by Twin Otter back to Union Glacier Camp where we are going to prepare for our next leg of the journey which is Mt. Vinson. We had a wonderful ski to the South Pole, 60 nautical miles about 110 kilometers everyone did great, beautiful weather. Now were are back to Union Glacier for the next part of our adventure.

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Antarctica South Pole Expedition 2017

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Antarctica South Pole Expedition 2017

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Antarctica South Pole Expedition 2017

January 12, 2017/2 Comments/by Andrew

Vinson & South Pole 2017

Antarctica South Pole expedition ski team at 89.52 degrees

Hello, this is Garrett Madison calling in with the Antarctica South Pole expedition ski team. Today is Tuesday, January 10th and we are at 89.52 degrees 36 seconds. So we’ve got about seven and three quarter nautical miles left to go to the South Pole. We are hoping to get there tomorrow, we can actually see some of the buildings the U.S. have as the research station at the South Pole from our camp here tonight. Everybody is doing great we had an easier day today, not quite as windy and not quite as cold, probably about -25 to -30. And we just had dinner and we are all tucked in for bed, looking forward to arriving at the pole tomorrow and having a little celebration. And then they will give us a tour of the U.S. science station. All is well here in Antarctica and we will check in soon.

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Follow along with our friends at Polar Explorers for exciting news and photos as our team reaches the South Pole! Stay tuned!!

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Antarctica South Pole

January 11, 2017/0 Comments/by Andrew

Vinson & South Pole 2017

South Pole expedition ski team reaches 89.436 degrees!

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the South Pole expedition ski team. Today is Monday, January 9th and we have reached 89.436 degrees. About 16 and three quarters nautical miles left to the South Pole. We are hoping to do it in two more days. Had a great day today, but it was a little cooler with a bit little wind. Temperatures were -35 to -40 celsius but we were able to stay warm with our warm clothing and equipment. Everyone is doing well we are in camp here we’ve had dinner and camp and are tucked in. We are just enjoying a little quite time in our tents before we go to sleep. We look forward to a fun day tomorrow. We will check in soon.

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Follow along with our friends at Polar Explorers for exciting news and photos as our team reaches the South Pole! Stay tuned!!

January 10, 2017/0 Comments/by Andrew

Vinson & South Pole 2017

South Pole Expedition Ski Team – 26 nautical miles to go!

Hi, this is Garrett calling in for the South Pole Expedition Ski Team. Today is Sunday, January 8th and we are currently at 89.34 degrees and we have another 26 nautical miles to the South Pole. Had a great day, little colder today light winds about 10-15knotts. Probably about 1o degrees colder than yesterday, we had to dress a little warmer. The team did great and we covered good distance today and now we are in camp just had dinner all tucked in ready for bed. Probably got another 4, maybe 5 days ahead of us until we reach the pole we are targeting the 12th of January. Perhaps the 11th if we make good time. Everyone is doing well and we are enjoying sunny skies and decent temperatures here in the tent. We will check in soon.

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January 9, 2017/0 Comments/by Andrew

Vinson & South Pole 2017

2017 South Pole expedition reaches 89.24 degrees

Hi, this is Garrett Madison calling in with the South Pole expedition ski team. Today is Saturday, January 7th and we had another great day skiing across the polar ice caps of Antarctica. It has been our fifth day without internet access and we are enjoying the feeling of being unplugged. We had beautiful skies today, hardly any wind no clouds. Just perfect weather for skiing in Antarctica. We are now at 89.24 and we are going to 89.6, at 60 nautical miles to the South Pole. Everyone is doing well, we just had dinner and are tucked into bed and will be up early tomorrow morning, starting our day. Thanks for following along!

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South Pole Fun :)

January 8, 2017/0 Comments/by Andrew

Vinson & South Pole 2017

Ski the Last Degree team reaches 89.14 degrees

Hi this is Garrett calling in for the South Pole team skiing the last degree, that’s the last 60 nautical miles or 110 kilometers. Today is Friday, January 6 and we had a great day skiing, we skied from 9:30AM to 5:30PM. We traveled a good distance, we are now at 89.14. Beautiful day today, no winds, clear skies and no clouds. Just a beautiful day to be out on the polar plateau at about 9,000ft. Just snow in every direction on the horizon. Everybody is doing great, and we just had a good dinner of quesadillas and salmon and looking forward to another day of skiing tomorrow. We will check in soon. Thanks.

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January 7, 2017/0 Comments/by Andrew

Vinson & South Pole 2017

South Pole team reaches 89.07 degrees!

Hey this is Garrett Madison calling in for the ski the last degree to the South Pole team. Today is our second day on our ski journey, we started off from camp at about 9am and skied till about 3pm this afternoon. That’s all daylight, 24/7 down here. Had a good ski today and we got to 89.07 degrees and we are going to 90. We are still probably 6-7 days out from the South Pole minimum. Everyone is doing well, we had a little wind today. The team is strong and feeling good. We had dinner and are tucked in to bed for a good nights rest then get in another day of skiing tomorrow. Hope all goes well on the other side, we will check in soon. One final note we did see a kite today that we believe is Mike Horn. Mike Horn is from South Africa who has been skiing from the coast to the South Pole. I believe we are the first sign of human life that he has seen in the last couple months, it was fun to see Mike Horn on the kite. We will check in again soon.

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South Pole Team 2017

January 6, 2017/0 Comments/by Andrew

Vinson & South Pole 2017

Ski last degree team departs for the South Pole!

Hello this is Garrett calling in it is Wednesday, January 4 for the ski last degree team. Today we were dropped off in a DC 3 Basler aircraft after flying from Union Glacier Camp about four and a half hours down towards the South Pole at the 89th degree. We skied for about an hour, about one mile, and set up camp and now we are tucked in camp and just had dinner and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow our plan is to get up around 7 and head out by 9 and ski for a full day and cover some of the distance between here and the South Pole, which is about 60 nautical miles away, around 110 kilometers. We are happy to be here beautiful weather blue skies a horizon of ice as far as the eye can see in every directions, everyone is having a great time. We will check in again tomorrow. Thanks.

–Garrett Madison

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Preparing team gear for the high adventure ski trip

Preparing team gear out of the DC3 Basler aircraft

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ski last degree team

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Ski Last Degree Team

January 4, 2017/0 Comments/by Andrew

Vinson & South Pole 2017

Flight from Punta Arenas Chile to Antarctica

The weather looks optimal today for our flight from Punta Arenas Chile to Antarctica so we are making final preparations before we board our aircraft this evening, an Illushyn 76. The flight will take about 5 hours to cover the nearly 2000 miles from Punta Arenas to Union Glacier camp, Antarctica, also near Mount Vinson. Once we arrive in camp we will organize equipment for the first objective, skiing the last degree (60 nautical miles or 110 km) to the South Pole. If everything goes according to plan we should reach the South Pole by January 12. After a celebration at the Pole, we will fly by DC 3 aircraft back to Union Glacier camp, where 5 members of the team will then continue via the Illushyn 76 for transport back to Chile. Eight of us will stay at Union Glacier camp and then fly by twin otter aircraft to Mount Vinson base camp, just a 45 minute flight. We will utilize 2 high camps above base camp before making a summit attempt on Antarctica’s highest peak. After climbing Mount Vinson we will fly back to Union Glacier camp and then onward to Chile and then home. Please follow our daily updates with live tracking of the team while in Antarctica.

–Garrett Madison

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Our journey begins in the Tierra del Fuego or ‘Land of Fire’ in Chile’s southernmost city of Punta Arenas, located on the straight of Magellan. A large statue of the famous explorer towers over the town square. Legend has it that those who kiss the statue are destined to return!

January 3, 2017/0 Comments/by Andrew

Aconcagua 2016.01

Climbers depart from Park Hyatt Hotel

After a relaxing breakfast this morning at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Mendoza, our team has finalized their climbing gear and departed for the Aconcagua Park Office. Here our team will obtain their climbing permits. After a afternoon drive to Penitentes, our team arrived at the Ayelen hotel. Here guides Garrett and Wenny will discuss a strategy for the climb and enjoy another beautiful Argentine style dinner, (see below!). Tomorrow our team will begin the trek toward the Vacas Valley near Punta de Vaca (8,000′). Aconcagua, the “Stone Sentinel”, is located in Argentina near the border of Chile, and is the highest mountain outside of Asia. Garrett‘s proven approach for climbing is to properly acclimatize and then attempt the summit with enough extra days built in for bad weather.

For a complete overview of our climbers itinerary please visit our website here.

Awesome pictures here by our expedition leader Garret Madison!

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2016 Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua Climbers (Left to right):

Audrey Cadwallader, Bernd Horsman, Ginna kelly, Linda Wohlgemuth, Walter harris, Peter Horsman, Weny Sanchez, Garrett