Tag Archive for: Kathmandu

A perfect day to fly!

The whole team starting the journey up the Khumbu Valley! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering Himalayan expedition teams awoke early to their alarm clocks this morning with excitement for the day ahead of them. After checking out of the hotel and hauling our duffel bags downstairs, we loaded the bus and we’re on our way to begin the next leg of the journey – an exciting helicopter flight from the capital city to Lukla! After lifting off and flying high above the city below, the city streets soon disappeared and turned into steep terraced hillsides, which later revealed crystal clear views of the Himalayas as we climbed higher and higher into the sky. Full of excitement from an awesome flight and with bellies full after a nice breakfast, we hit the trail en route to our first stop on the way into the Khumbu. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Phakding:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the fall 2024 Madison Mountaineering programs in the Khumbu Valley. Today we flew from Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft) to Lukla (2860m/9,383ft) – we took helis! It was a beautiful flight, maybe one of the clearest flights that I’ve ever had coming into Lukla. We had great views of the mountains all the way in, landed in Lukla earlier this morning, then we had a nice breakfast at the Paradise Lodge, and walked here to Phakding (2610m/8,562ft)! And again, the weather was just fantastic all day – really nice temperature and good views of the hills and higher peaks around us.

We just had lunch and now we’re settling in with the nice white noise of the Dudh Koshi River, not too far away. We’re looking forward to another good day tomorrow when we’ll walk from Phakding up to Namche Bazaar (3440m/11,290ft)! We’ll be in touch then.

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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Hello from Nepal!

The team at their welcome dinner tonight!

The Madison Mountaineering team is back in Nepal this season with several different teams trekking and climbing around the Himalayas! After a long day of travel, everyone has arrived and is looking forward to the days ahead after some rest and final preparations. Together, we’ve gone through a gear check and orientation, capping off the day with a fun dinner at a nice restaurant nearby the hotel. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Kathmandu:

Hello! This is Terray calling in from Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft) for the Madison Mountaineering programs in Nepal’s Khumbu Valley this fall – today is October 20th. Over the last 48 hours, our guests have been arriving in Kathmandu. Today, we kicked off our fall programs with an orientation and gear checks here at the Yak and Yeti Hotel, and then we just wrapped up a really nice welcome dinner at Mezze restaurant in the downtown core of Nepal’s capital city, just a block from the former royal palace.

We have guests heading out on a variety of programs! We have our Ama Dablam (6812m/22,349ft) climbing team, we have guests heading to Everest Base Camp (5364m/17,598ft), and we have some people who will trek to Everest Base Camp and then climb Island Peak (6189m/20,305ft) and Lobuche East (6119m/20,075ft). We have some folks who are heading out on the three passes loop up into the Gokyo area, and then looping back in toward Everest Base Camp and some of the popular 6,000-meter peaks in the area.

So we have a lot of activity underway here in Nepal and we’re looking forward to a really great season! Tomorrow we plan to do our pre-expedition city tour here in Kathmandu, and then the following day hopefully, we’ll start making our way up toward Lukla (2860m/9,383ft). So, all is well here in Kathmandu and we’ll be in touch!

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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City tour in Kathmandu!

Members of our Fall Khumbu Valley programs pose for a team photo with a sadhu (Hindu holy man) at Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering team ventured out into the bustling city of Kathmandu today for a tour of some of its most important sites! After a wonderful visit to both the Pashupatinath and Boudhanath Temples, the team was free to do as they liked and spent the rest of the day walking the city streets, resting, and packing for the move tomorrow! With good weather in the forecast, we’ll meet on the helicopter pad for our flight to Lukla where the trek officially begins. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Kathmandu:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the fall 2024 Madison Mountaineering Khumbu Valley programs, our Ama Dablam (6812m/22,349ft) climb, Everest Base Camp (5364m/17,598ft) treks, and Island Peak (6189m/20,305ft), Lobuche East (6119m/20,075ft) climbs.

Today, we visited Pashupatinath Temple and Boudhanath Temple here in Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft). That was our usual city tour before we fly out to the Khumbu Valley. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day here in Kathmandu and we had a really nice time visiting those two UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll wake up early and take helicopters up to Lukla (2860m/9,383ft) if all goes as planned and if the weather allows us to fly. So far the forecast is looking good! So, we’ll be in touch tomorrow.

The Madison Mountaineering team during our city tour at Pashupatinath Temple. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering team during our city tour at Pashupatinath Temple. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Members of the team snapping photographs at Boudha Stupa. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Members of the team snapping photographs at Boudha Stupa. (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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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Manaslu team back in Kathmandu!

Our climbers, Sherpa team and base camp staff posing for a final team photo before leaving base camp a few days ago!

The Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition team arrived back in Kathmandu after an exciting heli ride, following several days of waiting the weather out in the mountains. The team had excellent views throughout the entire flight of awe-inspiring peaks high above and the valleys, rivers, and waterfalls below. Upon reaching Kathmandu and settling back into our team hotel, the team went out for one final meal together before boarding their planes back to their home countries – a fantastic way to end an unforgettable expedition! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Kathmandu:

Hello! This is Terray calling in with the final dispatch of the 2024 Madison Mountaineering Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) expedition – today is September 30th.

We spent the last few nights in Sama village waiting for the weather to clear so that we could fly back to Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft). Late last week and into the weekend, a really heavy precipitation system came into Nepal which brought very heavy snow to the mountain. But this morning, fortunately, we woke up to perfectly clear, blue skies and so we were able to take a heli back to Nepal’s capital! It was a fantastic flight following the Budhi Gandaki River with beautiful glaciated peaks high above us on either side and really spectacular waterfalls pretty much the whole way till you get down into the foothills in the Gorkha District of Nepal.

We landed in Kathmandu mid-morning! We just wrapped up our farewell meal. It’s a beautiful evening here in Kathmandu and this evening our guests will start to depart for home – the last members of the team will leave tomorrow morning.

So, all in all it was a very successful expedition, 100% success on the planet’s eighth-highest peak! I for one am really looking forward to the next trip to Nepal. We’ll be in touch then!

The team after touching down in Kathmandu!

The team after touching down in Kathmandu!

A final, celebratory dinner in Kathmandu.

A final, celebratory dinner in Kathmandu.

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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2024 Manaslu expedition conclusion!

From left: Tenzi Sherpa and Temba Sherpa with our climber Chie Takeshita and Guide Terray Sylvester on the summit of Manaslu at 4:44 a.m. on September 25.

The Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition team has safely descended off of the mountain after successfully reaching the summit of the world’s eighth-highest peak! The team was welcomed back to camp by our rockstar base camp staff with a celebratory meal and cake, which we enjoyed while reflecting on the accomplishment from the day prior. The team has now begun to head their separate ways after saying their goodbyes with memories that won’t soon be forgotten from this hugely successful expedition! Awesome work, team. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this final dispatch from Manaslu base camp:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) expedition – today is September 26.

Today we descended from Camp 2 (6400m/21,000ft) back down to base camp (4859m/15,944ft). We spent last night at Camp 2 after our successful summit on the 25th! We aimed for the 25th as our summit date because the forecast was good for the 25th, but the forecast was predicting significant precipitation for today. Fortunately, that precipitation held off until the afternoon, so we had very pleasant conditions when we woke up in Camp 2 this morning and really nice weather for most of our descent back here to base camp.

It’s great to be here and to reunite with our excellent base camp staff, Khamba, Ram Kumar, and Dipesh, and with our whole Sherpa crew! So as of now, we are completely off of Manaslu! We’ve cleaned out all of our gear and taken down all of our trash, and anything else we brought up there from the mountain from all of the camps we used. All of our Sherpa crew and of course, all of our climbers are safely off of the mountain!

So, that concludes the climbing portion of the expedition. We had a really successful climb, it was just excellent! Tomorrow we plan to descend down to Sama village. We’ll spend one night there before beginning to make our way back to Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft).

So, all is well and we’ll be in touch!

Our climbers, James and Sara, with Ming Dorchi Sherpa at the summit of Manaslu! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our climbers, James and Sara, with Ming Dorchi Sherpa at the summit of Manaslu! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our guests celebrating with a “summit cake” and our excellent base camp staff. From left: Khumba, Ram Kumar, and Dipesh.

Our guests celebrating with a “summit cake” and our excellent base camp staff. From left: Khamba, Ram Kumar, and Dipesh.

Our climbers Sara, James, and Chie with Expedition Leader Terray Sylvester.

Our climbers Sara, James, and Chie with Expedition Leader 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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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Cho Oyu team arrives in Tibet!

The Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team after arriving in Tibet!

The Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu expedition team has officially arrived in Tibet! This long-awaited expedition is off to a great start so far and spirits are high after getting one step closer to reaching the mountain. We’ll continue our journey tomorrow and will be arriving in base camp soon! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this celebratory dispatch from Tibet:

Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu (8188m/26,864ft) expedition team. Today is September 12th and today we entered Tibet!

We drove from Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft) and across the border and got to our hotel here in the village of Kerung (2774m/9,101ft) in Tibet. We’re really happy that everything has gone perfectly so far and according to our schedule! Our Sherpa team is with us and we’re excited to head to the town of Tingri (4348m/ 14,268ft) tomorrow where we’ll be a couple of nights acclimatizing, and then the following day to Chinese Base Camp (4900m/16,076ft) at Cho Oyu! So, the team’s doing great and we’re so happy to be here. (We’re) really excited for the climb ahead.

We’re also following our team over on Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) led by Terray Sylvester as they’re up on the mountain doing their first rotation above base camp! So, having a good fall season in the Himalayas and looking forward to checking in soon.

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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Acclimatization day in Samagaun!

The team acclimatizing near Birendra Lake with Manaslu Glacier in the background! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition team had a lovely day acclimatizing and exploring Samagaun and the surrounding areas! The team paid visits to a high alpine lake along with several monasteries, making for time well spent at over 3,500 meters while our climbers get used to lower levels of oxygen. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Nepal:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) expedition, it’s September 3rd.

Today we had a really nice day! We had a sunny morning and so we went for an acclimatization hike up to Birendra Lake above town, and then we visited the local monasteries. Then we finished off that hike by heading farther up the Nubri Valley toward the next village, Samdo. It’s really nice here right now, everything’s very green and lush with lots of wildflowers because of the monsoon rains. With the beautiful, sunny day we had great views around the area including up to almost the summit of Manaslu itself.

We just finished dinner and we’re heading to bed soon. Tomorrow, we’ll wake up early and hopefully go for another acclimatization hike down the valley toward the Pungen Monastery. We’ll be in touch tomorrow!

Our climber, Chie, lighting butter lamps in Pema Decho Ling Monastery in Samagaun.

Our climber, Chie, lighting butter lamps in Pema Decho Ling Monastery in Samagaun.

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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Samagaun

Preparing to take off from Kathmandu!

Our 2024 Manaslu expedition team has moved from the bustling city of Kathmandu into the mountains, now at the foot of Manaslu. The landscape is quite different, but the excitement continues to grow as it won’t be long before Manaslu first comes into view. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Nepal:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) expedition – today is September 2nd.

Today we headed over to the domestic airport in Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft) and caught a helicopter out of Kathmandu and up the very spectacular Budhi Gandaki River Valley and into Samagaun (3530m/11,581ft) – Sama Village at the foot of the mountain! It was a spectacular flight with lots of waterfalls along the way and really pretty views of the terraced hillsides of Nepal which are very green right now thanks to all the monsoon rain.

So now we’re in Sama and we’re just about to have dinner and relax! Over the next few days, we’ll be acclimatizing here before moving up to base camp (4859m/15,944ft). All is well and we will be in touch tomorrow!

Guide, Terray Sylvester en route to Sama Village with our climber, Sara and the rest of the team.

Guide, Terray Sylvester en route to Sama Village with our climber, Sara and the rest of the team.

Views from the helicopter on the way to Sama Village!

Views from the helicopter on the way to Sama Village!

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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City tour in Kathmandu

The team during our city tour in Kathmandu! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition team spent the day touring the exciting city of Kathmandu, which is Nepal’s capitol city. Home to several UNESCO World Heritage sites, the team visited and learned about these sacred places and visited a popular painting school before turning in for the evening. With some more good sleep and the gear check behind us, the team is excited to continue the expedition soon! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Nepal:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2024 Madison Mountaineering Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) expedition – today is September 1st.

Today we had a nice tour around Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft)! We visited two UNESCO World Heritage sites. We started at Pashupatinath, which is the most important Hindu temple in Nepal, and one of the more important Hindu temples out there anywhere. Then we headed over to Boudhanath Stupa where we visited Buddhist monasteries near the stupa and then visited a Thangka painting school which is a traditional kind of  Tibetan Buddhist painting.

We’ve been relaxing since then and we plan to wake up early and fly to Samagaun (3530m/11,581ft) at the base of the mountain tomorrow morning weather permitting. So, all is well here and we’ll be in touch tomorrow!

Touring Pashupatinath with our local cultural guide. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Touring Pashupatinath with our local cultural guide. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

A boy swimming in the Bagmati River at Pashupatinath. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

A boy swimming in the Bagmati River at Pashupatinath. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Butter lamps in a Buddhist monastery in Baudha, Kathmandu. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Butter lamps in a Buddhist monastery in Baudha, Kathmandu. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Pashupatinath temple. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Pashupatinath temple. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Visiting a Thangka painting workshop near Boudhanath Stupa. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Visiting a Thangka painting workshop near Boudhanath Stupa. (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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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Manaslu expedition team is together in Kathmandu!

Our team enjoying their pre-climb welcome dinner in Kathmandu.

The 2024 Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition is underway! After a long day of travel from their home countries, the team all gathered together in Kathmandu where we conducted a gear check, orientation, and welcome dinner before getting some rest for the days ahead. We are excited to begin this journey together, and with good weather, we will be heading into the mountains soon! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Kathmandu:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2024 Madison Mountaineering Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) expedition – today is August 31st.

Today our team touched down in Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft)! We did gear checks, an orientation, and we just wrapped up a great dinner here in downtown Kathmandu. It was a beautiful day – the monsoon has not yet ended so we had a little bit of rain in the afternoon and an atmospheric lighting storm, but the whole morning was sunny with beautiful clouds and clear air around the Kathmandu Valley.

The team’s in good spirits! Tomorrow we’ll do a city tour, and then hopefully we’ll fly up to Sama village (3530m/11,581ft) at the foot of Manaslu on Monday. But, 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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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