Kathmandu Archives

Manaslu 2022.08.31

2022 Manaslu Expedition Kicks Off!

Picking up our climbing permit at the Nepali Ministry of Tourism!

The 2022 Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition has begun and members of our team have started to arrive in Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft), the capital city of Nepal! Today the team went through a gear check and enjoyed a nice dinner at a local restaurant. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester, checks in with today’s dispatch from Kathmandu:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2022 Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition – it’s August 31st.

Today, our first climber arrived here in Kathmandu. We spent the day doing a gear check, then we went out for a nice welcome dinner at Mezze – not too far from our hotel, the Yak and Yeti.

The weather is beautiful here in Kathmandu right now! The monsoon is tapering off and the temperature is perfect, with just scattered showers and beautiful, clear air. We plan to do a city tour tomorrow and then hopefully fly to Samagoan (3530m/11,581ft) where we’ll start our trek the following day.

So, all is well here 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:

August 31, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Everest 2022

Deboche to Pheriche

Climber Becks Ferry receiving a blessing from Lama Ngawang Paljur in the Pangboche Monastery

Today our trekking and climbing teams trekked from Deboche (3820m/12,532ft) to the village of Pheriche (4280m/14,042ft). Madison Mountaineering guide Terray Sylvester provides a recap of the day.

Also, be sure to check out Alan Arnette’s recent interview with Garrett Madison from Namche Bazaar: https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2022/04/07/everest-2022-interview-with-garrett-madison-from-namche-bazaar/

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition! It’s April 8th.

Today we made our way from Deboche (3820m/12,532ft) to Pheriche (4280m/14,042ft). We’re here in Pheriche, about 14,000ft. It feels good to have gained some altitude and to be among the high peaks – Ama Dablam is towering right above us.

Along the way here we stopped at the monastery in Pangboche which is one of the oldest in the Khumbu Valley. While we were there we recieved a blessing from a high Lama. That’s a traditional stop for climbers bound to Mount Everest and other peaks nearby.

So all is well. We’ll have a rest day here in Pheriche tomorrow and we’ll be in touch!

Climber Carter Beck spinning prayer wheels at the monastery

Trekking to Pheriche

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 Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my Madison Mountaineering flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

April 8, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Everest 2022

Namche Bazaar to Deboche

Climbers enjoying a tea break in Kyangjuma

Today our trekking and climbing teams moved up from Namche Bazaar past the Tengboche Monastery to the village of Deboche along the Imja Khola river. Madison Mountaineering guide Terray Sylvester provides a recap of the day.

Also, be sure to check out Alan Arnette’s interview with Garrett Madison from Namche Bazaar: https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2022/04/07/everest-2022-interview-with-garrett-madison-from-namche-bazaar/

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2022 Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition! It’s Thursday, April 7th.

Today we trekked from Namche Bazaar (3440m/11,290ft) to the little village of Deboche (3820m/12,532ft). We had nice weather along the way with more views of Everest, Ama Dablam, and Lhotse. We stopped for lunch at a little town called Phungi Thenga. Then we crossed a suspension bridge across the Dudh Koshi river, which means “Milk River” because of the color of the water from the glacial silt in it. Then we ascended the long switchbacks up to Tengboche Monastery at about 12,700ft, checked out the monastery and some of the other sites around it and then walked down the last 20 minutes to Deboche.

So we’re about to have dinner here and looking forward to tomorrow which will be a nice day. We’ll walk through Pangboche and get the blessing of the local Lama there.

We’ll be in touch!

The climbing team at the Panorama Lodge in Namche Bazaar

Climber David Courtney receiving a blessing before leaving Namche

Climber Josh Garrison receiving a blessing before leaving Namche

Along the trail to Deboche

Climber Stephane Mayer visiting Tengboche Monastery with his family

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 Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my Madison Mountaineering flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

April 7, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Everest 2022

Active Rest Day in Namche Bazaar

Guide Cacho Beiza leading the group above Namche.

Enjoying an active rest day in Namche Bazaar, the teams hiked up to the Everest View Hotel and enjoyed… (wait for it)… some wonderful views of Everest and the surrounding peaks! Madison Mountaineering guide Terray Sylvester provides a recap of the day:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2022 Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition! It’s Wednesday, April 6th. Today our trekkers and climbers hiked up to the Everest View Hotel, about 1,000ft above Namche Bazaar. Along the way we had great views of Ama Dablam, Lhotse, and Everest in the distance – just cystal clear skies. Then the clouds came in and we hiked back down to Namche. Some of us took a detour thru Khumjung (3790m/12,430ft) where they saw what is purported to be a skull of a yeti in a museum and a few others of us when and visited a new Sherpa cultural museum here in Namche with some really interesting history and artifacts.

Tomorrow we’ll continue on up past Tengboche Monastery to Deboche (3820m/12,532ft) and we’re looking forward to that hike. There should be more great views along the way!

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

Ama Dablam in the distance.

Approaching the Everest View Hotel with Thamserku in the distance.

Garrett with climbers Sara Safari and Josh Garrison

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 Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my Madison Mountaineering flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

April 6, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Everest 2022

Team Arrives Namche Bazaar

Today the climbing and trekking team continued the trek and moved from Phakding up to the “capital of the Khumbu” Namche Bazaar. Madison Mountaineering guide Terray Sylvester provides a recap of the day:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2022 Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition! It’s Tuesday, April 5th. Today we all moved from Phakding up to Namche. We actually had beautiful weather yet again! The Khumbu Valley is really in bloom right now; lots of flowing trees, rhododendron, flowers along side the trail which made for a really pretty hike.

We made it to Namche Bazaar about 2 o’clock, maybe 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Some folks headed out to enjoy town a litte bit – lots of good bakeries and cafes and scenery, of course. Then we had a good dinner and tasty welcome carrot cake here at the Panorama Lodge in Namche. We’re wrapping up the evening and heading to bed.

Tomorrow we’ll have an active rest day and hike up to the Everest View Hotel. But we’ll be in touch with a dispatch tomorrow too.

Alright, 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 Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my Madison Mountaineering flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

April 5, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Everest 2022

Into the Mountains!

The trekking has started! The weather Gods permitted the whole team to fly to the mountain village of Lukla (2850m/9,350ft) and complete the first day of trekking towards Everest Base Camp. Madison Mountaineering guide Terray Sylvester provides a recap of the day:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2022 Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition! It’s Monday, April 4th. Today we flew from Kathmandu to Lukla. We had good weather for our flights which was nice because it’s been a little rainy and hazy lately and there was some concern that we would not be able to fly up to Lukla.

Then we trekked on to Phakding (2640m/8,661ft). So we’re here tonight, just starting dinner, and looking forward to our trek up to Namche (3450m/11,319ft) tomorrow. The weather is nice, warm, a little cloudy, but dry!

We’ll be in touch!

Ready to fly to Lukla!

Trekking to Phakding

Mani Stones

Taking a break on the trek to Phakding

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 Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my Madison Mountaineering flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:

https://madisonmountaineering.com/maps/everest-2022

April 4, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Everest 2022

Kathmandu City Tour

Today the climbing and trekking teams enjoy a wonderful tour of some of the major sites of Kathmandu and are getting ready to fly up to the mountain village of Luka to begin the trek to Everest base camp tomorrow. Madison Mountaineering guide Terray Sylvester provides a recap of the day:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2022 Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition! It’s April 3rd. Today our climbing and trekking teams enjoyed a tour around two of Kathmandu’s seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We went to Pashupatinath Temple, which is the most famous Hindu temple here in the city and we went to the famous Boudhanath Stupa, which is one of the world’s largest Buddist stupas.

Tomorrow our plan is to fly to Lukla so we can begin our trek up to Everest Base Camp. That’s an exciting day and so far the weather forecast looks good! So if all goes as planned, our fixed-winged flights will depart Kathmandu early in the morning and will be in Lukla in time for breakfast.

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

A stone carving at Pashupatinath Temple

Trekker Ryan S. visiting a Buddhist Temple in Boudha

Butter lamps at Boudhanath Stupa

Pashupatinath Temple

Boudhanath Stupa

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 Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my Madison Mountaineering flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:

https://madisonmountaineering.com/maps/everest-2022

April 3, 2022/0 Comments/by Garrett

Ama Dablam 2021

Ama Dablam team treks to Namche Bazaar

Today our Ama Dablam team continued their trek to base camp by reaching the Khumbu capital of Namche Bazaar. Here’s expedition leader, Garrett Madison, with a recap of the day:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam expedition team. Today’s Friday October 22nd and today we trekked up the Khumbu Valley over suspension bridges, crossing river gorges along raging rivers, and passing waterfalls up to village of Namche Bazaar, the iconic capital of Khumbu.

We rolled into Namche this afternoon, had a coffee, and explored the town a little bit. We are getting ready for dinner here in the lodge. We’re really happy to be back here with our good friends and are looking forward to a nice day tomorrow to do an acclimization hike. Everyone’s doing well and we’re so happy to be here in the Khumbu Valley of Nepal and enjoying some nice weather, good views, and fresh air.

We’ll check in soon!

One of the many suspension bridges on the route to Ama Dablam base camp

Stupas dotting the trail to Ama Dablam base camp

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 daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:

https://madisonmountaineering.com/maps/ama-dablam-2021/

October 22, 2021/0 Comments/by Garrett

Ama Dablam 2021

Ama Dablam 2021 Kicks Off

Our 2021 Ama Dablam expedition kicked off yesterday with the team arriving in Kathmandu, Nepal. This morning they flew to the mountain village of Lukla to begin the trek to base camp. Here’s expedition leader Garrett Madison with the details:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam expedition. Today is October 21st and we arrived in Lukla, Nepal after a flight from Kathmandu this morning. It was a beautiful flight up, clear skies, saw a lot of mountains. And now we are trekking up the Khumbu to our first village, Phakding. Tonight we’re going to stay and then tomorrow work our way up to Namche. Everyone’s doing well on the team, we’re excited to be up here in the mountains with some fresh air and some clear mountain views.

We’ll check 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 daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:

https://madisonmountaineering.com/maps/ama-dablam-2021/

October 21, 2021/0 Comments/by Garrett

Everest 2021

Puja!

Garrett Madison phones in from Everest base camp to provide the details of today’s puja ceremony which blessed the team and provided prayers for safe passage on the mountain:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest and Lhotse expedition. Today’s April 18th and we had a wonderful day today.

We had our puja ceremony where we gathered together in base camp and had a Buddhist Lama come up and ask the mountain for safe passage. It was a very nice ceremony and a beautiful day here – warm and sunny with some singing and dancing after the ceremony. We had a restful afternoon and a nice dinner and a good movie tonight – a comedy – and now we’re heading to bed.

Everyone’s doing well here at base camp and tomorrow we’re looking forward to a foray up into the Icefall to climb up a couple of hours and check out the route and then back to base camp. The weather is looking good, the team’s doing well, and we’re looking forward to another great day here is base camp.

Puja day in Everest base camp

If climbing Mount Everest is in your future, please contact our office, we would love to have you climb with us!

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 Garrett Madison’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my Madison Mountaineering flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:

https://madisonmountaineering.com/maps/everest-2021

April 18, 2021/0 Comments/by Garrett

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