Our unclimbed peak expedition team is now in base camp, preparing to make a recon up to the peak to scout the potential climbing route. Our peak, Tharke Khang, looks to have a ridge line beginning from the west that appears climbable, with steep snow and ice slopes. Our base camp is comfortable with a heated dining tent and great food!
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We made our from Machermo up the valley to the village of Gokyo, situated next to a beautiful aqua marine lake. After lunch a few of us hiked up nearby Gokyo Ri, at just over 17,500’. We glimpsed our unclimbed peak in the distance, still a long way off…with major challenges between us and the start of the route, about 10 miles of glacier moraine and glacier/ icefall. This will not be an easy walk to say the least…accessing the base of the route is one thing, climbing the technical ridge is another.
Exploration in essence is venturing into the unknown… and that is exactly where we are headed.
Our team is good, everyone is acclimatizing well. The weather has been favorable and we hope this trend continues. We look forward to reaching our base camp the next day or two.
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Tham Serku peak
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Ama Dablam
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Trekking through the high country towards base camp
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First view of the unclimbed peak, Tharke Khang
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At the top of Gokyo Ri today, 17,500′
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The village of Gokyo, at 15,600′ high in the Himalayas where we are staying
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At one of the Gokyo lakes today
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Our head Sherpa, Aang Phurba
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Stairway to heaven
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Old chorton (in Sherpa language) means stupa
Namche Bazaar! Despite the flights, the time in Kathmandu and the preparation, for me it always takes until Namche to start feel like we are moving forward. Yesterday we trekked from Phakding to Namche under a low cloud ceiling keeping it nice and cool. Arriving around 2 in the afternoon we all had time to wander the narrow streets and relax at the beautiful Panorama Lodge. This morning we woke up, ate breakfast and took a nice acclimatization hike up to the Everest View hotel. There we took in stunning views of Mt. Everest, Lhotse and the crown jewel of the Himalaya, Ama Dablam, our objective after our unclimbed peak. Now back at the Panorama, we eat lunch, rest and prepare to head off towards Khumjung in the morning. The team is healthy, strong and psyched to get moving!
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Namche is the main trading center and hub for the Khumbu region with many Nepalese officials, a police check, post and a bank
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Team lunch with Ama Damblam in the background
Greetings from Lukla! We made it! After a couple of days of preparation in Kathmandu, today we boarded our Dornier aircraft and landed on Lukla. With most of our bags accounted for we are about to start off towards Phakding for the night. The crew is well rested, healthy and excited about finally being on our way to our unclimbed peak.
The Himalayan giants greeted us on arrival!
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Today guides Brent and Geoff returned to base camp with John and Anders after a successful first rotation. The weather at base camp has been cold with steady snowfall over the past two days. Our climbers up on the mountain are doing well and tucked in at Camp 1 and 2 on Mount Everest. They will follow the same schedule with two nights at Camp 1 and two nights at Camp 2 before returning back down to base camp.
Our Sherpa team reports that the route fixing team has moved up to Camp 4. We predict that the first Sherpa summits will be in the next one to two weeks. Beautiful photos below taken by our first rotation team!
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Today at base camp we woke up to sunshine and by early afternoon we had steady snowfall accumulating, Everest weather changes quickly! Our second wave of climbers pushed through the Khumbu icefall and made it to Camp 1 early this morning. We now have climbers acclimatizing at Camp 1 and Camp 2 on Mount Everest. Our third and final group will depart for Camp 1 early this morning. Everyone is doing well and in good spirits.
For daily photo updates follow us on Instagram @MadisonMtng.
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Our first Everest rotation is in mid-swing with our second wave of climbers moving up in a few hours. Beautiful day at base camp today with ample time to enjoy the sunshine. Our climbers at base camp continued icefall training with difficult courses set up by our guide staff. Up at Camp 1 our team is doing well with heavy clouds reported throughout the afternoon. Tomorrow our Camp 1 team will move up to Camp 2 where they will spend two days acclimatizing.
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Sid Pattison reports a successful ascent of Island Peak (pictures below):
Bookended by a forecast of wind and snow our team squeaked in a summit of Island Peak at 6:15am on the 17th. Our climb began at 12:15am and after climbing steadily up tallus fields and ridges we made it to Crampon Point as the sun rose. We put on crampons and roped up to cross the very broken and bridged glacier, after an hour we made it to the base of the final 750ft headwall. The steep climbing was strenuous but we moved steadily up to the summit ridge. From the summit the beautiful Himalayan mountain range was on display, Lhotse, Taboche, Cholatse and Ama Dablam fueling dreams of future climbs. The descent went smoothly, we packed up basecamp and made the final trek back to Chhukung and slept soundly. Today we made the long trek to Namche and Lukla tomorrow.
“We couldn’t have asked for better conditions, this summit is the culmination of weeks of hard work” Jared Moravec reflected on the climb.
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Island Peak Expedition 2017
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Last bridge into Lukla! The team finished the trek in great shape and good spirits. Yesterday we headed down from the mountains and ran into our first real weather of the trip. Starting out as rain and then light to moderate snow as we arrived back in Namche. The mist and cloud made for beautiful scenery and perfect hiking temps. We enjoyed hot showers and good food with our friends at the Tibet Hotel.
If the weather holds we will fly early back to Kathmandu and many will soon be on their way home. Fantastic group and an unforgettable experience! We hope that you all continue your adventures and to see you all again very soon.
Today we caught the first flight out of Kathmandu to Lukla! We lucked out before the clouds and rain, and trekked through lush green river valleys and over suspension bridges to our destination for the evening, the Paradise lodge in Phakding. We are very happy to be on our way to Everest base camp! The fresh mountain air is a nice change from the bustling capital city of Kathmandu. Our trekking team’s flight could not land at Lukla so currently they are in Phaplu, and will try to fly to Lukla later today or tomorrow. Here is a photo of our team on the trek today, and another of our plane taking off on the runway at Lukla after dropping us off.
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Arrival into Tenzing Hillary Airport, Lukla
The Madison Mountaineering Spring 2016 Everest trekking season has officially launched! Today our second trekking team of the season is arriving in the capital city of Kathmandu, Nepal. Trekking through the Khumbu Valley to Everest base camp is a life changing experience for many, as the spectacular mountain scenery integrated with Sherpa culture and Buddhist religion makes for a truly engaging combination. Our team’s will follow the same route to Base Camp as the Everest climbers and recount the historical ascents with the climbers who share our lodges along the way.
Beautiful photos taken by Fred Crosetto below from our first Spring 2016 Everest Trek! Enjoy 🙂
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