Tag Archive for: Nepal

Training Day

Views from Ama Dablam base camp. (📸: Ted Hesser)

The Ama Dablam team had a training day near base camp.  Garrett Madison, expedition leader, recaps the day:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Ama Dablam expedition team.  Today we did some training here, nearby base camp.  We put on our harnesses and rigged up our ascenders, safety carabiners, and repel devices and we practiced going up vertical fixed lines and repeling down fixed lines.  It was good to review all the necessary techniques for the upper mountain.

Then we came back, had a nice lunch, and organized some gear this afternoon and had a lovely dinner.  So, a beautiful day here, great views, everyone’s feeling strong and healthy.  We are really happy to be up here at base camp.  It’s just very beautiful and relaxing.

So, we’re all doing well and looking forward to a good day tomorrow.  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:

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Ama Dablam Base Camp!

Madison Mountaineering’s Ama Dablam base camp

Our Ama Dablam expedition team is settling into their home away from home at base camp. After a scenic trek into base camp and dinner, Garrett Madison, expedition leader, recaps the day:

Hello this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam expedition team. Today is Tuesday, October 26th and today we hiked from the village of Pangboche in the Khumbu Valley up to Ama Dablam base camp. We rolled into our base camp midday and had a nice lunch and then settled into our personal tents and explored the camp a little bit getting things dialed in. We just had a nice dinner here, first dinner in base camp tonight.

Nice to be up here at about 15,000 feet in the mountains and we’re looking forward to a good day tomorrow. We’re going to do some training and be here at least a couple of days before heading up to do our first rotation on the route.

Everyone is doing great here. It has been such a wonderful trek in so far, over the last five days coming in from Lukla up through Namche, Deboche and Pangboche, staying with the Sherpa families that we see year after year and reconnecting with all of the Nepalese people that are so important to us and help us make this all possible.

Everyone is having a great time.  We’re feeling healthy and we’re just soaking up all this fresh air and clear mountain views and snow-capped peaks. So, all is well here at Ama Dablam base camp and we’ll check in soon. Thanks

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:

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First Views of Ama Dablam

The 2021 Ama Dablam team receives blessings as they depart Namche and the Panorama Lodge

The first views of Ama Dablam were had today as the team took an acclimatization hike from the Panorama Lodge in Namche Bazaar up to the Everest View Hotel (3962m/13,000ft).  Garrett recaps the day:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam expedition 2021.

We had a great hike up to the Everest View Hotel and had amazing views of Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, as well as other peaks.  We enjoyed some tea there and had a beautiful clear day.  We came back down to Nachme for lunch and then had a relaxing afternoon, a nice dinner here in the Panorama Lodge, and we’re going to head off towards Deboche.

We are looking forward to heading up the valley and passing through the Tengboche Monastery and then down into the rhododendron forest to the Rivendell Lodge tonight.

Everyone’s doing well, we’re so happy to be here, and enjoying this beautiful mountain valley of Nepal.

We’ll check in soon!  Thanks.

View of Ama Dablam

View of Ama Dablam

Ama Dablam team at the Everest View Hotel

Ama Dablam team at the Everest View Hotel

View of peaks from Everest View Hotel (courtesy of Dawa Steven Sherpa)

View of peaks from Everest View Hotel (courtesy of Dawa Steven Sherpa)

Climber J.B. Waterman poses with local Sherpa woman above Namche

Climber J.B. Waterman poses with local Sherpa woman above Namche

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:

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Ama Dablam team treks to Namche Bazaar

Ama Dablam 2021 team trekking to base camp

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

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

Stupas dotting the trail 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:

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Ama Dablam 2021 Kicks Off

Ama Dablam team arrives in Lukla

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:

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Everest 2021, it’s a wrap!

Everest 2021 Team

Definitely a challenging season on the world’s highest peak, but in the end Sagarmatha smiled and opened her arms, welcoming us to journey to her highest point. Our @madisonmtng team had magnificent summit days on May 11th and 23rd, with a total of 17 foreign climbers and 23 Nepal Sherpas reaching the top, of which 5 foreign climbers went on to summit Lhotse with 6 Sherpas. Among our team was Arthur Muir, now the oldest American to reach the top of the world and Kristin Harila who reached the top of Everest at sunrise and the top of Lhotse later that day at sunset.

Despite the pandemic, the harsh weather, and other challenges which forced many teams to cancel mid-late season, our team pulled together and remained focused on our mission, accomplishing what we came here to do, and everyone (foreign climbers & Sherpas) made it off the mountain safely.

We are very grateful to our clients who believed in and trusted us, our guide and Sherpa staff who went above and beyond, and the mountain for giving us the opportunity to test ourselves and admire the view from the top for a few fleeting moments. We look forward to returning to Everest in the spring of 2022, Namaste 🙏!

Everest 2021

Everest 2021

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Post Climb Relaxing at EBC

Art Muir with climbing sherpa Pasang Bhote on the summit of Everest

Here’s expedition leader Garrett Madison with today’s dispatch from Mount Everest base camp:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest and Lhotse team.  We are in Everest Base Camp.

We had a nice, restful day here in base camp – cloudy and snowy all day.  We were going to head out today but no helicopter flights and we decided to delay one day, so we are planning to head out tomorrow.  Some folks are going to be trekking down the valley over three days to Lukla and others are hoping to helicopter out if the weather clears.  But the Cyclone Yaas out of the Bay of Bengal has created some very inclement weather here in Nepal in the Himalaya, so there might not be many helicopter flights coming soon.

Anyhow, we’re having a great time here, we’re savoring our summit success, and the fact that we all made it down safely and just enjoying our time together here as a team.  It’s been a wonderful two months here together in Nepal on the expedition, trekking, climbing, suffering together (haha), and we’re just enjoy our last day together here before we all head out.

So, we’re doing well and looking forward to another good night of rest in base camp.

(photo:  Madison Mountaineering team member Art Muir, at 75 years young, the oldest American to summit Everest along with climbing sherpa Pasang Bhote on the summit of Mount Everest!)

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:

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Summit Photos and Team Celebration!

The team toasting the summit success at Everest Base Camp. Cheers!

Riding high on the team success, Garrett and the team call in from Everest base camp:

Hey!  This is Garrett and the team here at Everest Base Camp.  We just finished our team celebration dinner.  We all got down safe to base camp through the Khumbu Icefall today.

What a WONDERFUL group of people!  I’m so happy everyone’s down safe.  We had a great time up there in a safe and successful climb!  [big team cheer]

Best team ever!

Art Muir, now the oldest American at 75 years-young to summit Mount Everest, in the background:  “Kurt, we could not have done it without all your help!”

Well, thank you Art.  I’m just in awe of your amazing accomplishment.  Wow!  Just wow!  From the home office in Seattle, hats off to all the team members, guides, and climbing sherpa, staff, and porters that really make the whole expedition possible.  We are so proud of all of you!

From Everest’s SE ridge on summit day

Andrew H and Garrett on the summit of Everest

Andrew H and Garrett on the summit of Everest

Kristin B and climbing sherpa Mingmar at the top of the world

Kristin B and climbing sherpa Mingmar at the top of the world

Kevin W enjoying a Coke with Phurba Rita Sherpa upon arriving in base camp

Kevin W enjoying a Coke with Phurba Rita Sherpa upon arriving in 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:

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Team Safely Down to Camp II

Everest Camp 2

Our Everest team is safely down to Camp II and expedition leader Garrett Madison provides the recap of the descent from the South Col via sat phone:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest and Lhotse expedition.  Today is May 24th.  It’s 8:07 PM and we are all safely down in Camp II.

Today we woke up at Camp IV on the South Col about 6:00 AM, had breakfast, started packing, and made our way down from the South Col, over the Geneva Spur, down the Lhotse Face, over the Yellow Band, and onwards down over the [garbled] at Camp III, down the Western Cwm into Camp II.  We’re all safely back in Camp II.

We’re tired – it was a big effort getting down today.  But, everybody’s doing okay here in Camp II.

Our plan is to get up tomorrow at 4:00 AM and head out by 5:00 AM to make our way down through the Khumbu Icefall to base camp.  So we’re not out of the woods yet, but we’re down to Camp II, we’re doing well, and we’re just so fortunate and so happy that we had a beautiful summit day yesterday on Everest.  Nine clients, four guides, and over twenty sherpas were all able to make the summit on what was probably the nicest summit day I’ve ever had – beautiful conditions up there.  And some of our climbers were also able to make Lhotse.  So very fortunate that everyone had good climbing and is down safe.

One more day to go here through the Western Cwm and the Khumbu Icefall to be back at base camp.  We are looking forward to making our way towards Kathmandu and back home.

All’s well here in Camp II and we’ll check in soon!

(photo:  Madison Mountaineering archives)

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:

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Best. Summit. Day. Ever!

The Everest summit ridge on May 23rd

Via sat phone from Camp IV on the South Col of Mount Everest, expedition leader and now 11-time summiter of Mount Everest, Garrett Madison provides the happy news:

Hello!  This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest and Lhotse expedition.  Today is May 23rd, it’s 7:30 PM in Nepal.  We are at Camp IV on Mount Everest’s South Col.

We had an amazing day.  We left around midnight on the 23rd and summited Mount Everest this morning.  It was a beautiful day!  It was clear, calm, and probably the nicest summit day I’ve had on Everest out of my 11 summits!

Our team of nine clients, four American western guides, and over 20 Nepal sherpas all made it to the top of Everest and back down safe.  So, we had a wonderful day!  It was beautiful – amazing views as far as the eye could see and we spent a long time at the summit.

Tonight, we have some climbers heading out for Lhotse.  In fact, one of our climbers, Kristin Harila, actually already summited Lhotse.  From Everest to Lhotse today in record time!  She is on her way down from the Lhotse summit now.

Big congrats to Kristin and to all the members of our team for making it up to the top of Everest today and back down to Camp IV safely.

We aren’t out of the woods yet; we have to get down to Camp II tomorrow.  We are going to wake up, pack, and be safe on the way down the Lhotse Face to Camp II.  But, we’re very happy that the weather forecast from Marc De Keyser worked out and we got a beautiful day here on the summit of Everest.  It couldn’t have been better!  We are very fortunate and are looking forward to a safe descent.

(photo:  Madison Mountaineering archives)

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:

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