We’ve arrived in base camp at the foot of Peak Lenin! The Madison Mountaineering team enjoyed an adventurous drive today, with new views around every corner and several obstacles along the way. As we neared camp, Peak Lenin came in to view, offering the team a good look at the climbing to come! Everyone is doing great and looks forward to a day of active-rest tomorrow. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from base camp:
Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Peak Lenin (7134m/23,406ft) Expedition. Today is July 2.
Today we drove from Osh (963m/3,159ft) to Peak Lenin Base Camp (3600m/11,800ft) in Onion Valley at the foot of the mountain. The drive took about five hours, and it was very beautiful. From Osh, we drove up through lush, green river valleys, over two high passes, where we had great views of the Pamir, and the Alay Pamir, a subrange of the Pamirs. We passed nomads tents on the way, many horses, and cows, and other livestock grazing on the steppe. Then we descended down into the massive Alay Valley with the Trans-Alay on the far side and Peak Lenin.
It’s beautiful in base camp right now. A warm, sunny evening. We can see Peak Lenin up the valley above us, and we’re just about to head in for dinner. Tomorrow, we’re planning an active rest day here at base camp.
We’ll be in touch tomorrow!
Achyk Tash Base Camp at the foot of Peak Lenin
Winding roads between Osh and Base Camp
The team on a 4,000m / 13,000’ pass en route to 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 our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.“
– Instagram:
