Tag Archive for: Seven Summits

Heading up the trail to Deboche

Today the team has left Namche Bazaar and is heading up the trail to Deboche (3770m/12,369ft).  Here’s Garrett with the update from the trail:

Hi, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest expedition.  We had our blessing today in Namche and now we’re heading up the trail towards Deboche.  Lots of yaks on the trial today carrying loads up and down the valley.  Nice and cool, cloudy, overcast, so not too hot today which is actually a nice change.  Everybody’s doing great and we’ll check in from Deboche.

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Trekkers reach Nachme Bazzar

lunch stop on the way to Nachme

From Lukla, the Everest team has made their way up the valley, overnighting Phakding, and continuing on up the big hill to Namche Bazaar.  Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, provides this report:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Everest expedition team!  Today is April 5th and we trekked up to the village of Namche Bazaar.  A beautiful day trekking up over the suspension bridges and the river gorge.  Got up to Namche, had a hot shower, and explored some of the village.  We just had a wonderful dinner and we are getting ready to head off to bed.  Everybody is doing great!  We had a beautiful day, not too hot, no rain, some nice mountain views, and everybody’s really happy to be here.  We’ll check in soon.  Thanks!

 

Bridge to Namche

Bridge to Namche

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Lukla and the trek begins…

The team has arrived Lukla and the trek begins to Everest base camp.  Garrett called in from Lukla via satellite phone with this update:

Hello, good morning!  This is Garrett calling in for the Mount Everest expedition.  Today is April 4th and we have arrived in Lukla, Nepal (2850m) in the Khumbu Valley!  This morning we flew from Ramechhap, near Kathmandu, to Lukla and landed about 6:30 AM.  Now, we are having a leisurely start to the day:  a nice breakfast, fresh coffee and getting our bags and gear organized.  So, we are going to head out shortly and trek to Phakding (2640m), the first village for our night here on the trek towards base camp.  Everyone is doing well and are excited to be up in the mountains with the fresh air.  Good views of surrounding peaks with snow and ice on them.  We are ready to get a little exercise and get things underway.  Check in again soon.  Thanks!

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Heading to Ramechhap

Everest 2019 Team Photo

Everest 2019 expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with an update on Day 2 and the team heading to Ramechhap:

Hey!  This is Garrett calling in for the Mount Everest expedition team!  We had a great day in Kathmandu doing gear checks, going out to dinner, had a city tour today, did some final shopping and this afternoon we are leaving to drive from Kathmandu towards the town of Ramechhap (27.393889°, 86.061389°).  Tomorrow morning we are going to fly from there to Lukla (2850m).  The Kathmandu airport is undergoing some renovation repairs right now on the runway.  So domestic flights are a little bit jammed up.  From Ramechhap we should have a smooth flight up to Lukla.  We are looking forward to that tomorrow and getting started on our trek to base camp.  Everyone is doing great and the whole team is here and we are excited!  The weather is good.  We will check in again soon.  Thanks!

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Welcome to Kathmandu

picture of hotel and swimming pool

Welcome to Kathmandu!  The Madison Mountaineering Everest 2019 team has nearly all arrived in Kathmandu to kick off the Everest expedition and base camp trek.  Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, provided this update:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in on April 2, 2019 for the Mount Everest expedition.  Today most of our members are arriving Kathmandu, Nepal.  Later, we are going to do our equipment check and then have a team dinner.  Tomorrow we are going on a city tour.  After the city tour, we are going to prepare for our departure to Lukla.

 

Great weather here in Kathmandu at the minute.  Everyone is doing fine.  There was a big rain storm in southern Nepal recently which didn’t affect us here.  We didn’t even notice it.  Everyone is doing well so far and we look forward to a few more of our members arriving Kathmandu today and getting started!  Thanks for checking in!

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The Blog on alanarnette.com

Garrett on Everest

As Alan Arnette continues his outstanding all-things Everest news coverage, we are delighted to see his interview with Garrett Madison posted today: http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2019/03/28/everest-2019-interview-with-garrett-madison-a-leader-on-everest/.

In addition to our Madison Mountaineering expedition dispatches, Alan’s Everest 2019 blog provides a nexus of information for the ‘big picture’ of the Everest season.  Check it out and be sure to support his drive to end Alzheimer’s.

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Welcome to Everest 2019

Welcome to Everest 2019!  Our annual spring Mount Everest expedition begins in just 45 days.  Our strong team of international climbers will gather at the Hotel Yak and Yeti, our Kathmandu home-base and the launching point of countless Mount Everest expeditions over the years.  Here in Seattle, we are now gathering expedition equipment, food and supplies, making logistical arrangements with our Nepal support staff, and ensuring that all of our climbing team members and trekkers have everything ready to go.  Busy times at Madison Mountaineering HQ!  We are looking forward to our continued best-in-class rate of success and safety on Everest.  Leaders in setting the fixed ropes, we have put the first team on top in 2016, 2017, and 2018.  And we aim to do so again this year!

We are very excited to announce that we have added a second Mount Everest expedition for this year!  In addition to the Spring expedition, we are leading another in the much lesser-climbed Autumn season.  Looking for an alternative to climbing in the busy Spring Everest season?  In Autumn we will pretty much have the entire mountain to ourselves.  The conditions will typically be more winter-like and the days shorter, but the Autumn weather-window should present a great chance for success.

Limited spots on the team are currently available for qualified climbers, contact our office for details.

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From Mount Vinson High Camp to Union Glacier Camp

Union Glacier Camp

Our final Mount Vinson expedition of the season was able to go all the way from Mount Vinson High Camp to Union Glacier Camp in a day.  Listen in to expedition leader Garrett Madison‘s audio expedition dispatch:

Hello!  This is Garrett calling in for the Mount Vinson expedition with Jim Lumberg and Garrett Madison (in conjunction with PolarExplorers).  Today is January 19th and we have arrived back at Union Glacier Camp.  We had a great summit yesterday on Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica.  Today we woke up at High Camp, packed up our camp, descended down to Low Camp, and then all the way to Vinson Base Camp.  We were very fortunate to be met by a Twin Otter aircraft which then shuttled us 45-minutes back to Union Glacier Camp, the main hub here in Antarctica.

 

The plan is that tomorrow we hope to fly out on the llyshun jet back to Punta Arenas, Chile.  Then, in the next few days, be homeward bound.  We were very lucky to get out today from Mount Vinson to Union Glacier.  We are both doing well, just had a great dinner, and looking forward to some much needed rest.

 

Thanks for following along.  We will check in soon.

(photo:  Madison Mountaineering 2019 Mount Vinson team two)

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Vinson Summit – making 3 for 3!

Climbing up Mount Vinson

This just in from expedition leader, Garrett Madison.  Our third and final expedition of the season reached the Mount Vinson summit making 3 for 3!

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for Mount Vinson expedition with Jim Lumberg and Garrett Madison.  Today is January 18th and we summited Mount Vinson today!  We had a beautiful summit day with the mountain all to ourselves.  We are back at High Camp about to have some pad thai dehydrated meals.

 

Our plan is to head down tomorrow to Vinson Base Camp and hopefully soon catch a flight to back to Union Glacier Camp.  It’s been a great climb so far.  We just have to get down the steep fixed rope section tomorrow and down on to Vinson Base Camp.

 

All is well here and it’s been a wonderful expedition!  This is Garrett Madison and Madison Mountaineering in collaboration with PolarExplorers.

(photo:  Madison Mountaineering 2019 team two)

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The move to High Camp

Branscomb Ridge

Our final Mount Vinson expedition, in conjunction with PolarExplorers, made the move to High Camp today as reported in the satellite phone dispatch from expedition leader, Garrett Madison:

Hi, this is Garrett calling in for the Mount Vinson expedition number three with Garret and Jim Lumberg.  We are up at high camp today on January 17th.  We made the push from Low Camp up to High Camp after waking up this morning at Low Camp and having a nice breakfast.  Then we climbed up the fixed ropes about 1,000 meters or 3,300 feet to High Camp.  It was a little cool and windy once we got to High Camp.  But we managed to set up tents, get some water going, had dinner.  And now we are tucked into our sleeping bags, ready for a nice long sleep.

 

There were a couple of other teams that were up here and summitted today:  the Alpine Ascents and IMG crews.  They will be heading down tomorrow and it will be just us up here!  So we are looking forward to having the mountain all to ourselves.  We are going to take a rest day tomorrow and see what the weather forecast brings for a potential summit the following day.

 

Everything is great here on Vinson!  We will check in soon.

(photo:  Madison Mountaineering Vinson 2019 team two)

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