Under promising sky’s we load up the jeep, packed, ready and psyched to climb! Tonight we sleep in the jungle at the foot of the tallest mountain in Africa! We couldn’t be more ready! –Sid Pattison
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Tag Archive for: Seven Summits
After many hours of travel and several times zones we all made it to Tanzania! This morning we met up, excitedly talked about our climb and sorted gear. Stoke is high as we prepare for our climb! With gear packed we are off to Arusha to explore the city a bit and pick up some last minute items. Tomorrow we are off!
-Sid Pattison
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The Madison Mountaineering climbing team will soon be arriving in Mendoza, Argentina to begin our December expedition of the highest mountain in the western and southern hemispheres. Aconcagua stands at an impressive 6,962m (22,834 ft.) above sea level and is great training for high altitude peaks in the Himalaya. Please follow our dispatches as we journey from the lush wine region of Mendoza (known for grass fed beef and Malbec) to the arid slopes of the Vacas Valley and up to the base of the Polish Glacier, before making our way to the highest point in the Andes. Aconcagua is known at times for high winds (100mph) and sub zero temps, as well as the high altitude extreme environment. This mountain is never an easy feat and over half the climbers who attempt are turned back.
The mountain and its surroundings are part of the Aconcagua Provincial Park. The mountain has a number of glaciers. The largest glacier is the Ventisquero Horcones Inferior at about 10 km long, which descends from the south face to about 3,600 m altitude near the Confluencia camp. Our climbers will begin on the eastern side of the mountain, by trekking along the Vacas River to Plaza Argentina base camp. From here we ascend the non technical false polish and then upper Guanacos route to our high camp.
Stay tuned!
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Sid Pattison and Garrett Madison preparing to climb around the world this month!
Our Kilimanjaro climb concluded as we just arrived back in Arusha, Tanzania. We had a fantastic adventure on Mount Kilimanjaro, culminating in our summit of the peak on October 6th. All members of our team reached the top of the mountain, this was a magical moment as the sun rose over the plains below, and the weather was perfect! This was especially appreciated by our group as we had a couple of days of inclement earlier in the climb. We had the appropriate clothing and equipment to wear in the rain, hail, and snow, but it was still challenging weather conditions to climb in. Our climbers pulled together and supported one another as we climbed higher on the mountain throughout the week, and especially on summit day as we left our high camp at midnight and climbed through the dark, to reach the summit of Uhuru peak at 6 AM. All members are now on their way home now or spending a few days on safari here in Tanzania, savoring the experience of reaching the roof of Africa! –Garrett Madison
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To review our climbing team’s summit route you can view our LIVE RainOn mapping platform here.
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Beautiful pictures by Madison Mountaineering adventure photographer Petr Jan Juracka from Charles University in Prague! Enjoy :)
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At 11:30pm last night our Kilimanjaro team departed for the Roof of Africa and made it to the summit at 6am for a beautiful sunrise. After a safe descent the team is now resting at lower elevation enjoying a well deserved hot-tub at the resort. Way to go team!
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To monitor our climbing team’s summit route you can view our LIVE RainOn mapping platform here.
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Audio dispatch by Dante (climber) after their successful summit!
At 11:30pm last night our Kilimanjaro team departed for the Roof of Africa and made it to the summit at 6am for a beautiful sunrise. After a safe descent the team is now resting at lower elevation enjoying a well deserved hot-tub at the resort. Way to go team!
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To monitor our climbing team’s summit route you can view our LIVE RainOn mapping platform here.
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Audio dispatch by Dante (climber) after their successful summit!
Our Mount Everest expedition team is now back in Kathmandu after a successful and safe climb of Mount Everest. All climbers are heading home, after what has been a great experience in the Nepal Himalaya. On May 19th, our team reached the summit with 7 climbers, 5 guides (1 of whom was working as a high altitude camera man) and 15 Sherpas. We all made it back down safely without any injuries such as frostbite, etc. There have been recent fatalities on Everest, and we are thankful that our team was very fortunate and did not suffer any losses. 100% of the climbers who embarked on the summit rotation made it to the top, we are very proud of this achievement.
Our decision to abandon our Lhotse climb after the fatality in the Lhotse couloir was in part ethical and also taking into consideration of the hazardous nature of the existing terrain that likely contributed to that accident, likely no climbers will reach the summit of Lhotse this season.
Thanks for following our climb of Mount Everest!
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Today our climbing team made a safe descent to Camp 2 on Everest and will be arriving into base camp tomorrow. After resting at Camp 4 last night the team enjoyed warm drinks and food after their successful summit. All team members are in good health and look forward to hot showers and thicker air back at base camp. We are expecting the whole team to arrive early afternoon and we will have a celebration in order here at our camp. I will have more pictures up tomorrow and look forward to hearing the team tell of their journey to the top of the world!
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What a day!! Our climbers are now resting at Camp 4 at 7,950m (26,085ft) on Everest after their successful summit bid earlier today. The weather was perfect and the views from what I hear were nothing short of spectacular. Tonight the team will rest on oxygen before descending to Camp 2 tomorrow. Our Lhotse team is waiting and will not make an ascent tonight due to uncertain route conditions. The current plan is to descend together tomorrow and re-evaluate Lhotse conditions before making a decision. All members are in good health and have accomplished what many dream of today.
Will have pictures and videos up as soon as possible! :)
Just moments ago our full climbing team successfully summited Everest at 8,850m (29,035ft)!! It is a spectacular day here with no wind or clouds in sight. 15 Sherpa, 7 climbers (Jim, Joel, Stuart, Nick, Lisa, Ankur, Jeff) and 5 guides (Garrett, Billy, Conan, Fred, Brent) are together at the top. The sun is shining and we are so very happy that our climbers have made it to the top of the world. Our team will take in the views and enjoy the moment before making the descent back down to Camp 2.
Garrett, Lisa, and Stuart will be climbing Lhotse today as well which continues the excitement. The Lhotse fixed lines were finished last night and our team will rest for a few hours at Camp 4 before making this second ascent.
Stay tuned, pictures to come!! :)