It’s time to celebrate! The Madison MountaineeringK2 expedition team has all arrived safely back in base camp after successfully reaching the summit of the world’s second-highest peak on the day prior. A big ‘congratulations’ goes out again to the whole team – climbers, guides Sherpa team, Pakistani high altitude porters, and base camp staff. Every member is an important piece to the puzzle and this climb wouldn’t be possible without the hard work and dedication of everyone involved! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this brief dispatch from K2 base camp:
All members are back in base camp (4968m/16,300ft) now!
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https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/20220707_K2_R5_TerraySylvester_0223.jpg8401200Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2024-07-30 13:37:402024-07-30 15:35:18Back in Base Camp!
With the recent snow on the upper reaches of K2, our team has made the prudent decision to abort their summit push. While ascending from Camp 3, the team experienced deep snow that accumulated in the days prior and had not fully consolidated. While the whole team made a strong effort to reach K2‘s summit, it was not meant to be. We are so thankful that our team is safe and look forward to receiving them back into base camp soon. The team is making their descent now and is expected to arrive back in base camp later today.
We are very proud of the entire teams effort and special thanks to our Sherpa team who played an integral role in the expedition, fixing lines above Camp 3 and to the summit. Congratulations to Siddhi Ghising and Ahmed Hussain who are both members of our rope-fixing team and did reach K2‘s summit at 8611m/28,251ft!
Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from K2:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the K2 (8611m/28,251ft) expedition team – today is July 27th.
Today our team made their summit attempt and reached the bottleneck on K2 above Camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft) and decided to turn around due to deep and unconsolidated snow, and several soft snow avalanches. So, they are on their way down and everyone’s doing fine. They’re below Camp 3 (7250m/23,800ft) now on their way to Camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft), and we’re looking forward to welcoming them back into base camp (4968m/16,300ft) later this afternoon!
They had a good climb, good effort getting up to the bottleneck where they decided to turn around around 3:00 AM along with some other teams due to the risk. We’re happy they made the safe call and will be back in base camp later today.
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https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/20220722_K2_R5_TerraySylvester_0211.jpg8001200Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2023-07-27 05:05:402023-07-27 07:34:16Summit Push Called Off
Today’s the day that our team will make their summit push on the world’s second highest peak: K2! Our Sherpa team has been hard at work fixing lines to Camp 4 and beyond, with the plan to fix the final sections of the Abruzzi route through the night and into tomorrow morning. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this exciting update from K2:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison MountaineeringK2 (8611m/28,251ft) expedition. Today is July 26th and our team’s up at Camp 3 (7250m/23,800ft) and preparing to leave for their summit push in one hour at 9:00 PM here in Pakistan.
They took a rest day today in Camp 3 as the rope fixing team, which our Sherpas are a part of, pushed up to Camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft) and has been fixing above Camp 4, hopefully reaching the bottleneck section soon and the traverse. So, our team is a few hours behind when they leave tonight and hopefully they will be able to climb up and make good time with good conditions, good weather, and hopefully get a summit of K2 tomorrow on the morning of July 27th.
So we will be staying up tonight following their progress on the route as they climb! Praying and wishing them good luck and good conditions, and cannot wait to hear how it goes. 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:
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Hello from Camp 3 on K2! Today the team ascended K2‘s famous Black Pyramid and is settled into their tents for the night, with plans to move up to Camp 4 tomorrow! Our rockstar Sherpa team has been helping in the rope fixing efforts with hopes to fix ropes to the summit tomorrow. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with today’s dispatch for the team in Camp 3:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison MountaineeringK2 (8611m/28,251ft) expedition. Today is July 25th and our team is up at Camp 3 (7250m/23,800ft) on the Abruzzi route of K2. It was a good day climbing from Camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft) to Camp 3 up the Black Pyramid. Had some cloudy conditions, but a little bit of sunshine later in the day!
The plan for the team tomorrow is to move up to Camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft) and the rope fixing team, which were proud to be apart of, has been fixing lines from 3 to 4 today. So hopefully climbers can move up to 4 and hopefully they will be able to continue fixing, conditions dependent, go on up through the shoulder, the bottleneck, the traverse and to the summit of K2 on the 27th! So the goal is a summit on the 27th if conditions permit and weather of course. The fixing team is working hard up there, breaking trail through deep snow to put in the ropes for everybody.
All is well here on K2! Fingers crossed that conditions are good for them up there. The weather looks good for the next couple of days. Our prayers are with the team and for good conditions on the mountain.
All is well here on K2! 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:
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.“
We are pleased to announce the following Madison Mountaineering team members successfully obtained the summit of K2 (8,611 m / 28,251 ft) on July 22, 2022 at approximately 3:00 AM PKT (local time):
#
Name
Country
1
Mr. Terray Ellington Sylvester
USA
2
Mr. Claudio “Cacho” Javier Beiza
Argentina
3
Ms. Nelly Attar
Lebanon
4
Ms. Krisli Melesk
Estonia
5
Mr. Aang Phurba Sherpa
Nepal
6
Mr. Siddhi Bahadur Tamang
Nepal
7
Mr. Dorji Gyeljen Sherpa
Nepal
8
Mr. Kamdorji Sherpa
Nepal
9
Mr. Lhakpa Wongchu Sherpa
Nepal
10
Mr. Mingdorji Sherpa
Nepal
11
Mr. Lakpa Bhote
Nepal
12
Mr. Rinji Sherpa
Nepal
13
Mr. Temba Sherpa
Nepal
14
Mr. Lakpa Sherpa
Nepal
15
Mr. Inayat Ali
Pakistan
All members are now back safely in camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft) and will continue their descent to camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft).
Sunrise on summit day from above the serac.
Climbers on the upper slope of K2, above the serac.
Members of the team at the top of the bottleneck.
Climbers making their way down from the summit!
Looking down from the summit of K2!
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:
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The Madison Mountaineering expedition team had its first members of the team reach the summit of K2! Members of our sherpa team fixed lines between camp 4 and the summit, reaching the summit themselves at 10:40 PM Pakistan time. Expedition lead, Garrett Madison, checks in with another dispatch from K2 base camp:
Update July 21st 10:40 PM Pakistan time: Our rope fixing team of Sherpa’s (Siddhi, Dorjee, Rinji) along with 2 Sherpas from the 8k team (Pasdawa & Chhring) have reached the summit of K2 (8611m/28,251ft). We are very proud of their hard work in setting the route and leading the way. Our climbers in camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft) have just begun their climb, hopefully reaching the top in about 8 hours, just after sunrise on the 22nd of July.
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:
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The Madison MountaineeringK2 expedition team is tucked into camp 4 for the night, getting some rest and preparing for their summit push which is set to start in just a few hours! Expedition lead, Garrett Madison, checks in with today’s dispatch from K2 base camp:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in from K2 base camp (4968m/16,300ft) – today is Thursday, July 21st.
Our climbing team is up in camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft) on K2. Meanwhile, our sherpa team has been fixing lines since yesterday – they’ve made great progress up from camp 4 through the shoulder, the bottleneck, the traverse, and they are continuing up this evening!
Our team is planning to depart camp 4 in a few hours, around 10 PM tonight assuming the rope fixing team is able to continue their progress. Fingers crossed the route conditions will be good for them! The weather should hold – it looks like it’s going to be a great day tomorrow, so we’re really excited to monitor their progress tonight and tomorrow as they climb. Hopefully they’ll be standing on the summit of K2 (8611m/28,251ft) in about 12 or 14 hours from now.
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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/PHOTO-2022-07-21-08-09-41.jpg7681024Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2022-07-21 14:12:442022-07-21 16:09:39Summit Push on the Way!
The Madison MountaineeringK2 expedition team has reached camp 3 and our sherpa team has fixed ropes all the way to camp 4! With more good weather on the way, the team will continue on to camp 4 tomorrow, while our sherpa team plans to continue fixing lines above camp 4. Expedition lead, Garrett Madison, checks in with today’s dispatch from K2 base camp:
Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the K2 expedition team – today is Wednesday, July 20th.
Today our team climbed from camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft) up the black pyramid to camp 3 (7250m/23,800ft) on K2! Our team’s doing great. Everyone’s in camp 3 having dinner, getting ready to go to sleep, and have a restful night.
Today our sherpa rope fixing team was able to fix lines up to camp 4 (7681m/25,200ft). They reported some semi-deep snow conditions, but not too bad. They all returned back to camp 3 after their work today. So, the ropes are into camp 4 – that’s good news! Tomorrow they’re going to go back to camp 4 and work on fixing above camp 4 on the shoulder and through the bottleneck. Hopefully they’ll make good progress! Our climbing team is planning to climb from 3 to 4 tomorrow as well.
All is well on K2! It was a little breezy today at 7,000 meters, but clear at the moment! Looks like it’ll be a nice day tomorrow for climbing.
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:
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.“
The Madison MountaineeringK2 expedition team is settled into camp 2 for the night and plans to move up to camp 3 tomorrow! There has been good weather so far and the team hopes for good route conditions as they make their way higher up the mountain. Here’s expedition lead, Garrett Madison, with today’s dispatch from K2 base camp:
Beautiful day here in K2 base camp (4968m/16,300ft) and today the team climbed up to camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft). They reported good conditions, a lot of climbers up on the route – mostly below them because they got an early start! The sherpa team got up to camp 3 (7250m/23,800ft), and then fixed lines part way up to camp 4 today (7681m/25,200ft). So, things are going well up on the Abruzzi route! Hopefully the team will climb up to camp 3 tomorrow and the sherpas will be able to continue fixing up to camp 4.
All is well here. It looks like good weather in the forecast, so fingers crossed for good route conditions high up on K2!
Sirdar and guide, Aang Phurba Sherpa climbing on the Abruzzi Ridge. (📸: @terray_s)
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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/PHOTO-2022-07-15-20-36-19.jpg4831024Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2022-07-19 14:16:052022-07-19 15:26:18Relishing on the Abruzzi Ridge
The summit rotation is underway on K2 for the Madison Mountaineering team! The team has reached camp 1 and plans to push on to camp 2 tomorrow. Meanwhile, our sherpa team is planning to move up to camp 3 tomorrow, and start working on fixing the ropes above camp 3 in the coming days. Here’s expedition lead, Garrett Madison, with today’s dispatch from K2 base camp:
Today our team started their summit rotation – so climbers left this morning at 3 AM from base camp (4968m/16,300ft), we saw them off. They arrived in camp 1 (6065m/19,900ft) around 10 AM. They reported good conditions and they’re all tucked in at camp 1 for the night, planning to head up to camp 2 (6700m/21,980ft) tomorrow.
Our fixing team of sherpa are up at camp 2 at the moment and they’re planning to head to camp 3 (7250m/23,800ft) tomorrow – so that’s four sherpa’s from our team working on the fixing project. Currently the ropes are not in above camp 3, so they have some work to do and also planning to work with some sherpa’s from a few other teams.
I’m in base camp reporting, all is well! 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:
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.“
