Tag Archive for: Sherpa

Madison Mountaineering 2022 K2 Summiteers List

Members of the Madison Mountaineering team on the summit of K2!

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.

Sunrise on summit day from above the serac.

Climbers on the upper slope of K2, above the serac.

Climbers on the upper slope of K2, above the serac.

Members of the team at the top of the bottleneck.

Members of the team at the top of the bottleneck.

Climbers making their way down from the summit!

Climbers making their way down from the summit!

Looking down from the summit of K2!

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:

– 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:

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Summit Success for Our Rope Fixing Team!

The team has begun their summit push, after members of our rope fixing team have fixed ropes and successfully reached the summit of K2!

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:

– 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:

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Summit Push on the Way!

The team has begun their summit push, after members of our rope fixing team have fixed ropes and successfully reached the summit of K2!

The Madison Mountaineering K2 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:

– 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:

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Greetings from Camp 3!

K2 earlier during this expedition. Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering archive. (📸: @terray_s)

The Madison Mountaineering K2 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:

– 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:

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Relishing on the Abruzzi Ridge

Evening light on the panorama of peaks and ice fields visible from camp 2 on the Abruzzi Ridge. (📸: @terray_s)

The Madison Mountaineering K2 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:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition team – today is Tuesday, July 19th!

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)

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:

– 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:

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Summit Rotation is Underway!

A sunny afternoon at Camp 1 with Broad Peak across the valley. (📸: @terray_s)

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:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition team – today is Monday, July 18th.

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:

– 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:

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Keeping it Fun in Base Camp!

Our climber, Nelly Attar celebrating a successful ascent while ice climbing today. (📸: @terray_s)

The Madison Mountaineering team is making the most of their time in K2 base camp (4968m/16,300ft)! Today, the team went ice climbing and have a fun evening ahead, with a good dinner and a movie. Expedition guide, Terray Sylvester checks in with todays dispatch from K2 base camp:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2022 Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition – it’s July 12th.

Today we had another rest day here in base camp while we’re still waiting for high winds to taper off on the mountain. But, we had sunny skies today so we took advantage of them and we went ice climbing on some of the ice towers here on the Godwin-Austen Glacier, right next to base camp. That felt great – it was a lot of fun to swing the tools! We also held a second session of our medical and rescue skills refresher training for our Sherpa and Balti teams. So now, a few clouds have come in and we’re just getting ready to sit down for dinner, and we’ll probably follow that up with a movie as usual.

So, all is well here in base camp and we’ll be in touch!

Climber, Krisli tops out on an ice tower near base camp while ice climbing today. (📸: @terray_s)

Climber, Krisli tops out on an ice tower near base camp while ice climbing today. (📸: @terray_s)

Expedition leader, Garrett Madison working with Krisli while ice climbing today. (📸: @terray_s)

Expedition leader, Garrett Madison working with Krisli while ice climbing today. (📸: @terray_s)

Krisli ice climbing today. (📸: @terray_s)

Krisli ice climbing today. (📸: @terray_s)

Nelly swinging the ice tools. (📸: @terray_s)

Nelly swinging the ice tools. (📸: @terray_s)

Guide, Cacho Beiza teaching emergency medical skills to members of our sherpa and Balti staff. (📸: @terray_s)

Guide, Cacho Beiza teaching emergency medical skills to members of our sherpa and Balti staff. (📸: @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:

– 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:

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Rescue and Technical Skill Review

Members of our sherpa team practicing moving a victim in a rescue litter near base camp today (📸: @terray_s)

The Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition team practiced rescue and technical skills today while they continue to wait for a weather window to make their summit push. Terray Sylvester checks in with todays dispatch from K2 base camp (4968m/16,300ft):

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the 2022 Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition – it’s July 8th.

Today, we had another rest day in base camp while we wait for a weather window for our summit push. Beautiful weather – we took the time to do our review session with technical skills and rescue skills with our Sherpa and Balti teams. We try to do one of those every expedition and we’ll probably continue it in the coming days.

The weather is beautiful and the whole team is healthy. So, we’re looking forward to getting back on the mountain.

We’ll be in touch!

Guide, Cacho Beiza, discussing technical and rescue skills during a refresher session with our sherpa and Balti staff in base camp today (📸: @terray_s)

Guide, Cacho Beiza, discussing technical and rescue skills during a refresher session with our sherpa and Balti staff in base camp today (📸: @terray_s)

Guide, Cacho Beiza, reviewing how to use our rescue litter in base camp today (📸: @terray_s)

Guide, Cacho Beiza, reviewing how to use our rescue litter in base camp today (📸: @terray_s)

Sirdar and guide, Aang Phurba Sherpa, teaching during the skills clinic (📸: @terray_s)

Sirdar and guide, Aang Phurba Sherpa, teaching during the skills clinic (📸: @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:

– 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:

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Puja Ceremony and Preparation

Members of our Sherpa team making offerings during our puja ceremony today (📸: @terray_s)

Today, the team had their Puja ceremony in base camp (4968m/16,300ft) and continues to rest up before they make their way back up the mountain. Here’s expedition lead, Garrett Madison, with today’s dispatch from K2 base camp:

Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 Expedition.

Today is July 7th and today we had our Puja ceremony in base camp. After lunch, the weather cleared up and our Sherpa team, our Pakistani team, and all of our climbers gathered around our Puja shrine. We had a wonderful ceremony asking the mountain for safe passage. Afterwards, we had a little dance party, celebration, then had a nice dinner and just finished a movie!

So, everyone’s doing well in base camp. We’re resting lots, eating, and just taking it easy – waiting for some of this bad weather to pass and looking forward to good weather on the way!

All is well here on K2.

Our Pakistani staff and members of our Sherpa team providing the music for the post-puja dancing today (📸: @terray_s)

Our Pakistani staff and members of our Sherpa team providing the music for the post-puja dancing today (📸: @terray_s)

Climber, Krisli, receiving a blessing from Dorje Gyaljen Sherpa at today's puja (📸: @terray_s)

Climber, Krisli, receiving a blessing from Dorje Gyaljen Sherpa at today’s puja (📸: @terray_s)

Our climber, Nelly, sporting a tsampa (roasted barley flour) "mustache" during today's puja. The mustache is a blessing to guarantee that the recipient lives to old age (📸: @terray_s)

Our climber, Nelly, sporting a tsampa (roasted barley flour) “mustache” during today’s puja. The mustache is a blessing to guarantee that the recipient lives to old age (📸: @terray_s)

Dorje Gyaljen Sherpa leading today's puja. Dorje is a very strong Himalayan climber and member of our Sherpa team, he's also trained as a Buddhist lama (📸: @terray_s)

Dorje Gyaljen Sherpa leading today’s puja. Dorje is a very strong Himalayan climber and member of our Sherpa team, he’s also trained as a Buddhist lama (📸: @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:

– 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:

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Mountain Hardwear Bagpacks to Summit !

Mountain Hardwear Backpacks to Summit!

For our 2018 expedition we are using these backpack from Mountain Hardwear. Also, our Mountain Hardwear ‘South Col’ backpacks are utilized by our climbing Sherpa to transport the essential equipment in harsh environment . Furthermore, these backpacks  are used for rope fixing all the way to the summit.


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