Tag Archive for: Sherpa

Our 2017 Everest expedition is preparing to launch! This March we will lead a group of climbers and trekkers from around the world as we journey through the Khumbu Valley toward Mount Everest base camp. If you would like to join our team of trekkers and spend a night at base camp please contact us here. To higher places!

.

2017 Everest

.

2017 Everest

Today our climbing team patiently continued to hold at Camp 2 on Everest as our weather window approaches. After analyzing the weather forecasts from our friend Michael Fagin, it is looking very positive for a summit date between May 18-19 on Everest. We will soon make the ascent to Camp 3 and put ourselves in position for this summit window. The team is doing very well and we have been sending food and supplies up the mountain from base camp. Ankur continues to win at Scrabble from what I’ve heard. In the afternoon the team has been going on short hikes to stay active.

Here at base camp the weather has been beautiful and sunny throughout the day. The Sherpa team and I have been enjoying the TV series Game of Thrones in the evenings and are caught up on Season 6. We are all very excited as our climbers will soon continue up the mountain.

.

Shout-out to the icefall doctor’s shown here passing our climbers. This skilled Sherpa team have been fixing the ropes and ladders all season long, keeping our climbers safe.

Screen Shot 2016-05-14 at 9.09.33 PM

Today our climbing team enjoyed a rest day at Camp 2 on Everest and celebrated the great news that our collaborative Sherpa team successfully reached the summit of Everest today at 5:10pm our time. Lakpa Chiring Sherpa from Pangboche represented Madison Mountaineering and stood on top of the world earlier today. This was a group effort among a few other lead teams here this season and marks the first summit of the year from the south side. We are very happy that the ropes and fixed lines have been set and now our climbing team is awaiting the weather window to push for the summit. Right now the weather forecasts are calling for increased winds which could possibly push our anticipated summit date back a few days. Early tomorrow morning our Sherpa team will bring food and supplies up to Camp 2 as we wait for the weather to clear.

.

Climbing Sherpa Team

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 5.43.05 PM

Hope everyone had a great Halloween weekend! We said good bye to our trekking team that accompanied us all the way from our start in Kathmandu to our base camp here at Gokyo’s fifth lake. It was hard to say goodbye after the last ten days of trekking together in the Khumbu region of Nepal. They are now heading towards Cho La Pass and then onwards to Mount Everest base camp before returning to Lukla and then Kathmandu.
.
Our climbing team organized equipment at base camp today and took a walkabout around camp, scouting the glacier we will cross when we make our move towards our advanced base camp on our summit push. Our base camp is a very beautiful setting, with a nearby lake, and high peaks on all sides. A team of our Sherpa guides along with Madison Mountaineering guide Sid Pattison left today to head to advanced base camp. Tomorrow they will work on establishing the route to camp 1, at the top of the rock buttress, the first major technical section of the climb. This climbing involves around two thousand feet of steep snow and an ice arête (description and imagery here), after which we can establish our first high camp. Everyone is doing well and we look forward to our next acclimatization hike tomorrow.
.
View of glacier above camp:
BK1
.
Acclimatization hike:
BK2
.
View of Mount Everest from our base camp:
BK3
.
Burke Khang Base Camp:
BK1102
.
Team exploring near base camp:
IMG_4282