Tag Archive for: Ski Last Degree

A white Christmas on Mount Vinson!

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team celebrated Christmas today with a good meal, friends, and in one spectacular place! While friends and family are missed, we are grateful for this time spent together as a team sharing memories we won’t soon forget. The team is settled into their base camp and will return to Union Glacier Camp soon, followed shortly after by making the return trips home, marking the conclusion of our first Mount Vinson expedition of the season. The Mount Vinson expedition team checks in with this celebratory dispatch from Antarctica:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in from Mount Vinson Base Camp (2140m/7,020ft). Merry Christmas! We’re all here just having a great meal and celebrating our climb of Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft)!

“Yeah, it was a good outing on the mountain – oh, I’m Benny (Lieber)!  We’re here with Sanjeev, Art, Kevin, and Garrett, and we had great weather. We’re having a big Christmas dinner and wanted to say “hello” to all of our families and friends, love you, and we are enjoying the holiday!” ~ Madison Mountaineering guide, Benny Lieber

“Hey, everybody – Kevin here! Thrilled to be on the adventure, the double header with Art. (Ski) the last degree went well, and now here we are doing post Vinson summit celebration! Benny and Garrett could not have looked after us better. Miss everybody, wish we could have been home for Christmas as well, but we’ll see you soon enough. Lots of love, all the best.” ~ Madison Mountaineering climber, Kevin Walsh

“Hi! It’s Art Muir and it’s a wonderful way to spend Christmas. I miss my family, but I couldn’t think of a better way to (garbled) great adventure, great success, a 5-star operation run by Garrett Madison of course. We’ve had a wonderful time here, so hopefully everybody comes to visit Antarctica, which Garrett says is “a magical place.” ~ Madison Mountaineering climber, Art Muir

“Hi, Sanjeev here! We’ve just had this out of this world experience. It felt like we were on a different planet! Thank you so much Garrett, Benny, and two great friends I’ve made, Art and Kevin. (garbled)” ~ Madison Mountaineering climber, Sanjeev Banga

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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Vinson Base Camp

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Ted Hesser)

After a short stay in Union Glacier Camp, the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson team has, once again, packed their bags and flown to Mount Vinson Base Camp! The team will officially start the climb from here, spending the coming days ascending the frozen continent’s highest peak. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Vinson Base Camp:

Hey, this is Garrett calling in for the first Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition of the season! We just arrived in Union Glacier (700m/2,297ft) and met our fellow climbers, Art Muir and Kevin, who just came off ski last degree. They had a great ski to the South Pole, flew back to Union Glacier a day ahead of us. Also, we flew in with Sanjeev. So the five of us flew from Union Glacier to Mount Vinson (2140m/7,020ft), arrived today, set up our camp, had a nice dinner, and we are heading to bed.

We’re really happy to be here! It’s just beautiful weather, spectacular scenery, and we are ready and very excited to get our climb underway! All as well here on Vinson. 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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Hello from Antarctica!

Guides, Garrett and Benny with Mount Vinson climber, Thais after landing on the ice!

The first of the 2023 / 2024 Madison Mountaineering teams have arrived in Antarctica for Mount Vinson, ski the last degree, and Mount Sidley expeditions! We are more excited than ever to be back on the ice and look forward to a great season ahead. Expedition guide, Benny Lieber checks in with this dispatch from Union Glacier Camp:

Today we made the flight from Punta Arenas (34m/112ft) to Antarctica. Flying across the frozen continent and into the mountains, landing in the Boeing 757 on the blue ice runway was a surreal experience.

It’s a beautiful evening here. No wind. We had a big dinner – uniting with Art & Kevin who are back from skiing the last degree to the South Pole. We are all so excited for the mission ahead on Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft)!

Flying over the frozen continent on the way to Union Glacier Camp (Photo: Benny Lieber)

Flying over the frozen continent on the way to Union Glacier Camp (Photo: Benny Lieber)

Expedition leader, Garrett Madison in Union Glacier Camp under clear blue skies!

Expedition leader, Garrett Madison in Union Glacier Camp under clear blue skies!

Guide, Benny Lieber is all smiles after arriving on the ice!

Guide, Benny Lieber is all smiles after arriving on the ice!

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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Antarctica expedition team returns to Union Glacier Camp

Hello, this is Garrett calling in with the Antarctica expedition. Today is Thursday, January 12th and today we flew from the South Pole back to Union Glacier Camp where we are going to spend a night rest up and prepare to head out to Mt Vinson for the next part of our adventure. Just had a great dinner here in Union Glacier Camp and we are looking forward to a good night of rest and hopefully tomorrow if the weather is good we will be able to fly by Twin Otter about 45 minutes out to Mt. Vinson base camp. We will check in soon.

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Follow along with our friends at Polar Explorers for exciting news and photos as our team continues to Mt. Vinson! Stay tuned!!

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Antarctica Expedition Team Reaches the South Pole!

Hi, this is Garrett Madison calling in for the Antarctica South Pole ski expedition. I’m calling in from the South Pole, we made it in here yesterday afternoon and had a wonderful celebratory dinner, toasted some champagne. Today had a tour of the United States – South Pole station. Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. Now we are getting ready to fly by Twin Otter back to Union Glacier Camp where we are going to prepare for our next leg of the journey which is Mt. Vinson. We had a wonderful ski to the South Pole, 60 nautical miles about 110 kilometers everyone did great, beautiful weather. Now were are back to Union Glacier for the next part of our adventure.

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Antarctica South Pole Expedition 2017

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Antarctica South Pole Expedition 2017

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Antarctica South Pole Expedition 2017

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Antarctica South Pole expedition ski team at 89.52 degrees

Hello, this is Garrett Madison calling in with the Antarctica South Pole expedition ski team. Today is Tuesday, January 10th and we are at 89.52 degrees 36 seconds. So we’ve got about seven and three quarter nautical miles left to go to the South Pole. We are hoping to get there tomorrow, we can actually see some of the buildings the U.S. have as the research station at the South Pole from our camp here tonight. Everybody is doing great we had an easier day today, not quite as windy and not quite as cold, probably about -25 to -30. And we just had dinner and we are all tucked in for bed, looking forward to arriving at the pole tomorrow and having a little celebration. And then they will give us a tour of the U.S. science station. All is well here in Antarctica and we will check in soon.

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Follow along with our friends at Polar Explorers for exciting news and photos as our team reaches the South Pole! Stay tuned!!

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Antarctica South Pole

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South Pole expedition ski team reaches 89.436 degrees!

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the South Pole expedition ski team. Today is Monday, January 9th and we have reached 89.436 degrees. About 16 and three quarters nautical miles left to the South Pole. We are hoping to do it in two more days. Had a great day today, but it was a little cooler with a bit little wind. Temperatures were -35 to -40 celsius but we were able to stay warm with our warm clothing and equipment. Everyone is doing well we are in camp here we’ve had dinner and camp and are tucked in. We are just enjoying a little quite time in our tents before we go to sleep. We look forward to a fun day tomorrow. We will check in soon.

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Follow along with our friends at Polar Explorers for exciting news and photos as our team reaches the South Pole! Stay tuned!!

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South Pole Expedition Ski Team – 26 nautical miles to go!

Hi, this is Garrett calling in for the South Pole Expedition Ski Team. Today is Sunday, January 8th and we are currently at 89.34 degrees and we have another 26 nautical miles to the South Pole. Had a great day, little colder today light winds about 10-15knotts. Probably about 1o degrees colder than yesterday, we had to dress a little warmer. The team did great and we covered good distance today and now we are in camp just had dinner all tucked in ready for bed. Probably got another 4, maybe 5 days ahead of us until we reach the pole we are targeting the 12th of January. Perhaps  the 11th if we make good time. Everyone is doing well and we are enjoying sunny skies and decent temperatures here in the tent. We will check in soon.

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2017 South Pole expedition reaches 89.24 degrees

Hi, this is Garrett Madison calling in with the South Pole expedition ski team. Today is Saturday, January 7th and we had another great day skiing across the polar ice caps of Antarctica. It has been our fifth day without internet access and we are enjoying the feeling of being unplugged. We had beautiful skies today, hardly any wind no clouds. Just perfect weather for skiing in Antarctica. We are now at 89.24 and we are going to 89.6, at 60 nautical miles to the South Pole. Everyone is doing well, we just had dinner and are tucked into bed and will be up early tomorrow morning, starting our day. Thanks for following along!

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South Pole Fun :)

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Ski the Last Degree team reaches 89.14 degrees

Hi this is Garrett calling in for the South Pole team skiing the last degree, that’s the last 60 nautical miles or 110 kilometers. Today is Friday, January 6 and we had a great day skiing, we skied from 9:30AM to 5:30PM. We traveled a good distance, we are now at 89.14. Beautiful day today, no winds, clear skies and no clouds. Just a beautiful day to be out on the polar plateau at about 9,000ft. Just snow in every direction on the horizon. Everybody is doing great, and we just had a good dinner of quesadillas and salmon and looking forward to another day of skiing tomorrow. We will check in soon. Thanks.

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