Tag Archive for: South Col

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

We are thrilled to announce that the 2023 Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition team has successfully reached the summit of the tallest mountain on Earth, and safely returned to their tents at Camp 4! The team all reached the top between 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM NPT (local time) and enjoyed a magnificent summit day complete with sunshine, little wind, great route conditions, and the route (mostly) to themselves.

Congratulations to the team and and a heartfelt thank you goes out to our rockstar Sherpa team and support staff! This incredible feat would not be possible without them.

Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with today’s dispatch as he tries to find the words for a truly special day on Mount Everest:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in from the South Col (7900m/25,919ft) for the Madison Mountaineering Everest (8848m/29,032ft) and Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) expedition team. We had a great summit today on Mount Everest! Best summit day ever that I can remember.

We started about 2:00 AM after a brief snowstorm here on the South Col, made our way up the triangular face to the balcony, up to the south summit, and up to the top of the world – summit of Mount Everest, about 9:30 – 10:00 AM. It was a glorious day! The best conditions and best route conditions that I can remember, perfect weather. It was warm, hardly any wind, hardly any other climbers on the mountain. We spent about two hours total, some of us, after summit just basking in the views, warmth and enjoying being at the top of Mount Everest. So, we had eight clients, four guides and 15 Nepal Sherpas get to the top today, including Aang Phurba Sherpa. And now, we’re all back safe in Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft)!

Our plan is to go to bed, we just had some dinner. Some of us are going to wake up in a few hours, and head off to climb Lhotse – a neighboring peak of Mount Everest, the fourth highest mountain in the world.

So, the perfect summit day! (I) can’t believe how lucky we were, it was so nice up there. So lucky in so many ways! It was a glorious day and glad we’re all back safe.

Tomorrow some of us will go to Lhotse, the rest of us down to Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft), and the following day down to base camp (5364m/17,598ft). All is well here on Everest! 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:

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

The 2023 Madison Mountaineering Everest expedition team is primed and ready to make their summit push on the world’s highest peak! In just a few short hours, the team will emerge from their tents, dawn their packs, and leave the South Col in the direction of Mount Everest’s summit ridge which will take them to the summit. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from the South Col:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest (8848m/29,032ft) and Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) expedition team. Today is May 23rd and we are up here at Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft) on the South Col. We got up here yesterday afternoon and had a good nights sleep, a restful day recovering and preparing for our summit attempt tonight. So the weather looks great, probably the best day of the season coming up, fingers crossed.

The team is ready and our plan is to wake up in a few hours time and head out around midnight to make our summit attempt on Mount Everest! So we are doing our last minute preparations here, finishing our dinner, filling our water bottles, we’ll sleep for 2 hours before we get up and go.

Wish us luck! We’ll check in tomorrow.


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:

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

The 2023 Madison Mountaineering team is safely settled into their tents at Camp 4 (C4) on the South Col, between the summits of both Everest and Lhotse. This being their high camp, they plan to take a rest day tomorrow so that they are ready to go when it becomes time to make their summit push! Weather permitting, the team aims to begin their summit push tomorrow night. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with today’s dispatch from C4:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest (8848m/29,032ft) and Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) expedition. Today is May 22nd, and we are up at Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft) on Mount Everest, also known as the South Col here at 26,000 feet or just under 8,000 meters.

We’re doing great! We had a good climb up from Camp 3 (7230m/23,720ft) today – it was a long day. We started at about 6:30 and got up here at about 3:30 in the afternoon. We’ve had dinner and filled up some hot water bottles, changed our oxygen cylinders, and we are getting ready for bed now. Our plan is to have a restful night, rest day tomorrow, and then leave tomorrow night for the summit. So, aiming for May 24th! The weather looks great, snowing right now – it’s been snowing this afternoon, but the wind is supposed to be calm on May 24th and 25th. We’re looking forward to a nice day up here tomorrow to recover, enjoy some good views, and get all prepped and ready for our summit climb tomorrow night!

All is well here at the South Col on Mount Everest!


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:

The view up the Western Cwm towards Camp 2, the Lhotse Face and the summit of Everest. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

With our “first wave” of climbers recuperating and enjoying the comforts of Namche Bazaar, our “second wave” of climbers is currently up at Camp 2 with plans to descend to Everest Base Camp tomorrow. They’ve had a very successful second rotation as they prepare for their summit push! A few members of our team will continue higher into the Himalaya as they make their summit attempt on Nuptse! Expedition guide, Terray Sylvester, checks in with today’s dispatch from Namche Bazaar:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest (8848m/29,032ft), Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft) and Nuptse (7861m/25,791ft) expedition – today is May 7th.

Today our “second wave” of Everest and Lhotse climbers were in Camp 2! They climbed part way up the Lhotse face toward Camp 3 (7230m/23,720ft), and then returned back down to Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) at the head of the Western Cwm. Tomorrow, they plan to descend back to base camp (5364m/17,598ft), and that will wrap up their acclimatization rotation. They’ve spent two nights at Camp 1 (6050m/19,849ft) and three nights at Camp 2 as of tomorrow.

Meanwhile, our “first wave” of EverestLhotse climbers are down here in Namche Bazaar (3440m/11,290ft). We flew down here yesterday morning from base camp. It was a beautiful helicopter flight, and since then, we’ve been enjoying hot showers, eating good food and sucking up all the extra oxygen down here, which feels great! So, we’re just resting and biding our time, recuperating for our summit push which is still a little ways off. Right now we’re waiting for high winds to ease on the upper mountain so that our Sherpa team can carry oxygen and other supplies up as high as the South Col (7900m/25,919ft), and then we’ll start looking for a summit window.

Our Nuptse climbers moved up to high camp at the foot of the route this afternoon. They’re currently resting in high camp and preparing for a summit attempt that will start late tonight. Most of the route is fixed, and if the weather permits, then our climbers and our rope-fixing team will complete the route to the summit tomorrow morning.

So, lots of things going on here in Nepal, but all is well and we will be in touch tomorrow!

Camp 1. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Camp 1. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Climbing out of Camp 1. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Climbing out of Camp 1. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Climber, Erwin Visser crossing a ladder in the Khumbu Icefall. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Climber, Erwin Visser crossing a ladder in the Khumbu Icefall. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Our "first wave" of climbers descending through the icefall back to EBC. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

Our “first wave” of climbers descending through the icefall back to EBC. (Photo: Terray Sylvester)


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:

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo: Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering “second wave” of climbers is busy at Camp 2 acclimatizing, and for some, looking ahead to an ascent on Nuptse! The team has had great weather today, a restful afternoon and evening, and is in high spirits as they look forward to the days ahead. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with today’s dispatch from Camp 2:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest (8848m/29,032ft) expedition. Today is May 5th and I’m with the “second wave” with guide, Cacho Beiza and climbers, Eva, Krisli, Danah and Rich, Mark and Steve!

We had a great day starting out from Camp 1 (6050m/19,849ft)where we spent the last two nights, and some of our team that was just up at Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) finishing their rotation is coming down. They were heading to base camp (5364m/17,598ft) today for a good rest!

We climbed up to Camp 2, settled in, and had a nice afternoon and a restful evening, good dinner and just said goodbye to some of our team that were heading up to do a carry to the South Col this evening. They’re planning to climb all through the night and deposit a load of oxygen at Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft), back tomorrow.

For Nuptse (7861m/25,791ft), our rope fixing team is hard at work right now! Today they were able to fix up the ice arête on the Nuptse route, under the rock band, which is good news! They’ll have another good day tomorrow.

All is well up here at Camp 2 on Mount Everest! 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:

On the summit of Mount Everest - May 20, 2022

All of the Madison Mountaineering Everest and Lhotse team is safely back to base camp.  Expedition leader Garrett Madison calls in with today’s expedition dispatch:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest and Lhotse expedition.  Today is Sunday, the 22nd of May.

We got down from Camp 2 today.   Our whole team made it down to base camp and we’re all back safe in Everest Base Camp.

We’re looking forward to heading home after a very successful expedition.  We had thirty (30) climbers reach the summit of Everest, that’s nine (9) clients, four (4) guides, seventeen (17) Nepal sherpa.  Another four (4) of us reached the summit of Lhotse, along with three (3) sherpa, seven (7) total.  And, of course, our private team summited Everest on May 15th with nine (9) members.  So it’s been a very successful here.

We’re just so fortunate and thankful that we had great weather and great route conditions and everyone had a good expirence and made it home safely.  So, we’re looking forward to packing up here tomorrow and making our way down the Khumbu Valley and back towards home.

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:

The climb up Mount Lhotse in Asia

With the entire team safely down to Camp 2, expedition leader Garrett Madison recaps the day and shares some exciting news about Lhotse in this dispatch sat phone call from Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) on Mount Everest:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest and Lhotse expedition team.  Today is May 21th.

We are all back safely in Camp 2.

We’ve got some exciting news:  today, myself, Chase Merriam, Cameron Kenny, Josh Garrison, along with three (3) of our Nepal staff, sherpas Siddhi, Sange, and Lakpa climbed Mount Lhotse this morning.  We woke up about 2:00am and got up to the summit of Lhotse between 6:00am and 8:00am and just had a beautiful summit day – great conditions.  Now we’re all back safely to Camp 2.  Our entire team’s back safely in Camp 2.

Big congrats to our Everest climbers.  Everyone on our team summited Everest; clients, guides, and sherpas who began the summit push here departing from Camp 2.  100% success!  A total of thirty (30) members, not counting our small private team which summitted Everest on May 15th with nine (9) members.  So, another very successful season!  We’ve just got to get down to base camp safely tomorrow and then celebrations are in order.

All’s well here at Camp 2 on Everest and everyone’s in good spirits and doing well.

We’ll check in soon!

(photo from the Madison Mountaineering archives)


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:

Woohoo!  Our Everest and Lhotse expedition team all summited Mount Everest today!  Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, calls in from Mount Everest’s South Col high camp with the happy details:

Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Everest and Lhotse expedition team.  Today is May 20th.

Today we summitted Mount Everest!  The whole team:  all nine (9) clients, four (4) guides, and our whole team of Sherpas summitted Mount Everest today around 7:00 to 8:00am.

We had some great views from up there, good route conditions, we had the whole route to ourselves, hardly another climber up there, and we made our way back down to high camp.  The whole team made it safely back to high camp by mid-afternoon.

We’ve been resting up and we’re getting ready to go for our Lhotse attempt.  A few of us are going to set off tonight around midnight and head off towards Mount Lhotse.  The rest of the team will sleep here at the South Col Camp 4 and pack up tomorrow morning, and head down to Camp 2.  So, we’ll all be heading down to Camp 2 eventually tomorrow afternoon.

Great job today to our whole team!  100% success!  We all made it up to the summit of Everest and down safe.  I’m very proud of this team.  I couldn’t be happier.  They earned it.

We’re keeping our fingers crossed for Lhotse tonight.  Hopefuly it works out for those of us going for the double header – Everest/Lhotse combination.

So, checking in for Madison Mountaineering.  We’ll check in tomorrow.

(photo from the Madison Mountaineering archives)


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:

Camp 4

The Everest and Lhotse expedition team is staged to head up from Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft) to the summit very soon now!  Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in via Garmin inReach Mini with this brief update:

Good morning from C4! Having brkfast now, inst oatmeal then dehy eggs, yum! But hardly any wind!..everyone doing well at the moment:) we’re the only team here! Resting up to probably head up tonight around 1:00am.

(photo from the Madison Mountaineering archives)


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:

The route up the Lhotse Face above Camp 3, over the Yellow Band and left over the Geneva Spur (📸: @terray_s)

The team is safely in place on Mount Everest’s South Col at Camp 4.  It’s now just over 24 hours before they will start out for the summit – weather permitting.  Everest guide Terray Sylvester sends today’s expedition dispatch via Garmin inReach Mini:

Hello from Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft) on the South Col of Mount Everest!

Today we had beautiful weather as we moved up from Camp 3 (7230m/23,720ft). There were no other teams on the route. So we moved efficiently without traffic jams and made great time. Along the way we had spectacular views back down the Western Cwm and of some of Everest’s giant neighbors, including Cho Oyu.

We plan to rest here tomorrow before heading for the summit.

We’ll be in touch!

(photo from the Madison Mountaineering archives, 📸: @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: