Tag Archive for: Summit Push

Summit photo on top of Mount Vinson!

We’re excited to share that the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team has safely and successfully climbed to the highest point in Antarctica, and descended all the way back down to their base camp in the same day! A strong team that brought the excitement all expedition, the team is now enjoying the comforts of their base camp and celebrating their achievement of climbing one of the famed seven summits, Mount Vinson! Congratulations to the entire team on a hard fought and well earned summit, and to all of our climbers this last season. It was another year for the books with 100% of our climbers and guides reaching the top! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition. This is our last trip of the season and we all summited Mount Vinson yesterday!

We had a beautiful summit day, perfect weather, and just wonderful route conditions all around. We climbed about six hours from high camp up to the summit, spent a good 45 minutes up there celebrating, enjoying the views, and then came all the way back down to high camp (3536m/11,600ft), and kept going! We packed up our camp and went all the way down to base camp (2140m/7,020ft)! Very strong crew and we just got down to base camp early this morning. We’re going to get a little rest and hopefully the planes will start flying later today and we’ll get back to Union Glacier Camp (700m/2,297ft)!

All is well here – 100% success for this Vinson expedition and all three of our Vinson expeditions this season! So, big congrats to all of our climbers on all of our teams. (We’re) very happy to be here in Antarctica and looking forward to next season!

Climbing up high on Mount Vinson!

Climbing up high on Mount Vinson!

Beautiful, blue sky day in Antarctica!

Beautiful, blue sky day in Antarctica!


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.

It comes with great pleasure to share that all members of the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team reached the roof of Antarctica today! Under blue skies and with excellent views of the surrounding Antarctic expanse, our team walked together up the final ridge on their way towards the top. Coming together on the summit, all nine climbers embraced with hugs, high-fives, and a birthday celebration for one of our team members, Alina! Now safely back in high camp, the team will get some rest before packing up and heading back down to base camp tomorrow. Awesome work, team! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson high camp:

Hello! This is Garrett and Benny calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) team.

We are back in high camp (3536m/11,600ft) after a successful summit today on January 8th, 100 % success! Everyone in our team of seven climbers, two guides made the summit. It was awesome! We had great weather, epic views, and a big celebration on the top. One of our members, Alina had a birthday today, so we sang her a happy birthday on the summit! We took lots of photos and videos and got back down here in high camp.

Winds are picking up, it’s storming a little bit. It’s supposed to storm more tomorrow, so we are going to pack up and head down first thing tomorrow and get down to base camp (2140m/7,020ft). So everyone is doing well and we will check in soon!

# Name Country
1 Garrett Madison United States
2 Benjamin “Benny” Lieber United States
3 Matthew Newton Australia
4 Alina Pekova Russia
5 Asad Memon Pakistan
6 Justin Barron United States
7 Putri Handayani Indonesia
8 Bart Heijermans Netherlands
9 Famke Heijermans Netherlands

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:

High Camp on Mount Vinson (photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive)

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team has reached their high camp and is in position to go for the summit! With good weather tomorrow, the team will exit their tents with boots on and packs shouldered and begin moving up the route, step by step across the Vinson Massif on their way to the highest point in Antarctica! The team is well fueled, excited, and ready to go! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson:

Hello! This is Garrett and Benny at the high camp (3536m/11,600ft) of Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft). We are in position with our team for a summit push tomorrow!

We had a great day coming up from low camp (2774m/9,100ft) to high camp on the fixed ropes. Beautiful day, great views, warm temps, not much wind. We got up to high camp, dug out our gear, set up our camp kitchen. We had a good dinner, macaroni and cheese, some quesadillas, burgers, and strawberries for dessert and some french fries! Now we’re just making hot water for everybody so they can have hot water bottles in their sleeping bags – so deluxe up here!

We are going to wake up tomorrow and go for the summit! So fingers crossed the weather holds and we have good weather and route conditions tomorrow on our summit push on Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica.

All is well here in high camp! 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 team on the summit of Mount Vinson!

We are excited to share that the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition has safely and successfully reached the summit of Antarctica’s highest peak! All boots landed on the summit over the weekend under clear skies and with much excitement, embraced with hugs and high-fives at the roof of one of the most remote and pristine places on the planet. Now back in Union Glacier Camp after a swift descent and scenic plane flight, the team will enjoy a few last days on the ice before boarding the plane back to Punta Arenas, Chile and then on to their home countries. Nice work, everyone! What a great way to start the season in Antarctica. Expedition leader, Benny Lieber checks in with this dispatch from Union Glacier Camp:

We made it to the summit of Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) on December 14. The highest peak sticking up amongst the most frozen landscape on Planet Earth at 16,050ft. And positioned at 78°S in Antarctica.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and as we climbed up the last few hours we covered our faces and hands to stay warm in an Antarctic wind. On the top the wind faded to nearly nothing. We smiled and hugged and looked out at the endless ice in every direction. A surreal view unlike any other in the world.

I’m so proud of our team for their hard work and commitment to standing on the top together- which is a memory that will stay with us all forever.

Clear Antarctic skies!

Clear Antarctic skies!

Descending down the mountain with Mount Shinn behind.

Descending down the mountain with Mount Shinn behind.

Mount Vinson's summit ridge.

Mount Vinson’s summit ridge.

The team on their way up with the expansive Antarctic landscape stretching as far as the eye can see!

The team on their way up with the expansive Antarctic landscape stretching as far as the eye can see!

Ascending fixed lines on the way up the mountain!

Ascending fixed lines on the way up the mountain!

Ascending fixed lines toward high camp!

Ascending fixed lines toward high camp!

Dinner time!

Dinner time!


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.

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team has settled into their high camp and is in position to make their summit push! The team enjoyed sunny skies as they climbed fixed lines up steep slopes on their way into camp. Now cozied up into their sleeping bags with full bellies after a nice dinner, the team is motivated and ready to make their push for the summit! With good weather and mountain conditions ahead, we’ll again emerge from our tents, only this time on our way to the top of the highest point in Antarctica! Expedition leader, Benny Lieber checks in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson:

Hey! This is Benny here, Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition. We are at high camp – 12,400 feet. We climbed up from low camp today, steep slopes with fixed ropes and the team did great! Everyone’s well, snuggling into their sleeping bags after a nice, hot dinner. The weather is great, the winds have cleared out, skies are clear also and we’re looking forward to climbing the mountain! Thanks.


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 team on the summit of Ama Dablam with Everest and Lhotse in the background! From left: Guide Terray Sylvester, our climber, Joe, and Sirdar and Guide, Aang Phurba Sherpa. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Safely back in base camp, the Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam expedition team spent the day re-introducing themselves to the luxuries of life off of the mountain! After a great day successfully reaching the summit on the day prior, the team relaxed, celebrated, and began getting prepared to make their way back down the valley. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this celebratory dispatch from Ama Dablam base camp:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the autumn 2024 Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam (6812m/22,349ft) expedition – today is November 8th. Today, we had a rest day here in base camp (4600m/15,100ft) after our successful summit push. Yesterday, we topped out on Ama Dablam at about 7:30 AM in the morning, and then we descended all the way back down to base camp and had a nice dinner here and got a good nights sleep.

So, we spent today taking showers and getting packed and prepared for our trek back down the valley to Lukla (2860m/9,383ft). Our plan is to leave for Namche Bazaar (3440m/11,290ft) tomorrow morning and then finish off the trek the following day.

All in all, we had a fantastic summit push! Two days ago, or three days ago on November 5th, we moved up to Camp 1 (5791m/19,000ft). The following day, we moved to Camp 2 (5980m/19,619ft), rested most of the day, and then that evening at about 11:00 PM we started our summit climb and topped out at about 7:30 AM in the morning! The climbing conditions were perfect – zero wind and perfectly clear skies, which meant we had great views of the peaks around us and before the sun came up, excellent views of a brilliant, starry sky over the Himalayas!

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

Our climber, Joe, stepping onto the summit! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our climber, Joe, stepping onto the summit! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Approaching Camp 2. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Approaching Camp 2. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Celebratory cake back in base camp the evening after our team summited!

Celebratory cake back in base camp the evening after our team summited!


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:

It comes with great excitement to share that at 7:36 AM local time on November 7, the Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam expedition team successfully reached the summit! The team left their tents at Camp 2 and climbed through the night, navigating technical terrain under starry skies. In the morning hours, the sun began to come up revealing excellent views of many surrounding peaks and the route below. It was near perfect weather and route conditions for our summit day! After taking the final few steps onto the summit, the team shared hugs and high-fives in celebration before reporting the good news to our other teams in the Khumbu region. The team is now safely back in base camp and will begin to pack their bags and start their departure from the Himalaya soon! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Ama Dablam:

Hello from base camp! This morning we summited Ama Dablam (6812m/22,349ft) from Camp 2 (5980m/19,619ft) in excellent weather. We left Camp 2 at about 11 p.m. and stepped onto the summit not long after sunrise in perfectly clear skies without a breath of wind. After soaking up the views of Everest (8848m/29,032ft), Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft), Makalu (8463m/27,766ft), Kanchenjunga (8586m/28,169ft) and other peaks, we descended all the way here to base camp (4600m/15,100ft). We just wrapped up dinner and we’re looking forward to some well-earned sleep!


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 by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam expedition team is in position to make a push for the summit from Camp 2! While climbing up from Camp 1, the team had great weather and moved smoothly between the two camps along the southwest ridge. In just a short time, the team will get an alpine start and make their push for the summit! Stay tuned for more updates. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this brief dispatch from Ama Dablam before going for the summit:

Hello from Camp 2 (5980m/19,619ft)! We just finished a fun and scenic climb here from Camp 1 (5791m/19,000ft). We were the first team on the route today. So we were able to move at our own pace and enjoy the varied terrain and excellent views. Now we’ve settled into camp. We’re planning to get a good rest and go for the summit (6812m/22,349ft) late tonight.

We’ll be in touch!


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 by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam expedition team has started their summit rotation! After several days of rest and relaxation, we’ve shouldered our packs and left the comforts of our base camp. With good weather ahead, we plan to continue climbing up the mountain, with hopes of standing on the summit in just a few days time! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Ama Dablam:

Hello from Camp 1 (5791m/19,000ft)! This morning we moved here from base camp (4600m/15,100ft) through a dusting of fresh snow. Now we’re settled in our tents and waiting for our dinners to cook.

The team is doing well. We’re looking forward to a pleasant night here and a scenic climb to Camp 2 (5980m/19,619ft) tomorrow. We’ll be in touch!


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:

Summit photo on the top of Cho Oyu!

After several years off the mountain, it comes with great pleasure to share that 100% of our 2024 Cho Oyu expedition team has successfully reached the summit of the world’s sixth-highest peak! We are so proud of the team for their hard work and determination after a challenging season weather-wise. A HUGE shoutout and thank you goes out to our Sherpa team – these feats would not be possible without you. We’ve returned safely to base camp and will begin our departure home soon! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this celebratory dispatch from Cho Oyu base camp:

Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Cho Oyu (8188m/26,864ft) expedition team!

We are back down in base camp today and yesterday, October 7th, we summited Cho Oyu, the sixth-highest mountain in the world. All team members made it – 100% success! (I) couldn’t be more proud of our team. Everyone did awesome! We were so lucky with the weather. We had a beautiful, bluebird day, views in all directions (with) great views of Everest (8848m/29,032ft), Lhotse (8516m/27,940ft), Nuptse (7861m/25,791ft), Makalu (8485m/27,838ft), Shishapangma (8027m/26,335ft). Just so happy that this climb worked out! It was a little tenuous there last week with the big storm, all the snow, and the season being delayed about a week here in Tibet. But, all is well!

We’re packing up base camp today. We’re going to start trekking out tomorrow, Jeeps down to Tingri (4348m/14,268ft), and onwards to Lhasa (3,656m/11,995ft). There’s no land border crossings back into Nepal open at this point after the massive flooding, they’re all washed out. So, we are going to be flying back from Lhasa! So, very excited about that.

It’s a beautiful day here in base camp! We’re doing well, and happy, and looking forward to getting home soon.

High Camp with otherworldly views of the surrounding Himalayas!

High Camp with otherworldly views of the surrounding Himalayas!

Views of Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse from high on the mountain!

Views of Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse from high on the mountain!

Evening light high in the alpine.

Morning light high in the alpine.

The team on our summit rotation under blue skies!

The team on our summit rotation under blue skies!

Climbing up on the summit rotation!

Climbing up on the summit rotation!


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: