Tag Archive for: Summit rotation

2024 Manaslu expedition conclusion!

From left: Tenzi Sherpa and Temba Sherpa with our climber Chie Takeshita and Guide Terray Sylvester on the summit of Manaslu at 4:44 a.m. on September 25.

The Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition team has safely descended off of the mountain after successfully reaching the summit of the world’s eighth-highest peak! The team was welcomed back to camp by our rockstar base camp staff with a celebratory meal and cake, which we enjoyed while reflecting on the accomplishment from the day prior. The team has now begun to head their separate ways after saying their goodbyes with memories that won’t soon be forgotten from this hugely successful expedition! Awesome work, team. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this final dispatch from Manaslu base camp:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) expedition – today is September 26.

Today we descended from Camp 2 (6400m/21,000ft) back down to base camp (4859m/15,944ft). We spent last night at Camp 2 after our successful summit on the 25th! We aimed for the 25th as our summit date because the forecast was good for the 25th, but the forecast was predicting significant precipitation for today. Fortunately, that precipitation held off until the afternoon, so we had very pleasant conditions when we woke up in Camp 2 this morning and really nice weather for most of our descent back here to base camp.

It’s great to be here and to reunite with our excellent base camp staff, Khamba, Ram Kumar, and Dipesh, and with our whole Sherpa crew! So as of now, we are completely off of Manaslu! We’ve cleaned out all of our gear and taken down all of our trash, and anything else we brought up there from the mountain from all of the camps we used. All of our Sherpa crew and of course, all of our climbers are safely off of the mountain!

So, that concludes the climbing portion of the expedition. We had a really successful climb, it was just excellent! Tomorrow we plan to descend down to Sama village. We’ll spend one night there before beginning to make our way back to Kathmandu (1400m/4,600ft).

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

Our climbers, James and Sara, with Ming Dorchi Sherpa at the summit of Manaslu! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our climbers, James and Sara, with Ming Dorchi Sherpa at the summit of Manaslu! (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

Our guests celebrating with a “summit cake” and our excellent base camp staff. From left: Khumba, Ram Kumar, and Dipesh.

Our guests celebrating with a “summit cake” and our excellent base camp staff. From left: Khamba, Ram Kumar, and Dipesh.

Our climbers Sara, James, and Chie with Expedition Leader Terray Sylvester.

Our climbers Sara, James, and Chie with Expedition Leader 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:

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100% Summit Success on Manaslu!

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

We are thrilled to announce that the entire Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition team has successfully reached the summit of the world’s eighth-highest peak! Standing at 8156m / 26,759ft, the team ascended the northeast ridge route which culminates in a peak that towers steeply above its surrounding landscape, and is a dominant feature when viewed from afar. The team enjoyed a beautiful morning on the summit, taking in the views and sharing a special moment together from the top. The team has safely descended all the way down to Camp 2 and will continue their descent down to base camp tomorrow. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this celebratory dispatch from Camp 2:

100% success on Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft)! This morning just before 5 a.m. our entire team touched the top of the eighth highest peak. That includes our three guests, four climbing Sherpas, and myself. We left Camp 4 (7450m/24,445ft) around midnight and were one of the first teams to summit today. That was important because the narrow route to Manaslu’s true summit — a high point on a knife edge ridge — can be crowded. The weather was excellent: we left Camp 4 in light snowfall but emerged from the clouds at about 7,800m. At the top we were treated to clear, starry skies and, importantly, completely still air with zero wind. In the distance to the south we could see lighting flickering in the clouds over the Himalayan foothills. At dawn, we could make out the Annapurna (8091m/26,545ft) and Dhaulagiri (8167m/26,795ft) massifs off to the west. After a short break at Camp 4, we descended to Camp 2 (6400m/21,000ft) in good form. We’re going to enjoy some well-earned rest here tonight, then drop back to base camp (4859m/15,944ft) tomorrow. Here’s the complete summit list:

# Name Country
1 Chie Takeshita Japan
2 Sara Myers USA
3 James Morris USA
4 Siddhi Tamang Nepal
5 Temba Sherpa Nepal
6 Ming Dorchi Sherpa Nepal
7 Tenzi Sherpa Nepal
8 Terray Sylvester USA

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 bid coming up!

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

We are in Camp 4 and in position for our summit push! The Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition team reached their high camp today and are prepared to make their bid for the summit. The team climbed from Camp 3, moving strongly and swiftly through the clouds before settling into their tents for the night with excitement in knowing that with good weather tomorrow, they’ll go for the summit. We are so proud of the team for their hard work and look forward to the climbing ahead! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Camp 4:

Hello from Camp 4 (7450m/24,445ft)! Today we climbed here from Camp 3 (6800m/22,310ft). We were in clouds most of the day, but we climbed above them in the afternoon and now we have excellent views from here in camp. The team is doing well. We’re resting from today’s push and preparing for tomorrow’s summit bid. Despite the clouds, the weather is excellent: no wind and very little precipitation. We’ll be in touch 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:

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Above the clouds in Camp 3!

Great views of Manaslu’s East Pinnacle and the route to Camp 4!

The Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition team reached Camp 3 today behind a light blanket of clouds. Upon reaching their camp, the clouds burned off opening up spectacular views of the route and mountain above, as well as other Himalayan peaks rising out of a sea of clouds below them. The team is doing great and looks forward to continuing their summit push tomorrow! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Camp 3:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) expedition – today is September 23rd, Monday.

I can’t think of a better way to spend a Monday morning than the way we just spent it! We left Camp 2 (6400m/21,000ft) at about 7:30 this morning and arrived in Camp 3 (6800m/22,310ft) a couple of hours later. Conditions were perfect for our ascent here! We were in a light cloud layer which kept the temperatures down. But now that we’ve settled into Camp 3, the skies have cleared above us, so we have excellent views from Camp 2 up to the east pinnacle. We have great views of the route up to Camp 4 (7450m/24,445ft) and the massive north face of Manaslu. We can see a few mountains out in the distance towards Tibet, east into Nepal, but below Camp 2 is a carpet of clouds.

So, it’s a really nice day here! We’re about 6,600 meters, just over 6,600. We’re going to spend the rest of the day resting and then we’ll move to Camp 4 tomorrow if all goes as planned.

All is well here in Nepal and we’ll be in touch 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:

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Manaslu Camp 2

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

The Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition team has reached Camp 2 and settled in for the night! The team moved swiftly between camps, making good time with cool temperatures as they climbed to around 6,400 m/21,000 ft. The team plans to continue their summit rotation tomorrow by moving up to Camp 3, positioning themselves one camp closer to going for the summit. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Manaslu Camp 2:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) expedition – today is Sunday, September 22nd.

Today, we left Camp 1 (5700m/18,700ft) a bit after sunrise and had a nice climb up to Camp 2 (6400m/21,000ft)! We moved very well, just four hours to Camp 2. Unfortunately, it was cloudy with a little bit of precipitation which meant we didn’t have much in the way of views, but the upshot of that was that the temperatures were lower, so it wasn’t too hot as we climbed to Camp 2.

So, now we’ve settled into our tents. We’re going to relax here for the rest of the day before moving to Camp 3 (6800m/22,310ft) tomorrow! We’ll be in touch 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:

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Manaslu summit rotation is underway!

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

The Madison Mountaineering Manaslu expedition team has arrived in Camp 1, marking the start of their summit rotation! The team’s hard work was on display today, as they moved strongly and efficiently up to their first camp. With good weather tomorrow, the team plans to continue on up to Camp 2! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Camp 1:

Hello from Camp 1 (5700m/18,700ft). With our ascent here from Base Camp (4859m/15,944ft) after lunch today, our summit push is underway! The team moved very efficiently on the way here. Now we’re watching the evening sun on the mountains around us and settling in for dinner. We’ll be in touch 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:

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Down to Camp 2!

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

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition team descended from Camp 4 today on Mount Everest, down the Lhotse Face and over 4,000 vertical feet back to Camp 2. Now back in the Western Cwm and the comforts of a heated dining tent, the team recounts the memories from yesterday’s summit day. Again, we are so proud of the entire team and their accomplishments this season! Climber, Courtenay Roche checks in with this celebratory dispatch from Camp 2:

Hello, friends of Madison Mountaineering! Courtenay here with a very exciting post-summit dispatch. As you probably heard from Garrett yesterday, all of our climbers and our amazing Sherpa team summited Everest (8848m/29,032ft) at 8:00 AM on Thursday, May 23rd – a day none of us will soon forget!

After basking in the warmth of our accomplishments and our -40 degree sleeping bags in Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft) on Thursday night, it was time to head down the mountain. As my childhood idol and friend of Madison Mountaineering Ed Viesturs famously says, “Getting to the top is optional, getting down is mandatory.” Well, we have used his directive and have made it safely down to Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) losing over 4,000 feet of elevation in just a few hours.

I’m currently dispatching from the comfort of our heated Camp 2 dining tent – a luxury after four days of freeze-dried meals up high on the mountain! We are all certainly eager to be reunited with our base camp (5364m/17,598ft) friends and the amenities tomorrow. Thank you for following along with our many expeditions this season. We’ve got just one more dispatch to go!

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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100% Summit Success!

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

It comes with great pleasure to share that 100% of the Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition team has successfully reached the highest point on Earth at 8,848 meters/29,032 feet – the summit of Mount Everest! The team all gathered on the top to share photos, hugs, and high-fives before safely making the descent back to Camp 4. After some well-deserved rest tonight, they’ll continue their descent tomorrow down to Camp 2. Congratulations to the entire team on this incredible achievement! We are so proud and look forward to welcoming everyone back into base camp soon. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Camp 4:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest (8848m/29,032ft) expedition climb. Today is May 23rd and I’m happy to report that we all summited Mount Everest, 100 percent success and all safely back in Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft)! That’s four climber/clients, myself as the guide/expedition leader, plus our stellar Sherpa team! We’ll put out that name list shortly, but all in all there was about 15 of us on the summit of Everest this morning.

We had a great day, a beautiful sunrise up on the Southeast Ridge! Not too many climbers on the route. It was very uncrowded, so we enjoyed the climb and the summit! We were all up there together to celebrate and savor the moment on top, and then of course made our way safely back down to Camp 4 by about midday here on May 23rd. Everyone’s just resting, rehydrating, eating some noodles and other food, and looking forward to a good night’s rest here on oxygen, then we’ll head down to Camp 2 (6500m/21,325ft) tomorrow!

All is well here! (I’m) really proud of our team. Great job to everyone! (We’re) looking forward to getting down to Camp 2 tomorrow and we’ll check in then. Thank you!

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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Primed and ready for the summit push!

The 2024 Mount Everest expedition team in base camp earlier in the expedition. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition team is primed and ready to make their summit push! In just a few short hours, with packs shouldered, crampons on, and after some food and liquids, they’ll be headed out their tent doors and on their way to the world’s highest point. Their training and acclimatization is done – so much hard work and dreaming of this day and it is finally here! Best of luck to the team as they set off on their summit push. 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) climb – today is May 22nd. (It is) 6:40 PM and we are about to go to sleep up here at the South Col (7900m/25,919ft) on Mount Everest, Camp 4 at nearly 8,000 meters, 26,000 feet.

We had a great rest day up here after pulling in about 24 hours ago. The team is doing excellent! Everyone has been very productive on their rest, eating, drinking, and getting their gear organized and ready for the big climb tonight! The weather forecast looks amazing. It looks like we’re going to have awesome weather tomorrow on the 23rd, so fingers crossed that the forecast holds true.

We’re just feeling very lucky, very fortunate, and grateful to be up here in position at Camp 4 on Mount Everest, ready to go for the summit tonight! The team has worked really hard for this night, months if not years of sacrifice! We’re here in position. We’re feeling strong and healthy! Our team is excited to go for the big climb tonight! So, wish us luck.

We’re going to start out around midnight, hopefully get to the top around 7:00 or 8:00 AM, and be back midday in high camp here, Camp 4. We’re going to bed with anticipation for a beautiful summit day ahead and returning back safely here to Camp 4!

All is well. 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 Camp 4!

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

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest expedition team has settled into Camp 4 after ascending the final section of the Lhotse Face and is in position to make their summit push! Over the Yellow Band and past the Geneva Spur the team went, making good time as they had the route mostly to themselves. It won’t be long before we set out for the summit! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Camp 4:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Everest (8848m/29,032ft) expedition team – today is May 21st.

We are in Camp 4 (7900m/25,919ft) at the South Col on Mount Everest! We had a great day. We started out from Camp 3 (7230m/23,720ft) and climbed from about 6:30 AM all the way up the Lhotse Face. The team did an amazing job! We had incredible views all throughout the Western Cwm of Nuptse (7861m/25,791ft), Cho Oyu (8188m/26,864ft), and of course Everest. We got up here to Camp 4 in great time – we got in a little after noon and set up our camp a little ways away from the main group of tents to have some privacy. We had a late lunch with some [garbled], relaxed, everyone had dinner, and now we’re just going to bed.

Our plan is to rest tonight and tomorrow, then leave the following night and summit on the morning of the 23rd. It looks like great weather, shouldn’t be too crowded, and we’re looking forward to a glorious day on the mountain!

Everyone’s doing great. (I’m) really proud of the team. Everyone did awesome today and we’re enjoying our night up here at Camp 4! We’ll check in soon.

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

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive. (Photo by 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:

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