We are pleased to announce the following team members successfully obtained the summit of Ama Dablam (6,812 m / 22,349 ft) on November 8, 2021:
| # | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mr. Garrett Madison | USA |
| 2 | Mr. Jonathan Eakes | USA |
| 3 | Mr. Morgan Hawes | USA |
| 4 | Mr. Gautam Shine | USA |
| 5 | Mr. James “J.B.” Waterman | USA |
| 6 | Mr. Aang Phurba Sherpa | Nepal |
| 7 | Mr. Kam Dorjee Sherpa | Nepal |
| 8 | Mr. Siddhi Ghising | Nepal |
| 9 | Mr. Fur Lakpa Sherpa | Nepal |
| 10 | Mr. Tenzing Sherpa | Nepal |
With 100% summit success, the team is back in base camp celebrating, and getting ready to head back to Kathmandu. Garrett provides the recap and a ton of awesome photos of their summit day:
Hello, this is Garrett caling in for the Madison Mountaineering Ama Dablam expedition team here in Nepal. Today’s November 9th and yesterday we reached the top of Ama Dablam.
Beautiful morning! We summited with 100% success, all four of our climbers plus myself and Aang Phurba and our Sherpa team made it to the top of Ama Dablam!
We got down safe and some of our members continued down to base camp and the rest of us were down today. We are looking forward to starting the trek out tomorrow to make our way back to Lukla and then Kathmandu.
We are feeling so fortunate and lucky that we had a beautiful summit day, great weather, and great route conditions up there and all of our team made the summit and made it down safely.
Summit day climbing on Ama Dablam
Climber J.B. and Garrett on the summit of Ama Dablam
Climber Jonathan E. on the summit of Ama Dablam
Good times on the Ama Dablam summit
Climber Jon E. with Garrett and Mount Everest in the background from the Ama Dablam summit
Last night in base camp with our team celebrating our successful Ama Dablam expedition!
Summit Ama Dablam and get some cake!
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:
– Instagram:
– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:
A quick inReach text message while on a break from Garrett:
Just back at camp 3 after the summit, everyone made it! 100% success for all climbers who went up from base camp. Now we will descend carefully.
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:
– Instagram:
– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:
Congratulation to our August 21st climbing team for another great summer 2021 Mt. Baker climb. 100% of the team made it to the summit of this iconic Pacific Northwest peak. The weather couldn’t have been better and everyone had a fantastic experience.
Well done team! Everyone is off the mountain and home savoring a job well done. Make your plans to climb with us in the Pacific Northwest in 2022.
Dawn breaking during the summit push (📷: Terray Sylvester)
Climbers on the summit plateau of Mt. Baker (📷: Terray Sylvester)
Our 2021 K2 expedition is now concluded with just Garrett and our crew preparing to fly home. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, calls in from Skardu, Pakistan with this final expedition dispatch:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition which now has concluded!
We’re back in Skardu and all of our members from the UK, the USA, and Ukraine have flown out and are back home now. Just myself and the Nepal Sherpa team and the Pakastani team are here in Skardu. We arrived last night from the trek out from base camp to Skardu. It took us four days.
Today we did some gear organizing, and some sight-seeing around Skardu. We are hoping tomorrow that we have good weather to fly to Islamabad. All’s well here in Skardu. Nice weather and we are looking forward to getting back to Islamabad and on our way home.
It’s been a wonderful expedition here. We had 100% summit success with 21 summits of K2 on our team in total and everyone made it down safely and is on their way home healthy, which is the most important.
So, we had a wonderful expedition. Thanks for following along. Looking forward to our next expeditions out there on the horizon.
Starry skies above K2
The day we set off from base camp for the K2 summit push. Serious faces..
A very happy 3-time K2 summiteer at base camp
After getting down from the successful K2 summit rotation, happy face!
Garrett with Sherpa and Pakistani crew departing K2 base camp
Cutting the celebratory K2 cake in Skardu
Post-K2 celebration in Skardu
If climbing K2 or Broad Peak is in your future, please contact our office, we would love to have you climb with us!
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:
– Instagram:
– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:
Today Chase, Becks, Jon and Rob flew from K2 Base Camp to Skardu on 2 helicopters with the Pakistan Army. The flight was spectacular, skimming low down the rugged Baltoro Glacier, where we had trekked up several weeks before. Leaving the cloud capped K2 behind us, we sped past the 3 summits of Broad Peak, before swooping right at Concordia. We strained our necks out the side windows as the soaring granite bulks of Cathedral, Trango and Uili Biaho zipped past. Sights we had taken days to approach and march past on the way in to Base Camp, as we each personally contemplated what lay ahead.
Now we were completing the return journey, content with our efforts and the conclusion we all hoped for but knew was unlikely. Our entire team had safely and successfully climbed K2 to its summit and returned to Base Camp. Rarely are expeditions harmonious, safe and successful in their objective. However K2 2021 was just that. A small team of dedicated climbers were happy to commit despite uncertainty and no guaranteed outcome. The odds of summiting K2 in any year are low. At times in the lead up, the odds of this trip simply running seemed low. But problems were overcome, and the team assembled a week behind the original schedule.
We acclimatized, ropes were fixed in stages and our Sherpa team worked hard. We had an extended wait of 12 days waiting for the right weather window. Patience was tested as other teams attempted Broad Peak while we waited.
On 28 July all decisions were vindicated as we climbed steadily in the darkness, under a starlit sky. The sunrise lit the horizon like a band of gold as the sky lightened to reveal a sea of cloud over China. We reached the summit in windless conditions, and it was hard to believe the top of K2 could feel so benign. Relief was palpable and the whole team spent as much time on the summit as they desired in this unique place. Congratulations were exchanged, embraces given, prayer flags were strung out, photographs taken and quiet moments of contemplation had.
The descent was as testing as the summit was benign. It felt that K2 wanted to remind us that attempting a climb was as serious an undertaking as ever, though we needed no reminder. Snow had been stripped off the lower slopes, removing the frozen bond that held the mass of rocks safely in place. It was a relief to get everyone to the base of the mountain the following day, and we walked down the glacier knowing we had been allowed to leave the clutches of K2.
It is somewhat of a shock to find ourselves suddenly in Skardu, in the presence of strangers and unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells. Such are the ends of expeditions where intense shared experience and close communal living comes to an end, replaced by new encounters with those who have little idea of what has been invested or endured to reach a point meaningless to the majority, but absolutely worthwhile and so memorable to those who stand there. We have set foot on top of K2 and shall remember that for the rest of our lives.
Rob Smith and the Madison Mountaineering K2 2021 team.
Helis at K2 Base Camp
Chase, Jon, and Becks back in Skardu after flying from K2 base camp
We’re packing up base camp and our expedition team is heading home after an incredibly successful and safe K2 climb. Here’s the latest from Garrett Madison:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition team. Today is August 3rd.
Today the remainder of our members flew out of K2 base camp by helicopter and it’s just me left with our Pakistani and Nepal Sherpa team here in base camp. We’re going to pack up and head out the day after tomorrow with our mule train back to Skardu.
Nice weather today but we decided not to go for Broad Peak due to the snow fall and high winds that had made the route seemingly very challenging and a very low probability of success. But we’re very happy with our K2 summit success and everyone getting down safely.
Everyone is heading home now. We had a great expedition! We’ll be packing up here and heading down the
in the next few days, back towards Skardu.
All’s well here in Pakistan. Thanks!
If climbing K2 or Broad Peak is in your future, please contact our office, we would love to have you climb with us!
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:
– Instagram:
– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:
Party-time at K2 base camp! Our own, guide extraordinaire, Conan Bliss calls in with today’s expedition dispatch:
Yeah, hey! This is Conan Bliss checking-in with Madison Mountaineering. Hey everybody! Woo!
We’re having a fun, relaxing recovery day here at base camp after a successful K2 summit two days ago. Woohoo! Yup, and today we gotta celebrate Kenton Cool‘s birthday. Yeah!! Yup, another young man in the group! Anyways, everyone’s doing very well.
Thanks again for following us on this amazing expedition. We’ll check-in with you later!
Kenton and his birthday cake at K2 base camp. Make a wish!
Conan pouring the champagne!
Guide Rob Smith cuts the K2 Summit Celebration cake!
If climbing K2 or Broad Peak is in your future, please contact our office, we would love to have you climb with us!
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:
– Instagram:
– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:
The full K2 team is now safely back to base camp and getting so very, very much deserved and needed rest. Outstanding climb one and all! Thank you, weather Gods. Before falling into a deep slumber, expedition leader Garrett Madison provided this recap of the descent to base camp:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering K2 expedition team. Today is July 29th and we have all arrived safely back in base camp.
Yesterday we summitted K2. It was a perfect day, just a magical experience on top with our whole team – 100% success! We came down to Camp 3 and today descended from Camp 3 all the way down to base camp. So, just very happy that everyone is down, off the mountain safely and back in base camp. We’re just thrilled with the outcome here on K2!
We’re gonna have a celebration dinner tonight and a good night’s rest, some showers, and think about further plans – either heading out or, perhaps, attempting Broad Peak depending on conditions.
We’re very happy to be down off the mountain and back in base camp. All’s well here. Thanks for following along!
Morning views on the way to the top of K2!
Three-time K2 summiteer Garrett Madison with the youngest American K2 summiteer Chase M.
Happy team on the summit of K2!
At The Bottleneck on K2 on the way down
If climbing K2 or Broad Peak is in your future, please contact our office, we would love to have you climb with us!
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:
– Instagram:
– our Garmin inReach Mini powered real-time tracking map:
Congratulation to our July 24th climbing team for another great summer 2021 Mt. Baker climb. Nearly all of the members made it to the top of this iconic Pacific Northwest peak. The weather couldn’t have been better and everyone had a fantastic experience.
Well done team! Everyone is off the mountain and home savoring a job well done!! We are looking forward to our August climbs.
Baker team heading up (📷: Denis Mishin)
Climbing the Easton Glacier up Mt. Baker (📷: Denis Mishin)