Under beautiful, clear-blue skies our team is moving up to Low Camp today at 9,100 feet! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with a brief message before the teams departure from Vinson Base Camp:
Heading up to low camp (2774m/9,100ft) today, nice weather here!
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After settling into Vinson Base Camp in the day prior, the Madison MountaineeringMount Vinson expedition team wasted no time as they continue their preparation to move higher up Antarctica’s tallest peak! The team spent today sorting gear, resting up, and reviewing rope travel, ice axe arrest, and crevasse rescue techniques. Everyone is in good spirits and is itching to start the climb tomorrow! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in via Garmin inReach Mini with a brief update from Vinson Base Camp:
Nice day resting, sorting gear, and training in Vinson base camp (2140m/7,020ft)..
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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20220101_MountVinson_TerraySylvester_000900.jpg8001200Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2022-12-31 03:55:032022-12-31 19:38:31Primed to Start the Climb!
After a week full of travel, our team has finally arrived in Mount Vinson Base Camp (VBC)! With the team settled into their camp, expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this brief update from VBC:
Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison MountaineeringMount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition team. We made it to Vinson base camp (2140m/7,020ft) and are all settled in! The team is doing great!
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:
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.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Z6T_0148-scaled.jpg17032560Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2022-12-30 05:50:302022-12-30 18:01:47Arrived in Vinson Base Camp!
With the full team down to Vinson Base Camp, expedition leader Garrett Madison checks in with today’s dispatch recapping summit day and the journey down to base camp where everyone is celebrating:
Our team came down from High Camp today after reaching the summit of Mount Vinson yesterday on January 18th. We had a good summit day and a nice trek down from High Camp. We arrived in base camp this evening and had a fun, celebratory dinner with our team – everyone was present. We enjoyed some champagne and burgers and had a good finish to our expedition here on Vinson.
We might be here another day or so at Vinson Base Camp. We’re not sure when the Twin Otters will be able to arrive to fly us out – hopefully in a day or two. But everyone’s in good spirits; we’re happy to be down safe and had a great summit yesterday, especially being up there with Ed Viesturs on the highest point in Antarctica was really special.
It was a wonderful expedition, and we’re just going to be here in Vinson Base Camp, hanging out, enjoying Antarctica until our flight back to Union Glacier and Punta Arenas, Chile.
(📸: @terray_s– Team Two climbers Sarah B. and Thomas M. moving up to high camp with guide Garrett Madison earlier this month)
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:
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/20220101_MountVinson_TerraySylvester_000900.jpg8001200Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2022-01-20 05:24:382022-01-20 23:06:20Celebration at Vinson Base Camp
Our already speedy Mount Vinson Team Three flew from Union Glacier Camp to the base camp for Mount Vinson and immediately headed up the hill to Low Camp (2774m/9,100ft)! Guide Terray Sylvester checks in from there with today’s expedition dispatch:
Today we flew from Union Glacier Camp to Vinson Base Camp – a beautiful sunny day. Then we moved directly to Low Camp (2774m/9,100ft). We just enjoyed a good dinner of hamburgers and tortellini with red sauce and sauted pumpkin. Now everyone’s heading to sleep.
Tomorrow we’ll take a rest day and then hopefully move on up to High Camp (3536m/11,600ft).
All is well! 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:
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/IMG_4689-scaled.jpeg19202560Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2022-01-12 05:31:572022-01-12 21:43:59Team Three Moves to Vinson Low Camp
Victorious Vinson Team One departs Vinson Base Camp and Team Two arrives! Expedition leader Garrett Madison calls in from Vinson Base Camp with a recap of the day:
Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition season. Today myself, Jen, and John all came down from High Camp after our summit yesterday and made it to Vinson Base Camp where the Twin Otters came in, picked up Jen and John and brought them back to Union Glacier Camp where they will be awaiting their flights back to Punta Arenas in a few days.
Meanwhile, guide Terray Sylvester and climbers Thomas and Sarah arrived at Union Glacier Camp and flew to Vinson Base Camp today, so we’re all together here. It’s a beautiful sunny evening – very calm and warm considering we’re in Antarctica. We’re glad to be here, everything’s on schedule, and nice flights coming in today – great views and we’re looking forward to getting our second expedition of the season on Mount Vinson underway!
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:
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/PHOTO-2019-12-30-07-47-04-1.jpg12001600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2021-12-30 03:40:312021-12-30 23:40:01Team One Departs and Team Two Arrives Vinson Base Camp
We are at Low Camp on Mount Vinson, and our plan is to head up to High Camp (3536m/11,600ft) tomorrow if the weather is good. We’re about ready to get to bed here for a good night’s rest. And then, tomorrow, wake up, have breakfast, and take a look at the weather. If it’s good, we’ll head up to High Camp.
All’s well here on Vinson. Have a wonderful Christmas Day! 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:
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IMG_4247-credit-Fon-Winsor-Clive.png10001334Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2021-12-26 02:40:112021-12-26 04:36:46Merry Christmas from the Slopes of Mount Vinson!
Today our Mount Vinson team one moved into their Christmas location of Low Camp on Mount Vinson. Meanwhile, in Punta Arenas, Chile, our Mount Vinson team two arrived and will spend the next few days preparing for their flight to Union Glacier, Antarctica. Here’s Garrett via sat phone with the recap of the day on Mount Vinson:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team. It’s Christmas Eve, December 24th here and we climbed up from Vinson Base Camp to Low Camp today on Mount Vinson.
We left base camp mid-day after packing up and caching our gear. We climbed about eight hours up to Low Camp (or Camp 1) on Vinson. We had nice weather, it was a little blustery and snowy starting out for the first few hours and then the wind let up a little bit and we actually got a little sun up here at Low Camp and had a Christmas Eve dinner. We had some salmon, some mixed vegetables, some empanadas, and some mangos and chocolates for dessert. It was a fun evening. We’re glad to be up here at Low Camp. It was a long and tiring day but we’re feeling good and we’re looking forward to a rest day tomorrow on Christmas Day.
All’s well here at Low Camp on Mount Vinson. We’ll check in soon and happy Christmas Eve to everyone out there!
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:
Our first Mount Vinson team of the season has flown from Union Glacier Camp to Mount Vinson Base Camp and made their carry towards Low Camp. Expedition leader Garrett Madison provides the day’s dispatch via satellite phone:
Hello. This is Garrett calling for the Mount Vinson expedition team. Today is Wednesday, December 22nd and we are in Vinson base camp.
We arrived late last night just before midnight on our flight from Union Glacier Camp and we set up tents and moved in. Today we got up, had breakfast, and did a carry up halfway to Camp 1. We carried up food and fuel and some other gear and cached it about halfway from base camp to Camp 1. We got back to base camp, had dinner, and are just getting tucked in for bed.
We’re doing well here. A little marginal weather at the moment, a bit stormy. But we’re hoping it will clear out in the next day or two and we can resume heading back up the mountain – hopefully, get up to low camp and focus on getting to high camp.
All’s well here at Vinson base camp and we’ll check in soon. 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:
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_1260.jpg10951280Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2021-12-23 00:22:582021-12-23 01:00:58Vinson Base Camp and Carry Completed
Well, we had a great season in Antarctica this past month. We did two Madison Mountaineering Vinson expedition climbs that were successful: one in late December and one in early January along with co-guide Conrad Anker. And then I stayed down with Conrad and some of his friends came in and we climbed Vinson in a day via a variation of a new route that Conrad had actually climbed 20 years ago: The Central Ice Stream on Mount Vinson.
After that one day ascent, we skied down most of the mountain and then flew over to Mount Tyree, the second-highest mountain in Antarctica. Beautiful location — the valley next to Mount Tyree, which has only been climbed a handful of times. We spent six nights there attempting climb Mount Tyree but did not summit due to very unusual heavy snow conditions and very high avalanche risk up near the summit of Tyree. We got up fairly high but turned around on our summit day due to the unsafe, unstable snow conditions.
Everybody had a great trip. It was a wonderful season in Antarctica, and we just feel so lucky to have been down there with so many great people and very beautiful and surreal natural beauty surrounding.
So, great season and we are looking forward to going back next year. Please contact us if you would like to consider joining one of our Antarctic programs!
Garrett, Conrad Anker, and Jimmy Chin on the summit of Mount Vinson
By the way, it’s not too early to start making your plans to join us on Mount Vinson for the 2020/2021 season next December! Contact our office for details.
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:
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020.01-Vinson-Garrett-at-High-Camp.png10001333Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2020-01-23 21:29:242020-01-29 13:31:18Antarctica Season Wrap-up
