Tag Archive for: Vinson High Camp

Vinson Low Camp

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive.

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team is patiently waiting in low camp to make the move up to their high camp, while high winds scour the summit. The team is staying busy and keeping spirits high by conducting technical trainings around camp, eating warm, nutritious meals, and enjoying each others company in this otherworldly place! With good weather ahead, the team looks to continue their climb up the fixed lines en route to high camp in the next few days. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson low camp:

Hey! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition climb, the last Mount Vinson climb of the season.

We’re up here at low camp (2774m/9,100ft). We had a good climb up from base camp (2140m/7,020ft) the other day and settling in here at low camp, resting, doing some training. It looks like high winds up high at the summit in the forecast, so we’re just waiting and watching the weather, hoping to move up to high camp (3536m/11,600ft) potentially tomorrow or the next day and then get into position for a summit attempt.

Everyone’s (garbled) here in Antarctica. Lots of mountains, great views, great times with good people! So, we’re doing well, we’re staying warm, well fed and good spirits! (We’re) looking forward to the days ahead and getting up higher on Mount Vinson! 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:

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100% Summit Success on Vinson!

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:

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Ready to go for the summit!

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:

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To High Camp!

Ascending fixed lines toward high camp! (Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive)

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team is on their way to high camp! Once settled in here, they’ll be in position to make their summit push. The team is in good spirits and enjoying their time in one of the most remote and pristine places on the planet. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this brief dispatch from low camp:

We had a good day in low camp (2774m/9,100ft) yesterday resting & training, heading to high camp (3536m/11,600ft) today!

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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Another Mount Vinson Summit!

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive.

It’s with great excitement to share that the Madison Mountaineering team has safely and successfully reached the summit of Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, and one of the famed ‘seven summits!’ After some stormy weather the past few days, the team took advantage of a weather window when it presented itself to go for the summit. The team climbed under beautiful weather with great views all around and shared lots of hugs and high-fives upon reaching the summit. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from the roof of Antarctica:

Hey, this is Garrett with the Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) team! We are on the summit of Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica! It is a beautiful day!

Hey, it’s Hunter Argenbright. Happy to be here!

Hey, it’s (garbled) on the summit. Loving Madison – have a good day!

Hi, it’s Laura from (garbled). Thank you to Garrett for getting us up this mountain! To all of those (garbled) kids out there, keep on taking it one step at a time and follow your dreams, don’t ever give up! (Garbled) boys, I love you more than you’ll ever know.

Oh, beautiful day up here on the summit with the team! We’re looking forward to getting back down to high camp (3536m/11,600ft) this afternoon. All is well here on Vinson! 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:

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Made it to High Camp!

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Ted Hesser)

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team has reached their high camp, putting them one camp closer to reaching the summit of Antarctica’s highest peak! While the day started out nice, a bit of a storm rolled in as the team was coming into camp. But, the team quickly worked together to set up their temporary home and then sat down for hot water, a warm meal, and to reflect on another good day in Antarctica! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from high camp:

Hey, this is Garrett and Benny up here at high camp (3536m/11,600ft) on Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft)! We climbed from low camp (2774m/9,100ft) today with our team up to high camp.

It started off a beautiful day, but then the winds picked up and some clouds rolled in, so it was pretty stormy getting into high camp! We had to set up our tents in a bit of a blizzard, but got all of our tents set up and every person moved into their tents. We melted some snow for hot water, had dinner, filled hot water bottles, and now we’re getting ready to go to bed. We’re going to take a rest day tomorrow – it’s supposed to be very windy tomorrow and then hopefully a nice day after that. Fingers crossed it’s a good day coming up for the summit day!

Everyone’s doing well, we’re happy to be up here, had some great views on the way up, and looking forward to a rest day tomorrow! 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:

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Mount Vinson Low Camp

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Ted Hesser)

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team spent another day in low camp while they await good weather for their move up to high camp and then the summit. Good company, food, and the anticipation for what’s still to come is keeping the team excited and ready for their move up the mountain. Fingers crossed for good weather in the coming days! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from low camp:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition team. We are still in low camp (2774m/9,100ft) – decided to take one more rest day here. Hopefully, if the weather is good, we’ll keep moving up to high camp (3536m/11,600ft) tomorrow! The forecast was calling for high winds today so we decided to stay put, as well as a few other teams here. We’re thinking hopefully the weather forecast will be good tomorrow, clear skies, calm winds, and we’ll move up!

Everyone’s doing well. We spent the day building some snow walls around our tents to fortify our camp and had a couple of good meals. So, everyone’s doing well here, enjoying the views and our time in Antarctica! We’re looking forward to what lies ahead. 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:

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Active Rest on Mount Vinson

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Ted Hesser)

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team stayed put in low camp after their ascent on the previous day. Some good rest and a tasty breakfast fueled a technical skills review for the team where they practiced the skills needed for the coming days as their expedition continues on Antarctica’s highest peak! The team had great weather today and will see what tomorrow brings. With good weather, the team plans to make the move up to high camp. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from low camp:

Hey! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition number three of our season. We are up here at low camp (2774m/9,100ft). We had a great rest day today, slept in, had a nice long breakfast: pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Then we did some training! We reviewed fixed line climbing technique, ascending and descending. We actually had a pretty nice afternoon – nice weather, great views of the mountains, it wasn’t windy at all. We just enjoyed our rest day, had a nice dinner, and now we are heading to bed.

We are going to see what tomorrow brings! If the winds die down up high, we might move up to high camp (3536m/11,600ft) tomorrow. Otherwise, if it looks like high wind, we will probably stay here and rest another day. The team’s doing great and we are really enjoying our time here in Antarctica. We will 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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100% Summit Success on Mount Vinson!

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Ted Hesser)

It’s with great excitement to share that 100% of the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team has safely and successfully reached the summit of Antarctica’s highest peak and returned to their High Camp! The team experienced a steady wind throughout the day while climbing the ridge toward the summit, but having practiced cold weather self-care, the team put those skills to use so they could enjoy the climb. Congratulations to the entire team on an incredible feat in Antarctica! The entire team checks in with this celebratory dispatch from their High Camp after a successful ascent of Mount Vinson:

Hello! This is Garrett at High Camp (3536m/11,600ft) on Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) with the team. We are just back from the summit! We are extremely happy, just finished some macaroni & cheese, burgers, and veggies, and we’re going to say a few words to talk about our climb today.

(Garbled) from Mexico, coming down from the highest point in Antarctica! It’s another planet here. (Speaks Spanish).

Thais Herrera, (speaks Spanish).

Malu from Mexico! So happy to be here with this team and so grateful for the summit with it.

Hi everyone! This is Juan Francisco from Ecuador. I am so excited that we were able to summit! It was 100% success, we were all able to summit! It’s such a privilege to be in this beautiful group and to have this experience. By the way, (garbled).

Hi, this is Kat Gilson from Minnesota. Super stoked that we all got up there safely and no injuries. We had a beautiful summit, (garbled). It’s awesome to climb with all of these people!

Ahoy! (Speaks foreign language).

Hey! Josh Garrison here. This is my third of the seven summits with Garrett here, pretty cool! We’re just trying to keep the mission up in front of us of raising awareness for the (garbled). Wonderful summit but keep those guys in your hearts and in your prayers. See you on top next time!

Hello, everyone! This is Benny. We made the top today, it was awesome! We’re all here in the kitchen tent. We’re all super psyched, everyone’s happy, smiling, and healthy and thinking of our friends and family back home. Over and out!

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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In position for the summit push!

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive (Photo by Ted Hesser)

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team has crawled into their tents at their High Camp and are ready to make a summit push! The team had excellent weather and climbing conditions as they ascended the fixed lines up several thousand feet of elevation gain towards their next camp. A much-deserved day of rest is in the plans until they once again emerge from their tents, only this time going for the summit. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson:

Hello! This is Garrett and Benny calling in for the Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition team. We are in High Camp (3536m/11,600ft)!

We had a great day climbing up from Low Camp (2774m/9,100ft) to High Camp on the fixed lines. Everyone on the team did well today. We had a beautiful day, great views all around looking out around the surrounding peaks here in Antarctica – Mount Epperly (4359m/14,301ft), Mount Shinn (4661m/15,292ft). We rolled into High Camp, set up our tents, had dinner, got some hot water bottles, now we’re looking forward to a good night’s rest.

Our plan is to take a rest day and maybe go for the summit on January 8th. All is well here up at Mount Vinson High Camp! 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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