Tag Archive for: Vinson High Camp

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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Summit success on Mount Vinson!

Photo pulled from the Madison Mountaineering archive.

It’s with great excitement to share that the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team has reached the summit of Mount Vinson, the highest point in all of Antarctica! The team could not have asked for a more perfect day, climbing in one of the most remote and pristine places on the planet under beautiful, clear-blue skies. Not a bad way to celebrate the holiday! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from the summit of Mount Vinson with climbers, Art and Kevin:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition – today is Christmas Eve and I am up here at the summit of Mount Vinson with Art and Kevin! We have a beautiful day here, almost all to ourselves and couldn’t ask for better conditions. What a great team and great company to be up here with! Here’s Art:

“Hey everybody, Christmas Eve! I’m really grateful to my family for letting me be here. It’s a special experience, beautiful day, a “magical place” as Garrett calls it… Antarctica is a magical place, very much worth seeing. I just love it! We are very, very happy. Here’s Kevin!” ~ Madison Mountaineering climber, Art Muir

Merry Christmas everybody! We’re on the top of Antarctica. Garrett got us up here again in stellar form! It’s a beautiful day, we miss everybody lots… Loves and hugs and kisses to everybody! Thanks Stacey for yeah, holding the fort while I’m here. Happy birthday Maddy! We’ll see everybody real soon. All the best!” ~ Madison Mountaineering climber, Kevin Walsh

Right on! Well, such a beautiful moment to share up here with Art and Kevin. Highest point in Antarctica, bluebird day, no clouds as far as the eye can see, and just a really awesome experience. We’ll savor it, and of course looking forward to getting down safe. 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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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 reached their high camp and crawled into their sleeping bags for the night. Today, they climbed under a beautiful, Antarctic sky making for near-perfect climbing conditions. The team is moving well together and will look to make their push for the summit in the coming days! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Mount Vinson:

Hey, this is Garrett calling in from high camp (3536m/11,600ft) on Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft), here with Benny! Our first Mount Vinson expedition of the season, we’re up here with Art, Kevin, and Sanjeev.

We had a good day climbing from low camp (2774m/9,100ft) up to high camp – beautiful, sunny weather, calm winds, great views all around! It was a long day with heavy packs, but we got up here in good style, set up camp, had some dinner, and now we are off to bed. We’re going to see how conditions look tomorrow. We might go for the summit or we might take a rest day, so to be determined.

But, all as well. Everybody is doing good up here at high camp and we are excited to see what tomorrow brings! 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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Departure from Antarctica

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive.

After another successful expedition, our team has packed their bags, loaded the plane, and said their ‘farewells’ to Antarctica! The team had a great time experiencing the remote and pristine nature that comes with this special place, all in while creating lasting memories that we will not soon forget! We couldn’t think of a better way to kick off 2023 than on the ice with friends, new and old. The excitement for the next Antarctica season has already started to build! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with this departing dispatch from Mount Vinson:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the second Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) team with Conrad Anker – today is Wednesday, January 11th.

The team got down from Mount Vinson High Camp (3536m/11,600ft) yesterday all the way back down to Base Camp (2140m/7,020ft), flew from Base Camp to Union Glacier (700m/2,297ft), and then flew from Union Glacier back to Chile (34m/112ft) – all the way home! So, it was a big day for the team after having summited Mount Vinson the day before, coming all the way down and heading out all in one day!

I’m back at Union Glacier Camp here for a few days sorting gear and equipment, and wrapping up our season here in Antarctica! It’s been a great season and looking forward to coming back to Antarctica next year.

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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Perfect Season on Vinson!

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive.

We’ve just received word that the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team has safely and successfully reached the summit of Mount Vinson, the tallest point in Antarctica! After some winds in the days prior while ascending to High Camp, the team made their final few steps to the summit under blue skies, calm winds, and great views all around in a truly magical place. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with todays dispatch from Mount Vinson:

Hey! This is Garrett calling in for the Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition team number two.

Today we summited Mount Vinson! We had a beautiful day, great weather, looked around, amazing views, calm winds, and just a really special experience up there. We had the summit all to ourselves and really had a great day!

So, wonderful summit day. Now we’re back in High Camp (3536m/11,600ft), just had dinner, going to bed and we’ll make our plan to go down to Base Camp (2140m/7,020ft) tomorrow or the next day!

So 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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Arrived in High Camp!

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive. Photo: Terray Sylvester

The team made strong work today, ascending from their Low Camp to High Camp and battling some winds along the way. Everyone is comfortably settled into their tents and looking forward to a rest day tomorrow as they look for a window to make their summit push! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with todays dispatch from High Camp on Mount Vinson:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition team with Conrad Anker and friends Bill Dyer, Chris Figenshau, Wes, Elizabeth and Woody! We are up at High Camp (3536m/11,600ft).

We had a great day climbing from Low Camp (2774m/9,100ft) to High Camp on the eighth of January. It ended up turning a little windy once we got to the top of the fixed ropes, so we really had to batten down the hatches, put on our big puffy jackets, and gloves, and mitts, and hand warmers. We made it into our High Camp here and fired up our stoves, sat in our tents, had dinner, and now we’re just getting ready for bed.

So tomorrow we’ll take a rest day after that big effort coming up to High Camp on Mount Vinson! Hopefully there’s some good weather – blowing pretty hard up here earlier today, cold (garbled) wind, some moisture coming off the sea, but hopefully that’ll subside and we’ll get some favorable conditions for a summit in the next few days.

Everybody’s up here and doing well, although we’re tired – it was a tough 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:

– 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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Training Day on Mount Vinson

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive. Photo: Terray Sylvester

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team took a rest day today in Low Camp and prepared to continue their ascent in the coming days! The team took some time today to train and review ascending fixed lines, and with some good weather in the future, they will move up to High Camp and be one step closer to making their summit push! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with todays dispatch from Low Camp:

Hey, this is Garrett calling in for the Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition team (garbled). We are at Low Camp (2774m/9,100ft) on Mount Vinson – today is January seventh and took a rest day today, did some training, got prepared for the fixed lines, and had a restful time here in camp.

Tomorrow, we’re looking forward to heading up to High Camp (3536m/11,600ft), whether pending. So we’ll get up and take a look at the weather and see what the forecast is for High Camp, but hopefully we’ll move up there tomorrow and go for the Summit shortly thereafter.

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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Summit Success on Mount Vinson!

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive.

We’ve received word from the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team that everyone has reached the summit! After taking in the views and some sunshine from the roof of Antarctica, the team safely descended to High Camp for the night, and plans to continue their descent to Vinson Base Camp tomorrow. Congratulations to the entire team! Here’s expedition leader, Garrett Madison, with todays dispatch from High Camp:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition climb – today’s January third  and we reach the summit of Mount Vinson today! It was a beautiful day, couldn’t have asked for better weather – clear skies, calm winds, warm temperatures, and just great views all around! The whole team made it to the summit this afternoon and we made our way back down to High Camp (3536m/11,600ft), just had dinner, and tucking in for bed!

Tomorrow, we’re going to pack up High Camp and head down to Base Camp (2140m/7,020ft). All is well here and 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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Summit Push on the Way!

Photo pulled from Madison Mountaineering Archive. Photo: Ted Hesser

The Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition team arrived in High Camp today under more beautiful weather. The team ascended the fixed ropes between Low Camp and where they currently are settled into camp, primed to make their summit push! With good weather in the forecast, the team plans to go for the summit in the next few days. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with todays dispatch from High Camp on Mount Vinson:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Mount Vinson (4892m/16,050ft) expedition team – we are up at High Camp (3536m/11,600ft) on Mount Vinson. Today we left Low Camp (2774m/9,100ft) and ascended up fixed ropes. It was a beautiful day – great views all around, the team did awesome. We got up to High Camp here late in the day, set up our camp, started cooking, had dinner and now we’re tucked in and heading to bed.

We’re gonna see how it looks tomorrow – potentially we could go for the summit or maybe wait for the next day! But, everyone’s doing great and the weather looks good. So, we’re happy to be up here and all is well 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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