Holidays with Mountain Madness!

How did you spend this last hol­i­day sea­son? Trav­el­ling? Home with your fam­i­ly? High on the side of a moun­tain? See below for a com­plete list of upcom­ing hol­i­day trip that allow you to max­i­mize your vaca­tion time!

Kil­i­man­jaro

Nine Moun­tain Mad­ness clients cel­e­brat­ed this years hol­i­day sea­son by sum­mit­ing the high­est free stand­ing moun­tain in the world — Kil­i­man­jaro. The team worked great togeth­er, match­ing each oth­ers’ speed to ensure a safe ascent all togeth­er. Although the weath­er was often spot­ty dur­ing the ascent, the rain, snow and wind stopped on sum­mit day, leav­ing it clear from Arrow Camp to the Crater and all the way back down.

Pass­ing the glac­i­er on Kil­i­man­jaro. David Bates photo

The rains attract­ed ani­mals to the Ngoron­goro Crater, allow­ing for won­der­ful ani­mal sit­ing expe­ri­ences on safari. The group saw a lioness in a tree, ele­phants, zebras, giraffes, impalas, birds and hun­dreds of baboons. In Lake Man­yara, they wit­nessed a Rhi­no cross­ing the road with her baby very close to the vehi­cle. This time of year, the Serengeti is filled with zebra and wilde­beest for the Great Migration.

Jef­frey Dem­mon photo

Eat­ing goat meat with the Maa­sai and watch­ing a Maa­sai tra­di­tion­al dance made the trip unfor­get­table. They learned about one of the famous tribes of Tan­za­nia while shar­ing a meal with them and drink­ing soup with herbs from one of the aca­cia trees.

Tra­di­tion­al Maa­sai dance. David Bates photo

“Over­all this was an excel­lent trip. The organization/​administration was excel­lent through­out, the guides were knowl­edge­able and approach­able, and we real­ly left Tan­za­nia with a far greater under­stand­ing of the coun­try and its peo­ple than I would have thought pos­si­ble in such a short trip. And we all got to stand on the roof of Africa!” ~ Har­ry English

“Kil­i­man­jaro and the safari were amaz­ing. Thank you Moun­tain Mad­ness for tak­ing us up a beau­ti­ful, seclud­ed trail to the sum­mit of Kili! We briefly saw the con­ga line of oth­ers on the main routes and can’t believe our expe­ri­ence was all ours! Thanks again!” ~ Sara Vavra

Ecuador Moun­taineer­ing School

Vari­able Ecuado­ri­an weath­er accom­pa­nied sev­en climbers on our glac­i­er moun­taineer­ing course in Ecuador this Decem­ber with guide Joshua Jar­rin. The wet weath­er pre­sent­ed some chal­lenges for the group, but they were able to over­come them to pro­ceed with the glac­i­er school and ben­e­fit from acclima­ti­za­tion hikes.

On Christ­mas Eve, five of the sev­en clients reached the sum­mit of Cayambe. The weath­er was windy but clear. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, the rainy weath­er and increased avalanche con­di­tions stuck with the group most of the trip. Luck­i­ly, the weath­er on Illiniza Norte proved to be more agree­able, and the group was able to use their option­al sum­mit day to sum­mit the peak when Cotopaxi shut them out!

Hut on Cayambe. Moun­tain Mad­ness photo

Each team on the slopes of Chimb­o­ra­zo was turned around due to high avalanche risk. The con­di­tions gave the guides an oppor­tu­ni­ty to teach the clients about snow test­ing. The clients went home with two peaks under their belt and a sol­id base of new moun­taineer­ing skills!

Kil­i­man­jaro still awaits for those who have not expe­ri­enced the won­der of stand­ing on the roof of Africa! Also, get your spot on our Bolivia Moun­taineer­ing School begin­ning in May!

Memo­r­i­al Day
Bolivia Moun­taineer­ing School
Bolivia Climbs
Moun­taineer­ing Cours­es in North Cas­cades
Rock Climb­ing Courses

July 4^th
Kil­i­man­jaro
Bolivia Moun­taineer­ing School
Bolivia Climbs
North Cas­cades Sum­mit Climbs
Moun­taineer­ing Cours­es
Rock Climb­ing Courses

Labor Day
Kil­i­man­jaro
Inca Trail
North Cas­cades Sum­mit Climbs
Moun­taineer­ing Cours­es
Rock Climb­ing Courses

Thanks­giv­ing
Mex­i­co Vol­ca­noes
Ecuador Moun­taineer­ing School
Ecuador Volcanoes

Win­ter Hol­i­days
Kil­i­man­jaro
Ecuador Moun­taineer­ing School
Ecuador Vol­ca­noes
Aconcagua Nor­mal Route