Everest 2026: Garrett Madison Podcast from Camp 2, 2 More Deaths

A long-standing tradition is to connect with Garrett Madison, founder of Madison Mountaineering, on an expedition. I caught up with Garrett at Everest Camp 2, 21,500 feet, during their summit push. They are targeting May 25, just a few days away. I wanted to talk to him about icefall conditions and delays, the changing rules around the jet stream, and more. I hope you enjoy. We had more summits overnight, including yet another multi-summit record.

Rescues and Incidents

8K Expeditions reports that British deaf mountaineer and BBC Sign Language presenter Michael Woods was rescued after his summit.

Lakpa Sherpa, Managing Director of 8K Expeditions: A Sherpa climber and Woods are being rescued by other climbers now. Woods and one of his guides are being brought from the triangular face.

Pioneerer Adventures said two Indian climbers, Sandeep Are, and Arun Kumar Tiwari, died on their descent after summitting. The outfit cited altitude-related illnesses as the cause of death.

Friday, May 22 Summits

Kenton Cool got his 20th summit on the non-Sherpa record. Australian Oliver Foran got his sea-to-summit, summit after cycling more than 1,150 kilometers (715 miles) from India in 50 days. Tenzing David Sherpa summited Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse, completing the Triple Crown of Nuptse, Lhotse and Everest in an astonishing five days.

  • Imagine Nepal – 18 Chinese members, 1 Romanian, supported by 25 Sherpas for 44 summits
  • Satori Expeditions – 1 member supported by 3 Sherpas for 4 summits
  • Furtenbach – 77 summits

The season total is well over 700.

More to Come

By my count, I’m predicting 800 total summit attempts, so with 700 completed, that leaves around 100-150 to go, maybe less. Look for more from Madison Mountaineering and AAI, both of which moved to the Col today, targeting May 25 for the summit. Garret told me the Icefall Docs will remove the ladders on May 29, so the clock is ticking.

Piotr Jerzy Krzyżowski summited Mt. Kangchenjunga (8,586m) on 20 May 2026, without supplemental oxygen or Sherpa support.

Nepal Permit Update

As of May 15, 2026, Nepal has issued 1,181 climbing permits to 142 teams across 30 peaks, bringing in $8.43 million US dollars in permit fees, with Everest accounting for $7.1 million. Everest climbers are from 55 countries. China has the most climbers at 109, followed by the U.S. at 77, India at 61 and the UK at 32. There are 105 female climbers on Everest this season. This is the current tally for the 8000ers. 

8000er Teams   Male Clients Female Clients Total
Annapurna I 4 19 8 27
Dhaulagiri 4 18 12 30
Everest 51 389 105 494
Kanchenjunga 4 23 13 36
Lhotse 14 99 44 143
Makalu 11 51 21 72
Manaslu 1 2 0 2
TOTALS 89 601 203 804

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

 

The Podcast on alanarnette.com

Live Interview wth garrett Madiosn from Everest Camp 2

273 views

You can listen to #everest2026 podcasts on Spotify, Apple, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Anchor, and more. Just search for “alan arnette” on your favorite podcast platform.

Previous Everest 2026 Season Coverage Posts

Background

A long-standing tradition is to connect with Garrett Madison, founder of Madison Mountaineering, on an expedition. I caught up with Garrett at Everest Camp 2, 21,500 feet, during their summit push. They are targeting May 25, just a few days away. I wanted to talk to him about icefall conditions and delays, the changing rules around the jet stream, and more. I hope you enjoy. We had more summits overnight, including yet another multi-summit record.

Rescues and Incidents

8K Expeditions reports that British deaf mountaineer and BBC Sign Language presenter Michael Woods was rescued after his summit.

Lakpa Sherpa, Managing Director of 8K Expeditions: A Sherpa climber and Woods are being rescued by other climbers now. Woods and one of his guides are being brought from the triangular face.

Pioneerer Adventures said two Indian climbers, Sandeep Are, and Arun Kumar Tiwari, died on their descent after summitting. The outfit cited altitude-related illnesses as the cause of death.

Friday, May 22 Summits

Kenton Cool got his 20th summit on the non-Sherpa record. Australian Oliver Foran got his sea-to-summit, summit after cycling more than 1,150 kilometers (715 miles) from India in 50 days. Tenzing David Sherpa summited Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse, completing the Triple Crown of Nuptse, Lhotse and Everest in an astonishing five days.

  • Imagine Nepal – 18 Chinese members, 1 Romanian, supported by 25 Sherpas for 44 summits
  • Satori Expeditions – 1 member supported by 3 Sherpas for 4 summits
  • Furtenbach – 77 summits

The season total is well over 700.

More to Come

By my count, I’m predicting 800 total summit attempts, so with 700 completed, that leaves around 100-150 to go, maybe less. Look for more from Madison Mountaineering and AAI, both of which moved to the Col today, targeting May 25 for the summit. Garret told me the Icefall Docs will remove the ladders on May 29, so the clock is ticking.

Piotr Jerzy Krzyżowski summited Mt. Kangchenjunga (8,586m) on 20 May 2026, without supplemental oxygen or Sherpa support.

Nepal Permit Update

As of May 15, 2026, Nepal has issued 1,181 climbing permits to 142 teams across 30 peaks, bringing in $8.43 million US dollars in permit fees, with Everest accounting for $7.1 million. Everest climbers are from 55 countries. China has the most climbers at 109, followed by the U.S. at 77, India at 61 and the UK at 32. There are 105 female climbers on Everest this season. This is the current tally for the 8000ers. 

8000er Teams   Male Clients Female Clients Total
Annapurna I 4 19 8 27
Dhaulagiri 4 18 12 30
Everest 51 389 105 494
Kanchenjunga 4 23 13 36
Lhotse 14 99 44 143
Makalu 11 51 21 72
Manaslu 1 2 0 2
TOTALS 89 601 203 804

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

 

The Podcast on alanarnette.com

Live Interview wth garrett Madiosn from Everest Camp 2

273 views

You can listen to #everest2026 podcasts on Spotify, Apple, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Anchor, and more. Just search for “alan arnette” on your favorite podcast platform.

Previous Everest 2026 Season Coverage Posts

Background

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