Madison Mountaineering Review 2026: Everest Prices, Owner, Terms and a Record Score of 52

Madison Mountaineering scores 52/100 as a company record, fifth of the nine mountaineering companies scored: the Jackson, Wyoming, guiding company founded by Garrett Madison in 2014 prices eleven expeditions in full, from K2 at USD 75,500 to a nineteen-day Everest Super Express at USD 128,950, but shows no financial protection and no independent review. This record covers the company behind the guiding, not the mountain: who owns it, its guides and Sherpa team, what each climb costs, the payment and cancellation terms, support, the safety facts it prints and the gaps. Our Everest and Seven Summits indexes linked below rank the climbs; this page scores the company.

Verified 26 September 2026 · madisonmountaineering.com expedition, about, contact, Garrett Madison and insurance pages · Trustpilot · AMGA · Justia trademark filings · Alan Arnette

How Madison Mountaineering scores: 52 out of 100

Madison Mountaineering scores 52 out of 100: full marks for pricing transparency, held back to zero on both reviews and financial protection. Its 65 on our Seven Summits operator index is not a contradiction: that index scores what each climb includes and discloses, such as price, guide ratio and oxygen, while this record scores what a buyer can check before paying, such as terms, protection and reviews.

Madison Mountaineering publishes a price, a deposit and a day-by-day itinerary for almost every expedition it sells, and names its guides and its own Sherpa team down to the sirdar. It does not publish a street address, a graduated cancellation scale, a guide ratio for most of its climbs, or a single independent review anyone can check.

The evidence record

The record holds 17 facts about Madison Mountaineering, each with its source and grade. Grade A means the company's own site or terms; grade B means a registry, review platform, awarding body or major press; grade C means a secondary source not confirmed elsewhere. Every line was read on 26 September 2026 unless its source says otherwise.

Who owns Madison Mountaineering?

Madison Mountaineering is owned and led by its founder, Garrett Madison, who has run the company every year since 2014 and states 15 Everest summits and five on K2.

Kurt Hunter is named beside him on the About page as "Technical Advisor / Co-Founder", though the site does not say what he co-founded or how the roles divide. Madison's own pages do not agree on his personal Everest client record: "90+" on the About page against "over 80 climbers" on the Everest expedition page, both read on 26 September 2026. Where Madison sits against the other mountaineering companies is set out on our Seven Summits operator index and Everest expedition operators index.

Who guides a Madison Mountaineering expedition

Madison Mountaineering names more than 20 guides on its About page and leads every Himalayan climb with its own employed Sherpa team, under sirdar Aang Phurba Sherpa since 2015.

Named guides include Estalin Suárez, an IFMGA guide with 17 years guiding after 20 years of climbing, and Scott Webster, who holds the WMCI, the UK's highest climbing-instruction qualification, and is IPGA certified. Seth Timpano is named with 14 years as a professional guide and more than 45 international expeditions but no formal guide certification quoted, on the same About page. What a guide's IFMGA certification actually covers is explained in our guide to what to expect on an expedition.

How much does a Madison Mountaineering expedition cost?

Madison Mountaineering expeditions read for this record cost from USD 7,950 for 11 days on Elbrus to USD 128,950 for the 19-day Everest Super Express. All prices were read on 26 September 2026 on Madison's own expedition pages; Everest is sold in four tiers from the same page.

A private ascent of Everest is on enquiry rather than a published tier price. Kilimanjaro, at USD 8,450 for the climb combined with a Serengeti safari, is priced only with 2026 dates on the pages read, with no 2027 date or price found; Elbrus, at USD 7,950, is priced with 2027 dates (15 to 25 July and 6 to 16 August). Every priced expedition excludes international airfare and the medical and evacuation insurance Madison requires; a helicopter evacuation from Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu, where offered, costs about USD 2,000 more. What that required cover should include is in our guide to high-altitude trekking insurance.

Madison Mountaineering booking terms and financial protection

Madison Mountaineering takes a deposit of USD 2,000 to USD 25,000 depending on the peak, wants the balance 120 days before departure, and states that nothing paid is refundable however the expedition ends.

No USTOA membership, Washington seller-of-travel number or trust or escrow account statement could be found on Madison's expedition insurance page or elsewhere on its site, and a Washington state registration lookup could not be completed. Clients must buy their own medical and evacuation cover; Madison names Redpoint Resolutions, Global Rescue and AIG Travel Guard as providers to consider, without recommending one over the others. How that compares with other operators is in our Seven Summits operator index.

Support before and during a Madison Mountaineering expedition

Madison Mountaineering publishes one phone number with no stated hours and no 24-hour label, and its in-trip updates are public dispatch blog posts rather than a named tracking system.

Compulsory medical and evacuation insurance is the client's own purchase, at a level Madison does not itself state as a minimum for every peak. Choosing that cover is covered in our guide to high-altitude trekking insurance.

Safety facts Madison Mountaineering prints

Madison Mountaineering prints a guide ratio for two of its nine priced peaks, no oxygen figures for any of them, and an unsupported claim about its own safety record.

These facts are reported because a climber paying USD 50,000 or more should see them before booking; the rubric does not score them for any of the ten mountaineering companies in this batch.

What Madison Mountaineering reviews say

No independent review platform shows a rating for Madison Mountaineering: its Trustpilot page is unclaimed with no reviews, and no Tripadvisor or BBB listing could be found.

A direct search of bbb.org's own listings page was blocked, and no presence was found on Feefo or Reviews.io either. Why cruise and expedition reviews tend to collect on some platforms and not others is explained in our guide to review platforms.

Who Madison Mountaineering suits, and who it does not

Madison Mountaineering suits a well-funded, self-directed climber who wants direct access to Garrett Madison's own summit record and is comfortable buying insurance and accepting non-refundable terms with no company protection scheme behind them.

Its ladder runs from Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua up through Denali and Vinson to K2 and four Everest tiers, so it suits a climber planning a Seven Summits campaign as much as an Everest specialist. It suits less well a buyer who wants a graduated cancellation scale or a named financial protection scheme, which neither this record nor our Seven Summits operator index found. Choosing a Kilimanjaro route is covered in our Kilimanjaro routes and cost guide.

Booking Madison Mountaineering: the decisions that come next

Whichever Madison Mountaineering expedition a climber books, the card used for the deposit, the flight to the gateway city and the insurance bought are the climber's own decisions.

Where Madison Mountaineering stands on Uncompromised Travel

Madison Mountaineering appears on two of our mountaineering pages and holds a ranked position on both.

Alternatives to Madison Mountaineering to compare

The closest alternatives are Alpenglow Expeditions for the highest score among the nine, Adventure Consultants for a graduated cancellation scale, International Mountain Guides for the longest Everest track record, and Climbing the Seven Summits for a price-tiered Everest ladder.

What this record does not show

Six things a buyer would want could not be found or verified for Madison Mountaineering. Supplying a verifiable source closes a gap; it changes the evidence, never the rubric.

What changed at Madison Mountaineering, 2024 to 2026

The two dated developments found for 2024 to 2026 both concern the wider Everest and K2 seasons rather than Madison itself.