Everest 2011: Dave Hahn on the Summit (Photos): "Eventually We Had the Top to Ourselves and Enjoyed the Quiet"

Everest Summit from South Summit

By Dave Hahn, a guide for RMI Expeditions and First Ascent; Photographs by Dave Hahn and Linden Mallory

More Everest: See more Everest photos, take our Everest quiz, or watch expedition videos.

Dispatch #14 - The Summit

Our hope was to make the summit bid short and sweet, not so much because going for the top of Mount Everest is an awful and onerous chore, but more because dragging it out can be. Besides, we believed we were shooting for a discreet patch of calm weather and forecasts for such a patch are generally only reliable a few days in advance. It was to our advantage to cover big chunks of the mountain in a relative hurry. Leaving base camp and relocating to ABC in one push was our first real test in this effort and that went quite well. Even so, we'd planned a full rest day at ABC in order to get recovered, rehydrated, and ready for the real test—all of the Lhotse Face in one shot—about a vertical mile which would take us to 26,000 feet.


Group shot at summit


Kaji and Tshherring on top

Extreme Photo of the Week: Biking Table Mountain, South Africa (Free Wallpaper!)

Photograph by Nick Muzik, Caters News Agency

Download the desktop wallpaper and see previous Extreme Photos of the Week.

"Riding on top of Table Mountain was something I had to do," says professional mountain biker Kenny Belaey. "The landscape is just perfect for trials—but I had to be really careful." Belaey pulled out every daredevil trick imaginable, from wheelies to bunny hops, to explore the famous 3,558-foot slab of granite overlooking Cape Town. To reach the top at sunrise, he hiked through the night, carrying his 20-pound bike on his back.

Everest 2011: As Clients Decide to Turn Back, Guide Dave Hahn Reflects His Upcoming Summit Bid

Text and photo by Dave Hahn, a guide for RMI Expeditions and First Ascent. In May 2010 Hahn reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 12th time, the most of any a non-Sherpa climber. This time, he is leading a Bill McGahan and his 16-year-old daughter, Sara, on a bid for the summit. Follow the team's Everest expedition in dispatches here.

More Everest: See more Everest photos, take our Everest quiz, or watch expedition videos.

Dispatch #13

Sara McGahan, Linden Mallory, and myself set out from base camp just after 5 a.m. on a final mission through the Khumbu Icefall. It was meant to be our summit bid. When we reached the first series of ladders over crevasses, we took a break. Linden and I were pleased that we'd reached this point relatively quickly, but it was clear that Sara's mind was not entirely on the day's climbing. She spoke up to say that she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to go through with the planned weeklong summit push. We suggested retreating to base camp in order to reassess, and Sara agreed that would be the best course of action.

Off Limits Host Don Wildman Uncovers Los Angeles's Forgotten History and Secrets

There’s a good chance you underappreciate your favorite city—we all do. For Off Limits (Mondays at 9 p.m. EST on the Travel Channel), adventurous host Don Wildman delves into the overlooked, restricted places hiding in plain sight to discover the true identities of America’s cities. He examines how our great metropolises came to flourish and function through stories of engineering genius, heroic ambition, and true tales that are really bizarre. These off-limit places are all around us … if we would slow down to look. (However, if you did look yourself, you’d probably get charged fines or thrown in jail … better just let Wildman do the detective work.)

Tonight, the premiere episode takes a deep dive into Los Angeles. You are not going to believe was Wildman uncovers while prowling around the aqueducts, paddling the concrete-encased Los Angeles River, and even exploring a decaying secret compound intended to house Nazi in the 1930s.

We caught up with Wildman to see what his show is all about. 

Adventure: You seem very comfortable in the outdoors and uncovering mysteries in weird places.
Don Wildman: As far as doing this kind of stuff, I come from an adventure sports background. I love getting out and testing myself … and I love all the things that go into adventure sports. But I also come from a history background. One thing has fallen into the next very organically for me in this TV business. I really like that.

Apa Sherpa Claims 21st Everest Summit, Now Begins Taking Trash Off Mountain

By Kraig Becker, The Adventure Blog

Big things are happening in the Himalaya, where teams have begun summitting Everest and other peaks. The news, of course, was that Apa Sherpa has claimed his 21st summit of the mountain, topping out Wednesday morning at 9:15 a.m. local time. The successful climb extends his record for the person who has climbed the world's highest peak the most times. Apa, and the rest of his Eco-Everest team, will now start cleaning up the mountain, as they have for the past few years, bringing tons of garbage, left behind by other expeditions, down to be properly disposed of. The team also leads the crusade to inform the general public of the effects of climate change on Everest as well.

The Adventure Consultants put a few climbers on the summit as well, working hard to beat the crowds that are expected at the summit over the next few days. It seems that all the major commercial squads are now in place, to have a crack at the summit. Good weather is expected into the weekend.

Stay tuned for much more over the next few days. Congratulations to everyone who successfully reached the summit today. Well done. And good luck to everyone queuing up to have their shot tomorrow and Friday.

Gear Review: Surefire's Shockingly Bright, Compact M3LT Spotlight

By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal. See more of Casimiro's gear recommendations in our must-have Spring/Summer 2011 gear gallery >>

One Christmas back in the ’90s, my dad gave me a spotlight, the kind that plugs into your vehicle’s lighter. The light was massive, eight inches across, and on a road trip through Baja, searching for a place to camp one night, we nicknamed it Big Tony after my pop. Alas, Big Tony—the light, not the man—was bright but not durable. It broke before too many years’ service. Despite having more headlamps than anyone in all of coal country, I’ve been spotlight-less for the better part of the new millennium.

But then I discovered Surefire’s M3LT ($550) and whoa, nelly. This “combat light” pumps out a shockingly bright 400 lumens. On a trip last week through Utah’s canyon country, I used it repeatedly to suss out camp spots, search for the trail ahead, and illuminate the North Rim of the Grand Canyon way over in Arizona. Indeed, the M3LT is so bright, you could easily use it for self-defense—just point and click and that attacking grizzly would be blinded. I’m not kidding.

Everest 2011: Favorable Weather Sends Climbers to the Summit

 
Dawa Jamba, Yubarj, Kaji, Chhering at the first ladder... bound for ABC

Text and photographs by Dave Hahn, a guide for RMI Expeditions and First Ascent.

Now it gets interesting in Everest-ville.

Chherring, Dawa Jamba, and Kaji made a significant contribution to our team's potential success today. They got up around 2 a.m., put on big packs at ABC, and climbed all the way to the South Col, establishing what will be our High Camp at 26,000 feet. All three were safely back down the Lhotse Face and into ABC by noon. They'll hope to repeat that extremely big morning of work in the next few days ... boosting enough tents, fuel, oxygen, and miscellaneous heavy stuff up to the Col so that the door will be open for our summit bid.

Everest 2011: 82-Year-Old Dies in Attempt to Set New Age Record

By Kraig Becker, The Adventure Blog

Sad news from Everest Monday, as we have received word that 82-year-old Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya died while trying to scale the mountain. He had hoped to set a new age record for reaching the summit and prove to the world that elderly people are still strong and vibrant, even after the age of 80.

According to the story, Upadhyaya was making an acclimatization rotation on the mountain and had just climbed up to Camp 1. What exactly happened after he reached that point, which is located at roughly 6,096 meters (20,000 feet), remains unclear, and the cause of death hasn't been determined, but it seems likely that the rigors of the climb were a bit too much for his body to take.

In the original post I wrote about Upadhyaya's attempt I noted that he had almost no mountaineering experience, and while it is unclear if that had anything to do with his death, the lack of a climbing background certainly didn't help his cause.

Our condolences to Upadhyaya's friends and family, who probably feared that this could happen.

Fringe Elements: How to Pack (Very) Light

By Fitz Cahall; video still by Bryan Smith

Watch the Fringe Elements: Height Doesn't Matter Video >>

Colin Haley specializes in climbing the world’s largest and steepest mountain faces. They require the cardiovascular fitness needed to summit Mount Everest and the carefully honed technique required to climb Yosemite’s El Capitan. Sherpas don’t haul loads to established high camps. Haley doesn’t rely on the fixed ropes that run like ladders up the 8,000-meter peaks.

What he needs to climb a mountain goes in his backpack. It’s not surprising that Haley is exacting about every item he carries with him. While you probably won’t be packing to climb the West Face of Cerro Torre or the North Face of the Ogre II, Haley’s thought process on what to bring is applicable to any human-powered adventure. Here’s what goes through his head and keeps his pack light.

Little Things Add Up Over Time
“Even small amounts of weight—the difference between a 120-gram fuel canister and a 250-gram fuel canister—can translate into a big difference in exertion when that fuel canister is carried up 2,000 vertical meters,” says Haley. All-day or multiday adventures amplify each ounce. Don’t just consider what you need, consider how much of a given item you are going to use.

Comfort Is a Luxury
"Every item I bring is something I feel is either important to succeeding or important to staying alive. An item that makes me more comfortable, but isn’t critical to success or survival, is left behind,” says Haley. Collect as much pre-trip data as possible—from weather reports to campfire conversation—to formulate a checklist. Based on that information, imagine the absolute bare necessity of what you need to be successful and bring that.

Let Experience Guide You
"The truth is, learning by experience is the only real method. Every time you go out think about what items of gear would have been useful if you had brought it, and then look at what gear you brought that was superfluous,” notes Haley. If too much weight bogs you down on a summit bid of Mount Rainier, don’t return with the same strategy and expect a different result. Subtle experimentation is key.

New Organization Links Adventure Athletes and Scientists in Conservation

By Gregg Treinish, founder of ASC and former Adventurer of the Year

As ambassadors of the outdoors—the people who are living in, moving through, and sharing the value of the wilderness with the rest of the world—we have a responsibility to do all that is in our power to protect what we love so much.

Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation (ASC) works to create partnerships between adventure athletes and scientists who need them to collect scientific data. ASC is an organization that gives athletes the knowledge, tools, and skills to make expeditions have a tangible and lasting impact on conservation. Some of our supporters include Conrad Anker, Roz Savage, Jon Bowermaster, Captain Joel Fogel, Trip Jennings, Lance Craighead, Celine Cousteau, and 

To find more information you can visit www.adventureandscience.org. Or you can visit us on Facebook: Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation.