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

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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

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.

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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.

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: Lhotse Face, Sara For the Summit, A Death, Squalls and Avalanches

Dave Hahn, Sara, Bill near base of Lhotse Face

Text and photographs 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. 

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A hot shower, cotton clothes, chairs with backs, an appetite, easy temperatures, brain temporarily free of icefall fixation....

Must be rest day #1. Still decompressing from the last week on high and not yet laser-focused on the coming week, which will be higher still. I'm tempted to call the past week a good one, since we each came down healthy and with some clarity and confidence as to what will be next, but to be honest, it was a tough week in several ways.

Everest 2011: Camp 1, Western Cwm, More High-Wire Ladder Acrobatics (Photos)

A six section horizontal ladder in the Western Cwm. We decided to walk 15 minutes extra in order to avoid crossing it.

Text and photographs 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.

Five days ago we tried getting up through the Khumbu Icefall, but instead dropped down to Base Camp again to wait a day. We weren't firing on all cylinders, and it was clear that the jet stream was. The wind made a cardboard tearing sound as it scraped across the high peaks.

Four days ago we got up without a great deal of difficulty, reaching Camp I in about five hours from base camp. The climbers we talked to told stories of big winds at Camps I and II doing all sorts of tent damage and rubbing a bunch of nerves raw. We hoped we'd missed the big wind event as we crawled into our tents for afternoon naps ... but we could still hear it howling above and as the hours went by it got a little noisier right down in our own neighborhood. Spirits were high though as the four of us piled into one tent for dinner and climbing stories.

 
RMI Camp I with Lingtren (on left) and Khumbutse behind

Everest 2011: Sneaking Through the Turbulent, Tumbling Khumbu Icefall (Photos)

Text and photographs 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.

Today was a big day for our climbing team: Everyone was keyed up for an early-morning start and nervous about just what surprises the Khumbu Icefall might hold for us. I'm sure I was responsible for a good deal of the nervousness, having tried mightily in this last week of training to pass on my own respect, fear, and awe for the great tumbling and turbulent glacier we needed to sneak through. I'd portrayed this morning's mission as something of a final exam and a dress rehearsal—all rolled into one. Get up at the normal obscene hour we choose for taking on the icefall (we like the thing to be cold and frozen solid underfoot...less chance for breaking crevasse bridges). Then stick to a business-like schedule and pace in climbing safely up to the midpoint of the Icefall ... then come back down, just as safely, just as business-like.

Everest 2011: Big Days at the Mountain, Daily Storms

 
Text and photograph 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 8: Big Days at the Mountain, Daily Storms

We've strung together a number of important milestones over these past few days. The Puja ceremony was a symbolic starting point to the climbing portion of the expedition. It seemed to go off without a hitch as we sat in warm sunshine and calm air for the morning... staring up into the Khumbu Icefall as we listened to the chanting and drums of the monks.

We were lucky enough to have the docs from "Everest ER," the HRA clinic, as guests at the Puja and even a few of our good friends from the "Icefall Doctors" team. The Icefall Docs were taking a well-deserved day off from fixing the route up to Camp I. Ang Nima, who has been building climbing routes on Mount Everest since the 1970s, told me they were waiting for a new shipment of rope from down-valley anyway, so relaxing at our puja was the perfect way to pass a morning, getting a little more blessing from the gods for the dangerous and essential job they perform.

We were blessed at the end of the Puja to see Mark Tucker marching into camp. Tuck is our base camp manager and is well-known as the de-facto mayor of the little community that springs to life about this time each year. Tuck and I started guiding together on Mount Rainier in 1986 and have been together on many expeditions to weird parts of the world, so on a personal level I was quite happy to see my friend arrive on the scene. Tuck got to work quickly, hunkering down with Jeff Martin to coordinate logistics and inventory lists in advance of Jeff's departure. He also began immediately to scope out venues on the rough glacial moraine for golf, baseball, and horseshoes... all the normal mountain-climbing related diversions. Bill was plenty happy to have another worthy games and contests opponent around... so he could get busy walloping Tuck at everything.

Everest 2011: Training for the Khumbu Icefall (Photos)

 
Sara practicing on a Khumbu ladder

Text 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 7: Training for the Khumbu Icefall


Bill concentrating

 
Sara going vertical


Bill on the up ladder practice

Everest 2011: Sherpa Puja Ceremony to Honor the Mountain (Photos)

Text 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 6: Puja Ceremony Near Khumbu Icefall

Here see photos from the team's puja ceremony in which the Sherpas pay homage to the mountain deity. This is the starting point for all Everest expeditions.


Puja Time


Puja Lamas and drum


The team with Khumbu Icefall behind

Everest 2011: End of the Trek, Start of the Climb (Photos)

On the moraine of the Khumbu Glacier near Lobuche

Text 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 5: Everest Base Camp

Hello from Mount Everest Base Camp. We've been up at 17,500 feet for two nights already and it is beginning to feel like home.

We had high hopes for continuous communication possibilities this year, since we were hearing so much about the 3G cell service at Base Camp... but the reality is that we are still mostly on a dirt road version of the information super-highway. We didn't have much access to cell or web services when we trekked from Pheriche to Lobuche in new snow under overcast skies.


Leaving Pheriche in new snow