Entries By Dave Hahn
Our Four Day Summit Climb teams led by
Dave Hahn and
Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Dave reported clear and sunny skies with winds at about 10mph. The teams were going to spend some time enjoying the great views before starting their descent back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's teams!
The Four Day
Summit Climb Teams August 26 - 29 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning led by RMI Guides
Dave Hahn and
Mike Walter. Dave Hahn reported clear skies above and light winds with a cloud deck below at 9,000'. The teams were walking into the crater at 8:15 a.m. and will spend some time on top before starting their descent to Camp Muir and continuing to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Our
Four Day Summit Climb Team led by
Dave Hahn and our Five Day Summit Climb led by
Leon Davis both reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Dave reported great conditions with winds at about 10 - 12 mph from the southwest and the cloud deck at about 7,200'. The teams are going to spend some time on the top enjoying the view before making their way back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Our Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by
Dave Hahn and
Geoff Schellens reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Dave and Geoff reported great conditions on the mountain with clear views all around. The teams have started their descent and are on en route to Camp Muir.
Mike Walter and team also reached the summit of Mt. Rainier via the
Emmons Glacier route. The team reported beautiful weather. The have started their descent back to Camp Schurman.
Congratulations to today's teams!
RMI Guides Peter Whittaker and Dave Hahn led their teams to the
Mt. Rainier summit this morning. Both teams had left the summit by 8:30 a.m. and reported light winds and a very pleasant day on the mountain.
Jake Beren is currently leading the
Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz on their summit bid. He checked in at 8:15 a.m. from the Wapowety Cleaver on the Kautz Route and will radio us when he reaches the summit.
Congratulations to RMI Guide
Dave Hahn and the Big City Mountaineers’ Summit for Someone team that reached the
Mt. Rainier summit! With good weather and route conditions, Dave and his team spent some time on top before starting their descent at 9:45 a.m. They are working their way back to Camp Muir and will finish their celebration of today's accomplishments at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.
Our
Four Day Summit Climb led by Dave Hahn and our
Five Day Summit Climb led by Mike Haugen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The teams reported clear skies with lots of sunshine and very little wind. The teams were able to spend some time on the summit and are now en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's teams!
The last guided climb of the
Denali 2012 season is done and down. Safe. But, without a summit, which happens sometimes. We got together in Talkeetna way back at the end of June—eight climbers and four guides—and we talked strategy and packed gear and we were issued permits. And, since the weather was a little sloppy, we didn’t fly immediately. Instead, we ate some more and drank some more and talked a bit more strategy. But on the 29th of June, we did get to fly into the Alaska Range and of course it was worth the wait.
As is always the case in late season, we’d been concerned as to how well put-together the lower glacier might be, but a few minutes flight over the Kahiltna in a de Havilland Otter convinced us it had been a good year for snow. Once on the ground (7,200 feet on the Southest Fork of the Kahiltna) we reviewed glacier travel techniques and waited for the middle of the night so as to allow the glacier surface to freeze solid. It did just that and we moved out early the next morning. We made pretty decent progress those first days… camp at 7,800 feet, move to 9,500 feet, migrate on up to 11,000 feet. As always, we started doing “carries” at 11,000 feet… climbing high and sleeping low so as to let our bodies catch up to the altitude. The gang was healthy and doing great and the weather was workable… if not stable. It was snowy and cloudy somewhere each and every day… just not exactly on top of us, and so we were able to make good use of the days.
The mountain got a lot more interesting as we left the valleys and ventured up onto the ridges on our move to
Genet Basin at 14,200 feet. We “caught up” to about a dozen guide parties from other companies there and everybody was still optimistic about climbing high and making the top. We’d been on the mountain for a week at that point. But it started snowing. And then it seriously started snowing. Teams began to run out of food and fuel and quit the mountain. Then it snowed about two feet in 24 hours and we had an avalanche problem. The problem was that we believed there was instability on the steep slopes we needed to climb up in order to make any progress and there was no solution but to wait for stability. Which didn’t come.
We needed hot, sunny days to settle the problem and instead we got day after day of a little more cloud, snow and wind. Teams quit and descended… one after another. Finally, we teamed up with the last two guided parties on the hill to bust trail and evaluate hazard and perhaps find a way to the “fixed ropes” leading to the crest of the
West Buttress. The mission took all day and required some dicey belays across “whumping” snow, but it resulted in a workable and safe track to the ropes… we were back in business. Until it snowed that night and the next morning.
Back at square one with a new hazard and no track. The other guided teams quit the mountain that day and we stayed another two days in a last attempt at getting some sort of good luck. But that didn’t come, just more snow and more clouds and more predictions for snow and clouds. We spent about 12 days at 14,200 feet and then we turned our backs on the summit and started busting trail down through the powder. Things got easier as we got lower on the mountain and we were at the SE Fork again by morning of our 19th day on the hill. And the weather cleared magnificently then… allowing a view of the summit we hadn’t reached, but also making the flight off possible.
Showers and dinners and drinks and beds in Talkeetna were pretty good, even without a summit. We’ll get it next time.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
I'd intended to wake the climbing team at 2 AM for their final day on Denali, but folks were snoring so hard at that hour that it seemed kinder to wait until three. Besides, our camp at 7,800' on the
Kahiltna Glacier was blanketed with cloud and I didn't figure the snow surface had frozen up. But at three, the clouds began to flee and the snow got crusty, making sled-pulling and crevasse-crossing vastly easier and safer. We ate a hot breakfast, knocked down the tents and hit the trail at 5:15. There actually was a trail since a West Rib team had gone out the evening before, plowing an easy-to-follow groove in what had then been soft snow. After weeks of telling the team how tricky it could be to get through the lower glacier in mid-July, I was almost embarrassed that our task had become so simple. As we cruised along in the early morning shadows it was something of a surprise to realize that we were finding better bridges and fewer open crevasses than on our way in. The constant snowstorms that kept us from climbing high had greatly improved conditions down low. We made it to the Southeast Fork in just a couple of hours and began a slow walk up "Heartbreak Hill". The last of the clouds seemed to evaporate, leaving us in bright sunshine and giving us excellent views of Mount Hunter and Mount Foraker. By 9:30 AM we were unclipping our carabiners and shaking hands at the "upper strip". Since it was the first clear day over the
Alaska Range in some time and there was a lot of flying to be done, we had to wait our turn for a pickup. But waiting was pretty easy in such wonderful conditions... we rolled out sleeping pads and napped, threw snowballs, and nibbled at the last delicacies in what -until then- had been our carefully rationed lunch food. K2 Aviation landed two beautiful DeHaviland Otters at precisely 4 PM. Fifteen minutes later we slid down the runway and off the mountain that had been our home for 19 days.
The flight out in perfect summer weather -our first of the trip- was spectacular. A million shades of green dazzled our eyes as we left the mountains and neared Talkeetna. Then it was a few frenzied hours of drying and sorting gear in the hot sunshine. With the chores done, we got to the pleasant and easy hours of celebrating over a fine dinner at the West Rib Pub. And finally there was the obligatory visit to The Fairview where open mike night was already in progress. Our Norwegian teammate, Frode, took the stage and had the big stuffed animal heads rocking off the walls with his thundering rendition of Hootchie Cootchie Man. And that was how our Denali climb ended... Without a summit, but with a lot of laughter and twelve new friends.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Back down at 8,000 ft on the Kahiltna Glacier. We packed things up at 14K this morning with the usual mix of clouds and clearing. Nobody was looking upward any longer even though the peak was out. Our focus became getting down safely. We went into the clouds and murk as we came around
Windy Corner. Walking in fresh powder with big packs and sleds was a challenge, but we were able to find the remains of a packed trail under the powder for much of the day. We took a good rest at 11k as we dug up our cache there and switched out crampons for snowshoes. Travel on the upper Kahiltna was much less complicated than the steep hills we began the journey with. We found excellent glacier conditions and even came out of the clouds a little below 10,000 ft. At the base of Ski Hill we set a quick camp, had dinner and dove in the tents for a few hours of rest. We'll give the glacier surface a chance to freeze up hard before we aim for the airstrip in the morning.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Dave, nice to meet you the other day on wonderland trail. I will be there again.
Posted by: Angela on 9/12/2012 at 11:04 am
I am so happy to see you got fantastic weather for your climb. Take some pictures of big crevasses on your way back to Muir.
Posted by: Tom Hagedoron on 9/6/2012 at 11:08 am
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