Entries By dave hahn

The “moving up” picture wasn’t all that clear this morning at 5 AM.  Nor was it at 6 or 7 or 8 or 9.  There was plenty of cloud about and some signs of wind on the ridges where we wanted to be.  By the time the weather had improved, it was our judgement that we’d be getting into high camp at a later hour than we’d prefer.  We traded the physical difficulty of moving up for the mental difficulty of sitting tight for one more day at 14 K.
One more day of rest, one more day of acclimatization, one more day of anticipation. 
We managed it just fine.  Ultimately the clouds closed in on 14,000’ Camp and took away our views.  We had sporadic radio contact with Mike Haugen’s RMI team as they felt their way up through higher clouds toward Denali’s summit. 
Tomorrow is our day to move!

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

June 28, 2017
We waited until the sun came around today to get out of the tents.  That made breakfast a little more like brunch, but everybody was happy to wait for Avery’s legendary blueberry pancakes.  Weather high on Denali was unsettled, making us a little concerned for our friends at 17,000 who’d hoped to summit today,  By midday things stabilized a little and we had a relaxing afternoon in mostly sunny and calm conditions.  Hannah McGowan led a well attended high altitude yoga session for the restless.  The rest of us rested and read.  We’re hoping for climbing weather tomorrow. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

June 27, 2017
Things looked good at 6 AM today, so we rolled out, fired the stoves, rousted the team, breakfasted and got walking.  All of this was in the cold shadow before the sun came around.  Our pals on Mike Haugen’s team were two hours ahead of us, already starting the fixed ropes at 15,000 as we left 14K.  We made steady progress up the initial hills with perfectly packed snow to walk on.  The sun caught us as we neared the ropes ourselves, making it a little easier to keep hands and faces warm.  We launched up the steep headwall, getting into the rhythms of mechanical ascenders on rope, and moving crampons and ice axes on firm snow and ice.  We hit the 16,200 ft top to the lines and continued up the spectacular West Buttress to 16,400 ft.  Only Denali, Foraker and Mount Hunter were above the Alaskan sea of clouds today.  We cached supplies and enjoyed the views from our lofty perch.  Interestingly, this height wasn’t a new record for any of our well traveled climbers.  Our descent to 14,000 was relatively easy and fun with light packs.  We hope our friends at 17,000 have a nice night and a good summit tomorrow while we rest. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

June 26, 2017
Well we didn’t go for our carry after all.  Even though we were up early and the day was beautiful.  Over breakfast the decision was made to take a rest day instead.  All are well, but we’ve been climbing hard and we are still relatively new to 14,000 ft... we’ll bide our time.  We did rope up and go for an enjoyable stroll to the “Edge of The World” to look straight down to the NE Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier and across to the West Rib of Denali.  We posed for pictures and enjoyed the sunshine.  The afternoon in camp was pretty peaceful -as we’d hoped would be the case.  We chatted with teams descending the mountain and read our books and took our naps.  At dinner, it was story night with each team member recounting some adventure, or misadventure for the group.  Tomorrow we’ll get back to climbing. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

June 25, 2017
Our weather was just plain old “good” today.  No winds, some high cloud and some low cloud, but no clouds that mattered.  We were up at a leisurely 7:30.  The sun came around about 9:30 (from behind the mountain) and we set out to retrieve our 13,500 ft cache at 10AM.  It only took twenty easy minutes of downhill walking to reach it, but it was a full hour of climbing to get back up with loaded packs.  So our workout was done by noon -the approach to the mountain is now complete with the team and the precious (and heavy) fuel and food all in place for the climb.  In the afternoon, we reviewed techniques for climbing the “fixed rope” section between 15,000 and 16,000 ft. as well as working through methods for climbing along the exciting ridge to 17,200… our high camp.  Dinner was relaxed and relatively comfortable in our dining facility.  The team stood outside enjoying views and conversation right until the last warm rays quit as the sun ducked behind the West Buttress.  We’ll look at carrying up onto the buttress tomorrow. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

June 24, 2017 10:07 pm PST

We continue to enjoy better weather than we have a right to expect.  The forecasts keep calling for snow, and I’m sure it was snowing somewhere -we got about .5 inches overnight at 11,000 ft, but when we peered outside this morning it just looked like good climbing weather.  We were out of there by 8 and up our now familiar hills, Motorcycle and Squirrel, we had no trouble getting to Windy Corner by noon and then we passed our cache (yesterday’s high point) and made for 14,200 ft.  We pulled in at 2:30 for a respectable 6.5-hour journey.  There was a fine place for tents right alongside our pals on Mike Haugen’s RMI trip.  The afternoon was spent as a lot of ours seem to be, building camp and melting snow for water.  Except now we are doing it in the legendary Genet Basin with the West Buttress and Denali’s gigantic South Peak looming over us.  We built a fine dining area (a giant pit in the snow with snow benches and snow tables and our dining tent capping it) and then tested it out with a team dinner.  Tomorrow should be a relatively easy day, just dropping down the short distance to our cache and bringing it all home to 14.2.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

June 23, 2017 10:00 pm PST

It didn’t seem terribly cold this morning at 5:30, Around 17 F or so, which made it a little easier to get up and rally for “the carry”.  We got out on the trail by a quarter to eight.  Finally we were wearing crampons and holding ice axes like mountain climbers (to this point it has been snowshoes and ski poles).  The track was in great condition -well packed snow- due to the large number of teams that have passed through since the last storm.  We cruised up the steep Motorcycle Hill, and navigated the squirrely Squirrel Hill and found ourselves in the Polo Field below the end of the West Buttress before the sun caught us.  Another hour brought us to a decidedly calm Windy Corner.  We slipped around the corner, getting great views of Foraker, Hunter and finally Denali, in the process.  We cached food and fuel at 13,500 ft -our target for the day- and had an easy walk back down to camp at 11K with relatively empty packs.  It was exhilarating to be out of the deep valley at last and to be crossing ridges and turning corners with all the big views.  But it was also nice to get back to our camp and to have a calm afternoon to rest after our labors.  We ate dinner and made preparations for our big move up to 14K tomorrow. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

June 22, 2017
Rope teams came and went in the early morning today, and we stayed comfy in bed.  The guides were desperate for coffee by 8:30, but the sun and full breakfast didn’t show up until after 9.  Our rest day consisted of long, leisurely meals in the dining tent separated by naps and reading sessions.  It was a fine and sunny day at 11K.  We sorted loads for the carry tomorrow and discussed climbing techniques.  Each climber and guide prepared for the after-dinner poetry slam suggested by Anja.  There were haikus and limericks, remembered verses and spontaneous rhymes… There was much laughter, some genuine applause and plenty of food for thought.  And then there was the swirling cloud endless evening light show of Alaska. We’re all excited to go climbing tomorrow.

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

June 21, 2017
It snowed a couple of inches overnight at 9500 ft but skies were clear by morning.  A cool breeze kept us in bed for a little while, but we were on the trail by 9:30 and making slow and steady progress toward the head of the Kahiltna Glacier.  We could almost see all of its forty-seven mile length stretched out below us as we turned East at Kahiltna Pass.  The cool breeze was nowhere to be found as we worked up steeper hills at midday.  We made it into 11,000 ft Camp at 1 PM and were happy to see our friends on Mike Haugen’s team.  They kindly helped to shovel tent sites for us and gave us some “starter water” to make us feel at home.  The day had turned out to be stunningly nice… Which is always a good thing on the solstice.  We gazed in wonder at the bright clean angular chunks of glacier hanging all around us and at the formidable rock of the NW and West Buttresses.  Camp went up smoothly and quickly and we crawled in the tents to beat the heat for a few hours.  Evening was a social whirl as guides and climbers from all over the world had reunions and wished each other well as they went in opposite directions.  We will take a much deserved rest day tomorrow and look forward to catching up on sleep, reading, and hydration. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

June 20, 2017
The alarm went off at 3 AM but we didn’t leave camp until close to noon.  Winds built as we ate breakfast and the thought of walking straight up into a cold and snowy down glacier breeze was unappealing.  We did what we often do in such circumstances… We dragged our feet and waited to see which way the weather might trend.  We got out our already packed sleeping bags and waited in the early morning shadows.  When the sun came out, we were still waiting.  By 11 things were not so different, but it wasn’t nearly as cold.  And so we packed up and made our move.  As is normal, the glacier was in far better condition as we worked up Ski Hill.  We had just a handful of easy crevasses to cross before we reached the stable ice up at 9500 ft.  We pulled into our unbuilt new home just before 4PM and got busy building.  Clouds had built up below us, overtaking our last camp and by evening we were in light snow from the clouds just up glacier, but we still had great views of Mts Foraker and Hunter to our South.  The team turned in at 8 PM.  Higher and happier with each passing day. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map