Entries By dave hahn

We woke to crystal clear skies and a view of Kibo -Kilimanjaro’s central peak.  After breakfast, we were walking by 8:30 AM.  Our trail today was more difficult, right from the start, with steeper grades and bigger steps through volcanic rock.  We labored uphill through the “heather and mooreland zone” a very different type of vegetation than yesterday’s near jungle of big trees.  In general, we were coming into the open, with bigger views in all directions.  Eventually we worked along a ridge crest enjoying glimpses of hawks and eagles soaring below our vantage point.  After several hours and several thousand feet of vertical gain, we began a traverse to the left out toward the Shira Plateau.  By afternoon, clouds had overtaken us and we walked in swirling mists.  A few steeper rock features required sharper concentration and the use of handholds and balancing, but eventually we turned the corner onto the plateau and walked down a couple hundred feet on easy ground to reach Shira Camp at 12,600 ft.  The day’s March had taken us just over five hours.  We’d earned a restful afternoon going back and forth between our sleeping tents and the dining tent.  Rain showers caught up to us in the early evening, but only for 15 minutes or so.  By the time we finished dinner we had largely clear skies and a million stars. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Sitting down to our 7AM breakfast on the patio at Arumeru River Lodge, we had a great view of Kilimanjaro this morning.  We loaded up the bus and rolled out of the lodge just a few minutes after 8 AM.  Traffic was light on the main road and we made good time cruising through the farmland and small villages.  Kilimanjaro got bigger and more magnificent as we turned from the highway and began walking uphill toward the 6,000 ft Machame Gate to the national park.  As usual, it took a little time to get the team registered and the staffing sorted, but by 10:50, we set out walking in warm, and sunny conditions.  Filibert, one of our local guide staff, set the slow and steady pace up through the tall and lush forest.  Freddie, our chief guide, along with guides Venance and Happyson brought up the rear.  Things clouded up as the day progressed, the high humidity and exertion had everybody sweating before too long.  We saw blue monkeys in the trees, a few good birds, and even a small chameleon on the trail.  The track itself was in good condition, not too muddy, which certainly helped.  We came into Machame Camp (at 9,900 ft) in just over five hours.  The Utah gang was delighted to find camp already built and ready for moving into.  We met in the mess tent for afternoon tea and then finished the day a few hours later with one of chef Tosha’s excellent dinners.  Everybody did great with this big day of work, but most were also plenty happy with turning in early for bed at 8 PM.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

We’ve got the makings of a fine climbing team.  Eight pals from Utah and one guide from New Mexico came together in Usa River, Tanzania these last couple of days to begin a Kilimanjaro adventure.  Today our program formally began just after breakfast in the gardens of the Arumeru River Lodge.  We sat for a bit discussing strategies and priorities for our week-long attempt on Africa’s highest point.  Then it was time for equipment checks and packing up back in the rooms.  We want to be ready for departure bright and early tomorrow.  All this preparation still allowed time for a combination of relaxing and exploring in the afternoon.  Some braved the heat to walk the short distance into the nearby village while others explored the reclining chairs by the swimming pool.  We’re each working through jet lag via our own methods.  Kilimanjaro showed itself in the distance at sundown as the haze and clouds melted away.  Just after dusk, we sat down to dinner on the patio while the super blue moon rose over East Africa.  All are excited to get walking up a mountain tomorrow morning. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Friday, December 15, 2017

Back in South America!  It was a fine morning out at Union Glacier.  One could tell our outfitter (ALE) was anxious to get rid of the fifty odd stinky, hungry, hyper climbers in camp.  The Ilyushin was off deck from Punta Arenas by mid morning and we were on it ready for take off at 3 PM.  The morning at Union was wonderful, saying so long to old and new friends.  Everyone commented on how long us “V1” climbers had been down (pretty far into V2) and sure, it is true… we got way behind schedule waiting for storms… but somehow today, it all seemed extremely worth the wait.  Landing in rain in Punta Arenas was a novelty.  Darkness was a novelty.  Showers and plumbing were a novelty.  Dinner together was just fun and delicious (starting at10 PM -normal for Latin America).  We went to the top floor of a high hotel for a nightcap and found the other fifty climbers we’d traveled with.  Lots of fist bumping, back slapping and hugging ensued.  It began to crystallize… we’d lived through a great adventure together.  We’ll remember it forever.
Tomorrow (later today actually) we’ll bump into each other in airports from Punta to Miami and beyond.  It will be back to the same old grind… but not quite… we’ve shared enough of the good stuff in the wildest, weirdest corner of the world to make that same old grind a little finer forever. 
Thanks very much for keeping track of our adventure. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Today was just plain easy.  The weather was fine, the flight to Chile is still on for tomorrow, the food was plentiful… stress was low, all around.  We played games, attended history lectures, rested and talked endlessly with adventurers, explorers and climbers.  The dining tent at Union Glacier is an international crossroads beyond compare.  It isn’t uncommon to hear a different language -or two-
at each table as one passes through with platefuls of fresh fruit and veggies flown onto the Ice from South America.  Life is way easier here than out at Vinson, but we’re still talking animatedly about summit day there… or about the storms that challenged us.  But now we’re also starting to talk about travel plans and what might be next… for climbing or visiting or just for living.  If all goes well, we could be back in Punta Arenas tomorrow night, which would require lots of switching gears and reconnecting with the world.  For tonight though, we’re still sleeping on snow in a world of our own. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

And just like that… everything started moving again.  The storm ended exactly on schedule.  By 6:30 AM High Camp was calm and sunny and we started brewing up.  We packed and dug our gear out of the snow.  We shook pounds of ice and frost out of the tents before stuffing them in their sacks.  With crampons on one last time, we departed at 10 AM.  After seeing virtually nothing for days, the scenery today was welcome and spectacular.  We made good time down the fixed ropes in the morning shadow.  Lindsay led the charge, pulling the lines free of the wind slabbed snow for a good chunk of the route.  At Low Camp, we re-tooled and set up for hauling sleds.  No more crampons and ice axes, it was time to switch back to ski poles.  By this point we’d been made aware that there were seats on an airplane out of Vinson Base just for us… provided that we got our tails down there in time.  We had the lower mountain pretty much to ourselves for the next few hours of trudging through the frozen beauty of the Branscomb Glacier.  There was just time enough on reaching base to hastily organize gear before the Twin Otter floated in to a perfect landing.  We said our goodbyes to the mountain and the ALE staff at Vinson Base Camp and climbed aboard.  Back at Union Glacier, we got out in early evening to a far easier environment… hard packed level snow, mild temps and walk-in tents with tables and chairs.  We caught up to the gang of Vinson climbers we’d originally gone to the mountain with.  It was a pleasant reunion with guests and staff and everybody trading notes on weather at the top of Antarctica, out at the penguins, back in the Alps or off in the Himalaya.  Word is that an Ilyushin flight may be inbound for us the day after tomorrow… on the 15th.  Better late than never.  In any case, my team is looking forward to a low altitude night without a storm tearing at the tents.  Union is certainly good enough for now. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Still at High Camp.  True to the predictions, today was a lot like yesterday.  Windy, snowy, socked-in, cold and consistently poor for going places.  We passed the day in our sleeping bags, with a little more frost and snow building up in the tents each and every hour.  But we are still smiling.  We’re fed.  We’re hydrated.  Well-rested, tanned and ready for action.  This evening, although we are still in murk and a ground blizzard, the peaks are out.  Cloud free and shining in sunlight.  The forecasters back at Union Glacier tell us we are in store for rapid clearing and calming tomorrow. In which case we’ll shake off the frost and get moving again.
Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Our summit has clearly angered the mountain gods.  We woke to a blizzard at 12,300 ft.  Not the worst blizzard though, winds are steady at about 25 mph, visibility is barely to the neighboring tents, the air is chock full of snow -at least some of which is “falling” from the cloud we are in.  Moving -even to lower and more comfortable climates and airplanes- was out of the question.  Besides, on the radio at midday it sounded heinous at Low Camp, with fifty-knot gusts and busted tents.  So we sat put.  Our tents are holding up well, although great quantities of snow and frost seem to find their way inside.  We recovered from yesterday’s climb with bed rest and hot meals and coffee and cocoa.  A small price to pay for a visit to the highest point on the continent. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We made it to the summit of Vinson today!  In the nick of time as it turned out.  While our time of ascent was a blazing fast seven hours, the mountain was anything but easy today.  We started with blue skies, bright sun and a nagging 10 mph breeze when the stoves were fired shortly after seven this morning.  That breeze made things like fastening harnesses and crampons quite cold.  We roped up and got moving at 9:45 hoping to lose the wind as we got into the protection of the valley glacier that would take us to the summit.  That worked a little, things were reduced to occasional gusts.  Those gusts increased in frequency and force as we got up near 15,000 ft.  By the time we were scrambling onto the summit ridge, it was blowing a more or less steady 30 mph.  We worked pretty hard to keep each other’s faces frost free and to keep sunglasses and ultimately goggles from fogging up.  Hitting the top at 4:45 was a thrill, but not at all one we could linger over.  We squeezed off just a couple of photos (which we’ll post after getting back to the Wi-Fi world) but it really wasn’t the day for bare hands on the summit.  We set out to get off the ridge and down to high camp.  This was accomplished in about three hours, during which we watched winds increase and a storm move into the Ellsworth Mountains.  At 8:00 when we pulled into camp, the sun was in the clouds and winds were rock steady at about 20 mph, moving plenty of snow around.  The victory dinner was in tents as it is far from pleasant at High Camp tonight.  We snuck this one in… now to get down the mountain.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Today was just right for moving.  We were up and getting ready shortly after the ten thirty sun hit the tents.  Launch time was 12:50 PM and with perfect conditions, we made steady and excellent progress.  Certainly the 2,000 vertical feet of the fixed lines were still difficult with heavy packs, but we had the benefit of being on familiar ground.  We cruised into High Camp at 6 PM, still feeling strong, but also noticing just how much colder it is up around 12,300 ft.  We dressed up and built camp, got stoves going and sat down out in the sunshine for dinner.  The views from here are other-worldly, with ice stretching beyond the visible horizon in any direction and mountains rising to ridiculously sharp summits all around.  The teams we waited with at Union Glacier all hit the summit today and we greeted them each with a “congratulations” and a fist bump when they rolled into camp on their return. 
Perhaps we’ll get as lucky tomorrow.  We will be ready. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map