This is Dave Hahn calling from Everest Base Camp, 17,500 feet on the Khumbu Glacier. Well, we made it. We came up from Lobuche today, the entire team- six climbers, two trekkers, and two guides. Tschering Dorjay Sherpa, our Sirdar, leading the way, brought us up to Base Camp. I think we are about the first climbing team to make it into Base Camp this year. And at our base camp, incredible progress has been made. Our Sherpa team has done great work setting our camp up and Mark Tucker, our base camp manager, has been here the last couple of days and got things buffed out just perfectly for us to move in.
We started up from Lobuche at 8:15. We got to Base Camp at 1:15, so we made great progress. It was a beautiful day with just a little cloud cover, and it was just about perfect for walking. Tomorrow we'll get squared away and get internet capabilities again, and get back into written distractions, but just wanted to bring you up to date for this evening. Bye now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calling after arriving to Everest Base Camp.
Robbie, It’s Liz Weiner. I am in London with Olivia and we spent the morning with Laura at church and brunch. Way to go with reaching Base Camp on Easter. Very special. Looking forward to following your progress. All the best to you and your team! God bless.
Posted by: Elizabeth Weiner on 4/5/2015 at 1:08 pm
Happy Easter to all. Watching daily from Arizona as we pre-heat the oven for summer. Safe climbing.
A quiet day for us at 16,000 ft in Lobuche. Things are certainly colder up at this end of the valley, but the sun was good and strong this morning and so we ventured out for a short walk along the lateral moraine of the Khumbu Glacier to stretch legs and catch views. Nuptse is front and center and ridiculously steep when viewed from Lobuche (and from any other angle as well, come to think of it) but our eyes kept straying toward Everest Base Camp and the peaks that surround it- Pumori, Lingtren and Khumbutse. It isn't very far away now... We'll be there tomorrow with any luck. But first things first, we made the most of this rest day with a short visit to the Italian research "pyramid" a few minutes away and up a side valley. One of the staff gave us a fine tour of the facilities and described the atmospheric and glacial science being conducted. Then it was back to our tea house as the sky clouded up yet again. Snow started falling after lunch, which made it just that much easier to kick back and rest away the afternoon. We've got cards, chess and scrabble... Books and naps worked pretty good as well.
Last night in a tea house... Tent life begins tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Finally back in the land of Internet... But we had to go to 16,000 ft for it. The team is safely in Lobuche. We cruised up from Pheriche this morning in just about three and a half hours. Conditions were nice enough for walking, but it was a little on the cool side and not conducive to hanging out for long. The first glance at the sky today had us thinking we'd be walking in another snowstorm, but things cleared up well enough while we ate breakfast. We had fine views of Taboche, Cholatse, Pumori, Nuptse and Ama Dablam along with a half dozen other Himalayan giants. The last hour of today's hike involved snow-covered ground, but didn't present us with any special problems. All the team are acclimatizing well and we hope for an easy day of hiking and resting around Lobuche tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guides Dave Hahn, JJ Justman and Team
HW: Great to see you in the photos Dave posted, looking healthy and happy. Glad to hear everyone is acclimatizing well. You are almost at Base Camp! Only for Everest do you feel, even you are already at 16,000, the real test has yet to begun. Please stay safe and healthy. We are all thinking of you every day. - FX
Dave Hahn calling in from Pheriche on our Everest climb. Hey, We're still in black out zone. A temporary black out for all internet and cell phones, so I'm calling from the satellite phone. It's our last night in Pheriche tonight. We had a great easy day here in Pheriche, the team went hiking this morning about 1500 feet above Pheriche about 15,500' or so. It was a nice hike and nice views of Makalu the 5th highest mountain, we had views of Lhotse, Cho Oyu the 6th highest mountain, great views all around. And everybody is feeling really well.
We attended a high altitude medicine lecture that was given by the Himalayan Rescue Association next door in the afternoon. We then had a pretty easy afternoon of resting, playing games, reading and nice dinner. A nice treat for us, Casey Grom's Base Camp and Island Peak Trekking Group fresh from Base Camp shared the the dining room with us for the evening, It was nice to visit with some friends. We're looking forward to moving up to Lobuche. It is currently nice, but we will see what we get this evening. A things being equal we be in Lobuche tomorrow.
We will keep you informed.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team
Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling from RMI's Everest Expedition. We left Deboche this morning.... The team is now up here at 13,800 feet in Pheriche. We walked through snow today, about four inches of new snow over night. It was a beautiful morning for strolling through the last of the forest that we would be walking in today. We walked over to Tengboche and had an audience with Lama Geshe. He gave us his blessings and greeted us as always very friendly, and had a nice seating with him. We proceeded on our way towards Pheriche, had lunch in Somare and got here, Pheriche, by about 2:30 this afternoon. Everybody's getting comfortable now in the Himalayan Hotel, and enjoying the nice dining room here, under the stars, looking up at Ama Dablam and beautiful mountains all around. We will check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hey, this is Dave Hahn phoning in from the RMI Everest Climb. We are in Deboche still. Last night I couldn't get through it was snowing fairly hard and I couldn't get a phone signal. This morning, it's looking a little bit better. A little sunshine coming through; there is still some high clouds. But right now we're at a green light to go up to Pheriche. Our intention is to go up through Pangboche, see Lama Geshe, and head up to Pheriche this evening. Yesterday was a nice quiet day for us. We just went up to Tengboche Monastery in the morning and then kinda hunkered down in our tea house here in Deboche to wait out the snowstorm. But nice afternoon taking it easy. Bye now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hey, this is Dave Hahn with the RMI Everest Climb calling in from Deboche. We set out this morning about 8:30 from Namche. A beautiful morning, blue sky, sunshine and everybody feeling good. It took us about 5 hours or so to go across the hillside down to the river and back across the hill at Pangboche, the big hill, and down the other side to Deboche. At our lodge tonight but figured we'd just checking with you. Great views of Mt. Everest and Ama Dablam today. Looking up there is a bunch of new snow on Everest and Lhotse. It clouded up a little bit this afternoon, but not a big deal. We are enjoying having the trails to our selves, I think we are a few days ahead of many of the climbers. [connection lost]
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls from Deboche with an update on the progress of the Everest team.
Hi Hans and all together,
it´s phantastic to follow you on your trek higher and higher…stay in a good mood with sunny weather and keep you warm…
Lot of love to you, Hans - Ute
Posted by: Ute Novak on 3/30/2015 at 2:04 pm
Uncle Larry,
be careful and congratulations on getting to climb the highest mountain in the world. maybe after this you want to hop to train with me. Lol be safe up there. I agree with mom your beard hopefull keep u worm.
Walk a week or fly an hour? A very popular phrase with the bush pilots in Alaska. Here in Nepal, I will take the walk a week option.
If I were going to climb the tallest mountain in North America, "Denali", I would opt for the hour flight into the mountain, which drops you at about 8,000' to begin the ascent to 20,320 ft.
Here in the High Himalaya, with that hour flight they could drop us at Everest Base Camp, it sits around 17,300', you would be in a world of hurt, that is a bit too much of an altitude jump for 99.9% of all humans. So here I sit in a nice Tea house at 13,000', half way through my eight day trek to Base Camp. Kind of a long commute to work, but traffic has not been to bad. Yep another season of life on the Glacier for this Himalayan Veteran.
Excited for RMI 2015 Everest Expedition? I sure am.
No wonder RMI was voted #1 Outfitter,with the return of the finest Guides, for the climb and trek.
The reason I continue these wild adventures is the RMI solid commitment, time and again, to provide the best available resources and infrastructure.
The team is looking forward to sharing this Expedition with you as best we can over the next couple of months.
I wish you could be here. I know the challenges you will face in everyday life may not be as unusual as ours but in there own way just as impressive. Climb your own Everest. Get out when you can!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Special shout out to -
MOM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Love, Mark
Tuckie Wonder: glad to hear that you and the team are safe. Was due to volunteer at CIWEC in Pokhara later this year (we will see if that’s helpful or just another mouth to feed as the weeks unfold). Cheering for the enduring Nepalese spirit from afar for now. Travel safely, old pal. Cheers, Sara
Posted by: Sara Whitner on 5/6/2015 at 9:44 pm
Hi Mark-this is Philip-part of the BBC film crew for Everest ER in 2006/2007-has been way too long. My thoughts are with you all in Nepal and am glad to hear that you are safe. I also heard Dave is good too and I hope all your team. Thank goodness. We are all devastated with the crisis that has hit Nepal and will do what we can to help in some way. I just wanted to catch up with you again and wish you well and safe journey home. keep in touch and hopefully one day we can grab a beer or two together or go climb a mountain or something. All the best Philip
Posted by: Philip North-Coombes on 4/30/2015 at 1:41 am
Our last day in Namche dawned surprisingly clear and sunny. That was a little unexpected given how persistent the rain was yesterday afternoon and evening. We took full advantage after breakfast, trooping up to the Hilltop National Park Headquarters to see if the mountains were out. Indeed they were, and those of the team that hadn't yet gotten a look at the world's highest mountain were predictably in awe. Those of us that had seen it a few times were also in awe. New snow made the peaks radiant and sparkling in the strong sunshine. Conditions were so calm and pleasant where we stood that we were tempted to gaze for hours. But there was plenty to get done on our final day in the "Sherpa Capital". Our team enjoyed the museum exhibits at the Park Visitor Center and the nearby Sherpa Culture Museum. They shopped the climbing stores, markets, galleries and book stores along the small and winding avenues of Namche. They caught up on the web and friended each other on Facebook. They rested, drank water and got ready for going higher into the mountains in the coming days.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Today was an easy one; rest and relaxation plus a little hiking and exploring. We are staying in Namche for three nights in order to get used to the altitude. Early wake up was optional, giving a chance to swill a little 6 AM coffee before hiking to the top of town in order to see daybreak and a first look at Mount Everest. The mountain didn't disappoint. The first rays of sunshine turned summit after summit into golden monuments around us, but our eyes kept returning to Everest... still about thirty miles away, but regal nonetheless. Those who slept in hoped to see the mountains a little later as we day-hiked up to the "Everest-View Hotel" but by then the clouds had rolled in and obscured the great range. We hiked on to the village of Khumjung and then made a circuit of things, crossing the misty ridge one more time to return to Namche. The gang was back at the hotel in early afternoon, just before rain began to fall. That made it pretty easy to lie in and relax away the afternoon, although some made their way down to check out Namche's well-regarded bakeries.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hi Erin!! What a life changing experience! Thanks for letting me live vicariously through you ;) Take care and be well!
Posted by: Adrienne on 3/31/2015 at 7:56 am
Erin - your smile and eyes tell a beautiful, comforting story! Being able to see your face and images of your journey is truly incredible and I feel blessed to be a spectator! Thank you for letting me in. You are courageous and brave! Love you toots!
Robbie, It’s Liz Weiner. I am in London with Olivia and we spent the morning with Laura at church and brunch. Way to go with reaching Base Camp on Easter. Very special. Looking forward to following your progress. All the best to you and your team! God bless.
Posted by: Elizabeth Weiner on 4/5/2015 at 1:08 pm
Happy Easter to all. Watching daily from Arizona as we pre-heat the oven for summer. Safe climbing.
Posted by: Josh on 4/5/2015 at 8:39 am
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