David Allen Hahn (born November 3, 1961, Okinawa, Japan) is an American mountaineer, ski patroller and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. In May 2013, he reached the summit of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

for the 15th time—at the time, this was the most summits for a non- Sherpa climber, according to '' Outside Magazine'' contributor and climber Alan Arnette. His record was surpassed by Kenton Cool in 2022. Among Hahn’s other notable accomplishments are his 39 summits of

Vinson Massif Vinson Massif () is a large mountain massif in Antarctica that is long and wide and lies within the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. It overlooks the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located ab ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

’s highest mountain. He has reached the summit of

Denali Denali (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

’s highest peak, 25 times over the course of 37 expeditions.

Biography

Hahn graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1984. In 2014, he was inducted into The State University of New York at Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. In 1999, Hahn, who specializes in guiding high, glaciated mountains, led the team that discovered the remains of celebrated English climber George Mallory at on

's North Face. Mallory died on the mountain in 1924, along with fellow climber Andrew Irvine, but it has never been determined whether or not he first reached the top. Hahn is a member of Eddie Bauer's "First Ascent" climbing team. He is currently sponsored for ski equipment by Salomon and for climbing equipment by Whittaker Mountaineering, a climbing store in Ashford, Washington. Numerous organizations use Hahn as a guide including Rainier Mountaineering (for which he has worked since 1986), and Fathom Expeditions. Hahn is a regular guide on

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier ( ), also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With an off ...

in Washington with more than 300 ascents, as well as a professional ski patroller at Taos Ski Valley in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

where he has been employed since 1985. He has guided climbers to the summit of Cho Oyu twice, the sixth-highest mountain in the world, bordering

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

. Hahn has also guided former New Mexico governor

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

to the summits of Vinson and Mount Everest. Hahn has also made a specialty of guiding the "Shackleton Crossing" on

South Georgia South Georgia is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. ...

, the island in

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

waters that figured prominently in the Endurance saga of 1914-16., a trip that earned the designation as Trip of the Year from ''Outside'' magazine in 2004. Hahn has written for '' Outside'' magazine and has been a correspondent for several websites, including MountainZone.com, the RMI blog and Eddie Bauer's Live Your Adventure blog. He has contributed to several books about

and the search for George Mallory and Andrew Irvine.

Awards and honors

*2001, Hahn was selected as the Denali Pro Mountaineer of the Year, by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

for rescues performed on Mount McKinley. *2002: Received the David A Sowles Award for Unselfish Valor, given by the American Alpine Club in recognition of rescues performed high on the Tibetan flank of

in May 2001. * 2008, Hahn was honored by the Nepal Mountaineering Association for the 2007 rescue of a climber in distress above 27,000 feet on Everest's South Side. *2008 ESPY Award nominee for Best Outdoor Athlete. *2009: Citizen's Award for Bravery from the U.S. Department of the Interior. Awarded for a rescue Hahn made of an injured climber on

in 2002. The rescue received additional attention because the helicopter that Hahn was in crashed upon descent. Hahn helped evacuate the pilot before making his way to the injured climber.

Everest summits

#1994 #1999 #2000 #2003 #2004 #2005 #2006 (spring) #2006 (fall/autumn) #2007 #2008 #2009 #2010 #2011 #2012 #2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hahn, Dave American mountain climbers Living people University at Buffalo alumni American summiters of Mount Everest 1961 births

Biography

Awards and honors

Everest summits

See also

References