David Allen Hahn (born November 3, 1961,

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, Japan) is an American professional

mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...

ski patrol Ski patrols are organizations that provide medical, rescue, and hazard prevention services to the injured in ski area boundaries, or sometimes beyond into backcountry settings. Many have technical-medical certifications, such as Outdoor Emergen ...

ler,

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and lecturer. In May 2013, he reached the summit of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

for the 15th time—at the time, this was the most summits for a non-

Sherpa Sherpa may refer to: Ethnography * Sherpa people, an ethnic group in north eastern Nepal * Sherpa language Organizations and companies * Sherpa (association), a French network of jurists dedicated to promoting corporate social responsibility * ...

climber, according to ''

Outside Magazine ''Outside'' is an American company and magazine focused on the outdoors. The first issue of ''Outside'' was published in September 1977. History Outside founders were Jann Wenner (the first editor in chief), William Randolph Hearst III (its first ...

'' contributor and climber Alan Arnette. His record was surpassed by

Kenton Cool Kenton Edward Cool (born 30 July 1973) is an English mountaineer and mountain guide. He is one of Britain's leading alpine and high altitude climbers and has reached the summit of Mount Everest sixteen times, including leading Sir Ranulph Fie ...

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, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

’s highest mountain. He has reached the summit of

Denali Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the thir ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

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

Biography

Hahn graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

from the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

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 George Herbert Leigh Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s. Born in Cheshire, Mallory became a student at Winchester ...

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 Eddie Bauer, LLC is an American clothing store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Eddie Bauer sells its merchandise via retail stores, outlet stores, and online and via phone, with a call center in Groveport, Ohio. Its flagship store is ...

'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 Ashford is a census-designated place (CDP) mostly within Pierce County, Washington, United States. Its population was 217 as of the 2010 census. The town is west of the main entrance to Mount Rainier National Park. Surrounding mountains and the ...

. Numerous organizations use Hahn as a guide including

Rainier Mountaineering RMI Expeditions, also known as Rainier Mountaineering Inc. (RMI), is a mountain guide company based in Ashford, Washington founded in 1969 by Jerry Lynch and Lou Whittaker. It leads mountaineering, ski mountaineering, and ice climbing trips on Mou ...

(for which he has worked since 1986), and Fathom Expeditions. Hahn is a regular guide on

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a s ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

with more than 300 ascents, as well as a professional ski patroller at

Taos Ski Valley Taos Ski Valley is a village and alpine ski resort in the southwestern United States, located in Taos County, New Mexico. The population was 69 at the 2010 census. Until March 19, 2008, it was one of four ski resorts in America to prohibit sn ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

where he has been employed since 1985. He has guided climbers to the summit of

Cho Oyu __NOTOC__ Cho Oyu (Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the ''Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur ...

twice, the sixth-highest mountain in the world, bordering

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. Hahn has also guided former New Mexico governor

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

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

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...

, the island in

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

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

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 agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

for rescues performed on

Mount McKinley Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the thir ...

. *2002: Received the David A Sowles Award for Unselfish Valor, given by the

American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 24,000 members. Its vision is to create "a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes." The Club is housed in the American Mountaineerin ...

in recognition of rescues performed high on the Tibetan flank of

in May 2001. * 2008, Hahn was honored by the

Nepal Mountaineering Association The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) is the national mountaineering association of Nepal. The NMA was founded in 1973 with the goals of promoting mountaineering activities in the Himalaya, providing safety awareness and mountaineering skills t ...

for the 2007 rescue of a climber in distress above 27,000 feet on Everest's South Side. *2008

ESPY Award An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...

nominee for Best Outdoor Athlete. *2009: Citizen's Award for Bravery from the

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

. 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