Dave Hahn, photo by Dorie Hagler
When I first e-mailed my friend Dave Hahn about getting together for this column, I received the following message in my in-box:
Howdy. This is an automatic reply. I’m on a ship in Antarctic waters
until Feb 6th and will be unable to check e-mail until that time.
Best Regards,
Dave
When I showed the e-mail to my husband, he said with a starry eyed look, “God, he’s cool.”
Dave Hahn has summited Everest ten times, more than any other non-Sherpa in history. He has guided 250 ascents of Mount Rainier and has summited Denali eighteen times over the course of 25 expeditions. He holds the world record of 25 summits of Antarctica’s highest peak, Vinson Massif. He has managed to help save quite a few lives along the way in a number of celebrated high altitude rescues. He also works on the ski patrol at Taos Ski Valley and is a certified EMT. As if all that weren’t enough, he is a gifted writer who has skillfully detailed these experiences in his contributions to climbing books, climbing web sites, and Outside Magazine. Part modern day explorer, part Everest legend, part super hero, and all around nice guy, Dave is easy to admire.
I was recently introduced to the theory that Star Wars provides the ultimate paradigm for compelling character archetypes, ones that can be found throughout religions and mythology. When I mentioned this Star Wars archetype idea to Dave, he said, without blinking but with a warm twinkle in his eyes, “I’m Han Solo.”
I thought back to about one decade ago, when Dave began his annual visits to my Taos Middle School classroom to share slide shows of his adventures with my students. In the throes of a seven period day with sixth, seventh and eighth grade kids, I’m not sure I ever fully appreciated the renown of our esteemed guest. What I absolutely did recognize was how friendly, gracious, funny, and at ease Dave was with the students, characteristically humble and somehow self-deprecating while describing such extraordinary moments as his team’s discovery of the body of historic British mountaineer George Leigh Mallory on the wind swept north face of Everest in 1999. Dave signed our classroom copy of Ghosts of Everest, The Search for Mallory and Irvine with the inscription, “For a class of kids who are true class. Thanks for keeping track of us.”
The thought of Dave as gun slinging rogue Hans Solo simply didn’t fit for me. Then again, after my most recent conversation with Dave, Star Wars creator George Lucas’ characterization of Han Solo as “a loner who realizes the importance of being part of a group and helping the group” sure did.
Dave describes his greatest achievement as “ making it in an unconventional career. I’m proud of that,” he told me on a bright March morning over coffee at Taos Cow.
When I asked him how he feels about his record ten ascents of Everest “for a non-Sherpa”, he was quick to point out that Apa Sherpa, a Nepalese Sherpa mountain climber who currently lives in Salt Lake City, has summited Everest eighteen times, and noted that it’s a mixed blessing being celebrated for this record.
“Part of me hates the idea that this is an ethnically qualified record. And part of me really likes the attention. I think people minimize Sherpa accomplishments. They think Sherpas are born with three lungs and two hearts and that it’s somehow easier for them to do this. For me, the humbling thing is to realize that climbing high is just as hard for them. They do it better because their work ethic is superior to ours. They’ve earned it. And at the same time, I’m happy to be recognized for my accomplishments.”
While cognizant of the fact that mountain climbing has traditionally been regarded an exclusive or even elitist endeavor, Dave says he finds pleasure in teaching “ordinary” people how to climb mountains. In fact most of his summits have remarkably been achieved with clients in tow. He attributes his well-earned reputation for safety to patience, and to a willingness to accept the possibility of not reaching the summit even when excruciatingly close.
As for his celebrity in the climbing world, Dave said, “I don’t hang out at film festivals. I hang out on Highline Ride or at Everest Base Camp. I don’t make the choice to take advantage of this notoriety. There’s no benefit to going down that road… My job involves standing on cornices. I’m not doing this as a way to find another job. ”
Retaining his humility comes easily, according to Dave. “It’s pounded into me by the mountains and by the people I work with – the things that test me,” he said.“ When I work at Taos Ski Valley on the patrol, whether or not other people think I’m famous doesn’t help me if I’m not up to the job on a given day. There are guys on my patrol who are much more capable than I am. I need that. I need to continually test myself and I get the satisfaction that comes with being able to help. I don’t need to ask someone if I did a good job. I can feel it.”
Dave is a self-described “sucker” for supreme athletes like Michael Phelps and Tiger Woods. “I can’t believe people can be that good, that focused, that talented with the whole world watching. I’m fascinated by that idea of perfection. Time after time they do the right thing when the pressure’s on.”
When talking to Dave, it becomes quickly apparent that he hovers somewhere near denial when it comes to his own talent, perfectionism, and work ethic. “I wish I were more disciplined about getting work done,” he told me, repeatedly. He is quite self critical in general, particularly about what he refers to as his “disorganization.” “The work I’ve ended up doing forces me to have my act together and to have my bags packed.”
In spite of his engaging writing style, punctuated by his dry wit and insightful nature, it is “increasingly less likely” that Dave will write an autobiography. “There are so many climbing books out there that I don’t want to read, and I’d hate to have one on the shelf next to those that no one else wants to read. Right now it would be a vanity project. I’m not going to do it just to have my name in print or my thoughts preserved. Other than writing e-mails and daily logs for the companies I work for, I don’t have the discipline to write every day whether I feel like it or not. At this point, something has to just about reach out and kill me for me to write about it – and you can only write about that kind of thing so much before you’re dead.”
The youngest of three children, Dave graduated from SUNY Buffalo, where he competed on the swim team, in 1984. His father was a Yosemite rock climber in the 1940′s and ’50′s. “My dad has confidence in me. He knows that I take chances but that I don’t take them stupidly.” His mother grew up in Albuquerque, and his parents met at the Fort Bliss army post. When I asked Dave if his mother worries about him, he told me that his mother died of cancer when he was ten years old.
“My mother growing up here is what connected me to New Mexico. I discovered Taos on my own. It has everything I love about the world, except for glaciers. It has a mixture of physical beauty, culture and a sense of history that is very tangible and part of daily life. I’ll love it forever. I don’t always feel at home here but that’s not something I require of my home.”
In fact, he defines the the greatest love of his life as “the wilderness, the mountains, the natural physical world. I’m endlessly fascinated by it.”
One of Dave’s latest ventures has been working for Eddie Bauer, alongside fellow mountaineers Peter Whittaker and Ed Viesturs, to design and build a new outerwear and gear line called First Ascent for the outdoor outfitting retailer. Dave returns to Everest this month, with his First Ascent team, to guide another expedition up the highest mountain on Earth. This time he will guide seventeen year old Erica Dohring, who will miss her prom and high school graduation ceremony while she attempts to become the youngest American woman to climb Everest. The team’s dispatches will be posted on www.firstascent.com.
On the cusp of his departure to Kathmandu, I asked our twenty-first century, Taos version of Han Solo to describe his idea of perfect happiness.
“To be content. I live in a beautiful place and perfect happiness for me would be to reach a point where I’m content just being here. I’ll have to let go of these games that I play. Whatever it is I keep looking for, friends have found it in their front yard.”