Dave Hahn

Dave Hahn, Antarctic explorer and renowned mountain guide, is leading a commercial climb of Everest this year from the North Side, which means Tibet. Hahn is the expedition leader for the 1998 International Mountain Guides Everest Expedition.

Mount Everest might best be thought of as three mountains which happen to have a common summit. The mountain most people envision is likely to be the one they've heard most about, the South side in Nepal. For a good number of climbers these days, however, Mount Everest is the mountain approached from the North, via Tibet. [Click for map]

The third Everest is the East, or Kangshung Face. That too, is in Tibet, but it is approached altogether differently, and seldomly, as it is a thoroughly difficult aspect of the mountain.

North side of Everest (photo: Art Wolf)

It might as well be three separate mountains because while on any of the three, one encounters climbing problems and weather patterns unique to that side of the mountain. There is little or no contact with the climbers from one side to another. Although the South Side base camp is probably no more than ten to fifteen miles from the North Side base camp, it is a distance not normally covered as the terrain is somewhat complicated and an international border is involved.

Travel to the North Side of Mount Everest is radically different from a journey to the South as well. This expedition began in Kathmandu, Nepal [Click for map], as most north side trips do these days. We are a commercial expedition for International Mountain Guides (IMG). The trip was organized by one of the principals of IMG, Eric Simonson, who happens to be climbing the Nepal side of the mountain this season with 1998 American Everest Expedition. Perhaps we'll see him on top.

To say that our trip is commercial may imply that it is some grand business venture, but the reality is that one could probably count on greater, certainly safer, financial returns by staying home mowing lawns, selling lemonade and working down at the local McDonalds.

This is a climbing trip. There are six guides and two clients, and an associated trek helps to make the trip possible. We met our Sherpa partners in Kathmandu back at the start of April. For the climbers, this was a reunion as we are well aquatinted with the four climbing Sherpas and two sherpa cooks provided by Great Escapes Trekking. In my own case, this makes six 8000 meter expeditions, and happily they have all been in the company of many of these same Sherpas, guides and clients. That made things easier when it came to wrestling with logistics in K-du.

— Dave Hahn, International Mountain Guides' Expedition Leader

DISPATCHES

COMPLETE INDEX OF DISPATCHES