David Allen Hahn is an American professional mountain guide, ski patroller, journalist and lecturer. In May 2013, he reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 15th time—the most for a non-Sherpa climber, according to Outside Magazine contributor and climber Alan Arnette. Among Hahn’s other notable accomplishments are his 35 summits of Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s highest mountain. He has reached the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest peak, 21 times over the course of 30 expeditions.
Biography
Hahn graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1984. In 2014, he was inducted into The State University of New York at BuffaloSports 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 Mount Everest'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, and Fathom Expeditions. Hahn is a regular guide on Mount Rainier in Washington with more than 270 ascents, as well as a professional ski patroller at Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico 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 and Tibet. Hahn has also guided former New Mexico governorGary Johnson to the summits of Vinson and Mt. Everest. Hahn has also made a specialty of guiding the "Shackleton Crossing" on South Georgia, the island in Antarctic 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 Mount Everest and the search for George Mallory and Andrew Irvine.
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 Mount Everest in May 2001.
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 Mount Rainier 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.
