Leif Whittaker and First Ascent guide Dave Hahn describe the severe weather that nearly jeopardized their summit attempt and the window of opportunity that afforded their success. See Leif’s summit and some amazing scenery from the top of the world in this video recap.
By Leif Whittaker:
Clouds collide, explode into 50 mph winds that throw frozen bullets at the tent. Inside, the stove roar drowns out the mayhem, but it doesn’t warm our spirits. This is our second night of delay at 26,000 feet and the entire expedition hinges on the next few hours. If the unexpected storm finally calms, we will charge for the summit like it’s our last chance, because it will be. If the wind doesn’t abate, if the sky doesn’t clear, we’ll descend in failure, unsatisfied, discouraged by the fact that we didn’t receive even one clear shot at the summit. But I still have hope that our clear shot will come. We need to get lucky. We need to get lucky right now. Read More…
Leif Whittaker with First Ascent guides Seth Waterfall and Dave Hahn on the Summit of Mt. Everest
The 2010 Everest climbing season has been a record-setting success for Eddie Bauer. In one 3-day window, three different climbing teams outfitted in Eddie Bauer First Ascent gear reached the Everest summit.
On May 22, Apa Sherpa, climbing leader for the Eco Everest Expedition 2010, broke his own world record by reaching the highest point on Earth for the 20th time.
On May 23, First Ascent guide Melissa Arnot, accompanied by Dave Morton, became the first American woman to summit Everest three times. This achievement was pre-confirmed by Liz Hawley, pending a further database search.
On May 24, Leif Whittaker retraced American and family history when he topped out 47 years after his father, Jim, became the first American to do so, back on May 1, 1963. Also with Leif was First Ascent guide and expedition leader Dave Hahn, who made his 12th summit—more than any non-Sherpa in history. Other members of the summit team were First Ascent guide Seth Waterfall, photographer Michael Brown, RMI guide Casey Grom and climber Scott Jones.
Congratulations to all the teams!
RMI has reported that First Ascent guide Dave Hahn and Leif Whittaker have arrived safely back at Base Camp and reunited with the team. The group is packing up camp and will begin their trek to Lukla shortly.
RMI has just reported that First Ascent guide Seth Waterfall, Michael Brown, Casey Grom and Scott Jones have returned to Base Camp after a night at Camp II. First Ascent guide Dave Hahn and Leif Whittaker spent the night at Camp IV after summiting, are currently at Camp II, and will arrive at Base Camp tomorrow.
RMI has just reported that Leif Whittaker, Dave Hahn and team are presently at the Balcony where they are changing oxygen bottles under calm winds and clear skies. We’ll keep you updated as we receive more information throughout the evening.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Hi, it’s Michael Brown at the South Col of Mt. Everest. I’m here with First Ascent Guide Seth Waterfall. Next tent over has Leif Whittaker and Expedition Leader, Dave Hahn. And the next tent is guide Casey Grom and climber Scott Jones. It’s a little after 9:30, and about 11 o’clock we’re going to have our crampons on and we’re going to start walking uphill. We got a forecast yesterday that indicated there’d be a lot of wind; Read More…
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Hi, this is Leif Whittaker calling from, camp 3, on Mount Everest, 24,000 feet, we had a, great climb today, woke up at about 6 o’clock walking about 8 and, made it up a little Lhotse Face just ah over 5 hours. It was warm calm day, and we heard reports of another team summiting the mountain, so we’re happy about that. Making the way for our for summit bid in the next few days here. Read More…
This morning, the First Ascent team of Leif Whittaker and Dave Hahn left Everest Base Camp around 4:00 a.m. Nepal time in their bid for the summit. If all goes as planned, the team aims to summit on the morning of May 25, but first they will have to climb through the Khumbu Icefall one last time and hope that tropical cyclone Laila stays East of the mountain.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen some amazing video and photos documenting Leif Whittaker and Dave Hahn’s ascent up Everest. Credit that to Serac Films’ Michael Brown, who stepped in front of the camera to let us know how he works under demanding conditions to capture the amazing shots that we publish on the Born Out There blog.
Subscribe