Not digressing let me continue, I had gone on a 3 day ice climbing trip to Ouray,yes,once again!I loved that place so much last year,i had to visit the 'switzerland of united states' once more and climb there.It was three days of great climbing with its own stories which i will fast forward and get to the third day evening which was our last night at Ouray. We were having dinner at a place called 'The outlaw',a so called wild west themed restaurant with all cowboy outfits,horse shoes,cowboy photos adorning the walls.
Phillip,Gary,Chuck and myself were having a swell time having good food and recollecting the last three day events and pulling each other's legs.Then suddenly we hear a 'Happy birthday' song,we turn and see its a young girl with two adults two tables behind us and its the young girls birthday.We turn around to look,smile and return back to our talking.
But that momentary glance left me feeling funny,i felt that i somehow had seen one person in that table somewhere else,I could not figure out who immediately.I glanced back couple of times but could not get a complete view as the person was turned in an angle where i could just see the side profile.I kept racking my brain while i was talking with my friends to figure who it was.
We were done with our dinner and had paid our bills and were ready to leave.As we were leaving I had one last look at this person and suddenly it dawned upon me that this person looked like Dave Hahn.I stopped Phillip who was reaching for the restaurant door and said 'Hey Phillip,doesn't that guy in that corner look like Dave Hahn?'.Phillip had a look and said 'He does look like Dave Hahn,lets check'.So both of us turn back and go over to this person's table.I remember clearly the sequence of events only till this point,The next few minutes are a total blur to me because of my excitement on realizing who the person was and i think this is how the conversation happened.
I say ' Excuse me'.This person looks up.'You look very familiar,Are you by any chance Dave Hahn?'.He says 'Yeah,I am Dave Hahn'. I am almost ready to faint.I can feel my heart pumping and my breathing getting heavy.
I think i said a series of 'Wow','I just can't believe it' and lot of other 'being awed' gibberish and having this feeling of being light headed. I ask 'I guess you have climbed everest..like.. 11 times?'. He says 'From what i can remember,i think the count last was 12'. That's it,It became beyond me to digest and comprehend anything anymore,I was kind of in a delirious state, I dont remember anything beyond that, I vaguely remember telling him about me being from India,how i admire him,etc,etc,etc ...I don't even know what Phillip said to him. I say inbetween 'Can we have a picture with you' and he says 'Sure'. The other gentleman at Dave's table offers to take the photo and clicks two photos.I gushingly say 'Its been an absolute privilege meeting you' or something like that and we depart.
In the photo below you can see Dave sitting behind us.From Left to right - Me,Phillip,Chuck and Gary.
Two photos Phillip and I took with Dave Hahn.
Some stats i pulled from Wiki on Dave Hahn -
In May 2010 he reached the summit of Mt. Everest for the 12th time - the most for a non-Sherpa climber.[1] Among Hahn’s other notable accomplishments are his world-record 26 summits of Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s highest mountain. He has been to the summit of Mount McKinley (originally called Denali) in Alaska, North America’s highest peak, 19 times over the course of 26 expeditions.
This guy is like a living climbing legend,he was part of the expedition which discovered George Mallory's body on everest.He is one the climbers i have admired a lot and been in awe of his super human capabilities.I had not thought in my wildest dreams that i will ever meet him in person in my lifetime. I guess destiny has a weird way of inter-crossing people lives and I sure am thankful to her for letting me meet Dave Hahn which has left a very deep impact on me.
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