Leadership Team:

Eric Simonson
IMG Director

Eric has been a professional mountain guide since 1973 and has personally conducted over 85 major expeditions around the globe, including over 25 to the Himalayas. He has become recognized internationally as one of the world's premiere mountaineering expedition leaders, specializing in climbs of Mt. Everest and the other classic 8,000m peaks of the Himalayas. During his thirty-year professional career he has spent over 5,000 days of active guiding, and is a Senior Certified Alpine Guide and Ski Mountaineering Guide. His international guiding and climbing resume includes expeditions on every continent of the globe, including ascents of the "Seven Summits" and eleven expeditions to Mt. Everest, reaching the summit in 1991 via the North Ridge.

Eric co-authored Ghosts of Everest, published by The Mountaineers Books in October 1999, sharing the story of his 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition and recently named as one of the 20th Century's 50 best mountaineering books by the American Alpine Club. He also co-authored Detectives on Everest, published by The Mountaineers Books in July 2002, recapping the 2001 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition which conducted the world's highest archeology project and culminated with the accomplishment of the highest mountaineering rescue in history.

Mark Tucker
Expedition Leader

Mark Tucker has been guiding since 1985, with Mt. Rainier as the starting point. Since then, he has climbed and guided classic peaks on seven continents, with the summit of Mt. Everest as his high point. Mark's extensive experience in South America, Africa and the Himalayas, combined with his lengthy career guiding on Rainier and Denali in the US, makes him a super member of our guide team. When not in the hills, he leads a fun-filled Other Life. Passions by land include mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, motorcycle riding, and gardening (he's still working on the golf game.) By water, he enjoys surfing, kayaking, wind surfing , scuba diving , water skiing, and fishing, and by air, hang gliding.

Ang Jangbu Sherpa
Deputy Leader

Jangbu is a partner and director of Great Escapes, a premier trekking and climbing agency in Nepal. Jangbu grew up in the village of Phortse where he attended the Hillary school until the age of 18. In 1981 he moved to Pokhara and lived there for seven years and trained under the legendary Colonel Jimmy Roberts, the founder of Nepal's first trekking company and the trekking industry in the Nepal Himalaya. He then moved to Kathmandu and started Great Escapes with his two other partners in the spring of 1993. Jangbu is married and has two children. He has been on dozens of expeditions, including summitting Everest on the 1990 American Everest Expedition. Jangbu has climbed Europe's Mt. Blanc and most of the 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado, and has served as assistant instructor for Colorado Outward Bound.

Dave Hahn
Coach

Dave Hahn began guiding big mountains in 1986, initially on Mounts Rainier and McKinley. As of Spring 2006, he'd completed 223 ascents of Mount Rainier and 21 attempts at Denali (with 15 summits.) Experience on these two challenging mountains led Dave to begin climbing for and with International Mountain Guides in 1991. To date, he has managed to cram in 14 expeditions to 8000 meter peaks — leading, guiding and documenting IMG expeditions in the Himalaya. Dave has guided Cho Oyu's summit twice and has been to the top of Mount Everest six times. He guided Gary Johnson (former governor of Dave's home state, New Mexico) to Everest's top in 2003 and played a prominent role in three "search" expeditions attempting to unravel the mysteries of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine on Everest in the  1920's.

Dave has also guided for IMG in Antarctica, where he has been to the summit of the Vinson Massif 23 times (far and away the record number of ascents for Antarctica's highest point.) He has also made a specialty of guiding climbing trips by ship to Antarctic shorelines, in particular, he led the first successful guided crossing of the "Shackleton Traverse" on the Island of South Georgia.

IMG work took Dave to the Swiss and French Alps for several seasons, as well as to an attempt on Mount St Elias in the gulf of Alaska. Dave's home is in Taos, New Mexico where he still ski patrols and maintains his status as an avalanche professional and EMT. He has had articles published in Outside Magazine and has contributed to the authorship of several climbing books (read some of Dave Hahn's columns.) In 2001 Dave was awarded the Denali Pro Mountaineer of the Year by the National Park Service (for rescues on Denali) and the David A. Sowles award by the American Alpine Club (for rescues close to Everest's summit.)

Justin Merle
Coach

Justin grew up climbing in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. He began guiding in 1999 and now shares his passion for the mountains on trips all over the world. A senior guide on Mount Rainier, he has summited over 50 times. Justin has guided successful expeditions on Mt. McKinley in Alaska and Aconcagua in Argentina. He has a B.A. in Geology, is a Wilderness First Responder and is certified in Outdoor Emergency Care. When not guiding, he dabbles in substitute teaching. He spends his free time climbing rock and ice, running, cycling, skiing and also being lazy.

Brenda Walsh
Island Peak and Icefall guide

Brenda lives in Seattle and has been a climbing guide for nine years. She's a senior guide on Mt. Rainier and expects to reach her 100th summit this summer. Her guiding has taken her to Alaska, Mexico, South America, and this spring to the Himalayas. Her certifications include: WFR, U.S. Avalanche Level III, LNT, and she has a B.A. in Geography (GIS). When not guiding, Brenda balances her guiding lifestyle by being the program manager for Team Survivor NW in Seattle, a nonprofit providing fitness programs for women cancer survivors. She is also the event manager for an annual fundraising climb on Mt. Rainier that supports the Chris Hooyman Outdoor Education Fund. For fun, Brenda likes to telemark, randonee ski, snowboard, rock climb, run, and play soccer.

Ang Passang Sherpa
Climbing Sirdar

Ang Passang has been working for IMG as a climbing sirdar since 1997. Ang Passang has been on a dozen expeditions to Everest alone and has summited four times. He has also summited Cho Oyu three times and has climbed on Dhaulagiri, Makalu, Nuptse, and Ama Dablam. Ang Passang is from the village of Pangboche and is married with four children.