Chapman pennant nears Mount Everest summit!

Chapman friends John and Ryan Dahlem are expected to reach the summit of Mount Everest today, with the famous Chapman pennant in tow.

The father and son climbers, both good friends of Chapman and President James Doti, are the only people other than President Doti to carry the Chapman pennant to the summit of one of the world’s great peaks – it went with them previously to the top of Cho Oyu in the Himalayas in 2008. And President Doti plans to take the pennant with him when he climbs Mt. Denali this summer – his fifth of the Seven Summits.

The Dahlems have been advancing up the mountain since early April. A cyclone coming in off the Bay of Bengal could affect weather conditions on their descent, so we’ll keep you posted on their progress. And here’s the latest
post
from the Everest expedition blog of International Mountain Guides, where weather forecasters are hoping that cyclone pushes east.

Ordinarily the pennant resides in the Doti-Struppa Mountaineering Alcove in the Leatherby Libraries. But when adventure calls, the well-traveled pennant gets packed along. President Doti has carried it on treks up Mts. Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus and Vinson. 

Dr. John Dahlem of Huntington Beach, retired principal in the Anaheim school system and a distinguished member of the Orange County education community, and his son Ryan Dahlem of Aliso Viejo, a school administrator,  have climbed five of the Seven Summits so far – Everest, the Big One, is their sixth.