Lincoln Hall (climber)

Lincoln Hall

Personal information
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1955-12-19)19 December 1955 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Died	20 March 2012(2012-03-20) (aged 56) Camperdown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Climbing career
Type of climber	Mountaineer
First ascents	Mount Minto, Antarctica (1988)
Named routes	Hall Route, Carsentsz Pyramid (1993)
Major ascents	Mount Everest (2006), Makalu (1999), Annapurna II (1983), Dunagiri (1978)

Lincoln Ross Hall, OAM (19 December 1955–20 March 2012) was a veteran Australian mountain climber, adventurer, author and philanthropist. Hall authored White Limbo, the story of the first Australian team to climb Mount Everest. While others in the team made it to the top, Hall was forced to turn back close to the summit due to illness. However, he reached the summit on another expedition in 2006.

Hall lived in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia with his wife and two teenage sons and was a founding Director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation. Hall was also the author of Fear No Boundary: The Road to Everest and Beyond, a biography of fellow mountaineer Sue Fear, published in Melbourne by Lothian Books in 2005. His autobiography, Dead Lucky, was published in May 2007.

In 1987 Hall was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to mountaineering and in 2010 he won the Australian Geographic Society's Lifetime of Adventure award. . He was a life member of the Australian National University Mountaineering Club. He died of mesothelioma aged 56 on 20 March 2011.

Early career

Lincoln was born in Canberra and went to Telopea Park High School, he studied Zoology at the Australian National University. He learned to climb at climbing crags in the Australian Capital Territory, most notably Booroomba Rocks (where he did first ascents of crag classics like the Eiger Direct). He developed his ice climbing skills in the Snowy Mountains at Blue Lake and trained to climb by traversing the walls of buildings at his university campus.

Lincoln had his real start with mountaineering when he participated in Australian National University Mountaineering Club expeditions to New Zealand from 1975 to 1978. This culminated in a 1978 expedition to the Himalayan peak Dunagiri (7066m) where Lincoln played a pivotal role in the Summit push and lost his first toes to frostbite.

After Dunagiri, Lincoln's mountaineering career went from strength to strength as he participated in and lead numerous climbing adventures around the world. Amongst these were three expeditions to climb Everest (including the first Australian expedition in 1984); the first ascent of Mt Minto Antarctica (1998) and ascents of other notable peaks including Annapurna II (7963m), Makalu (8481m) and the Carsentsz Pyramid in Irian Jaya. He was most well known for his miraculous survival after his ascent of Mt Everest in 2006 when he was left for dead near the summit and he survived the night. He wrote numerous books, was a founding member of the philanthropic organisation the Australian Himalayan Foundation and was a remarkable speaker, sharing his inspiring experiences with audiences around the world.

Rescue on Everest

Lincoln Hall was left for dead while descending from the summit of Mount Everest on 25 May 2006, after suffering from a form of altitude sickness, probably cerebral oedema, that caused him to hallucinate and become confused. According to reports, Sherpas attempted a rescue for hours, but as night began to fall, their oxygen supplies diminished and snow blindness set in. Expedition leader Alexander Abramov ordered the sherpas to leave an apparently dead Hall on the mountain and return to camp. A statement was later released announcing his death to his friends and family.

However, the next morning (12 hours later), Hall was found still alive at 8:53 a.m. by a team making a summit attempt. The team consisted of Daniel Mazur Team Leader (US), Andrew Brash (Canada), Myles Osborne (UK) and Jangbu Sherpa (Nepal). Myles Osborne described the scene just below the Second Step:

"Sitting to our left, about two feet from a 10,000 foot drop, was a man. Not dead, not sleeping, but sitting cross legged, in the process of changing his shirt. He had his down suit unzipped to the waist, his arms out of the sleeves, was wearing no hat, no gloves, no sunglasses, had no oxygen mask, regulator, ice axe, oxygen, no sleeping bag, no mattress, no food nor water bottle. 'I imagine you're surprised to see me here', he said. Now, this was a moment of total disbelief to us all. Here was a gentleman, apparently lucid, who had spent the night without oxygen at 8600m, without proper equipment and barely clothed. And ALIVE."

A rescue effort that mountain observers described as "unprecedented in scale" then swung into action. Dan Mazur and his team abandoned their summit attempt to stay with Hall, who was badly frostbitten and delusional from the effects of severe cerebral edema, while a rescue team of 12 Sherpas, dispatched by Abramov, climbed up from below. The rescue team comprised Nima Wangde Sherpa, Passang Sherpa, Furba Rushakj Sherpa, Dawa Tenzing Sherpa, Dorjee Sherpa, Mingma Sherpa, Mingma Dorjee Sherpa, Pemba Sherpa, Pemba Nuru Sherpa, Passang Gaylgen Sherpa, and Lakcha Sherpa.

Hall was brought down the mountain, walking the last part of the way to Everest's North Col where he was treated by a Russian doctor. Hall arrived at Advanced Base Camp the next day in reasonably good health although suffering frostbite and recovering from the effects of cerebral edema. He lost the tips of his fingers and a toe due to frostbite.

Hall's survival and rescue on the mountain, while extraordinary, is not unprecedented. It was, however, especially poignant due to the death days earlier of UK climber David Sharp who had died nearby. It was observed that no attempt was made to rescue David Sharp, although it was apparent that, while unconscious, he was still alive while other climbers passed him and continued on their own ascents. However, it must be noted that unlike David Sharp, Hall was conscious and able to walk, two factors that allowed for his rescue. The case had raised concerns, including comments from Sir Edmund Hillary. Dan Mazur perhaps summed things up best when he said, reflecting on his team abandoning their summit attempt, "The summit is still there and we can go back. Lincoln only has one life."

His story was subsequently featured on I Shouldn't Be Alive in the episode "Left for Dead on Everest".

Death

Hall died on 20 March 2012 at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital after suffering from mesothelioma.

Friend and fellow mountaineer Greg Mortimer, who was with Lincoln at the end, said: "It was very peaceful in the end, around 11.45 last night," Greg said. "Lincoln got into quiet, rhythmic breathing—it was almost meditative—and then he quietly slipped away".

See also

• Beck Weathers, American climber who was left for dead on Mount Everest in 1996.

External links

• Portrait Painting of Lincoln Hall