Lincoln Hall (climber)
Encyclopedia
Lincoln Hall is a veteran Australia
n mountain climber
and author
. Hall is the author of 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 lives in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales
, Australia
with his wife and two teenage sons and is a founding Director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation. Hall is 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.
that caused him to hallucinate and become confused. According to reports, Sherpa
s attempted a rescue for hours, but as night began to fall, their oxygen supplies diminished and snow blindness set in, they were ordered by their expedition leader Alexander Abramov 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 at 7am (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:
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
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n mountain climber
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. Hall is the author of White Limbo, the story of the first Australian team to climb Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
. 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 lives in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
with his wife and two teenage sons and is a founding Director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation. Hall is also the author of Fear No Boundary: The Road to Everest and Beyond, a biography of fellow mountaineer Sue Fear
Sue Fear
Susan Erica Fear was an Australian mountain climber, passionate supporter of the Fred Hollows Foundation and a 2005 recipient of the Order of Australia medal in the Queen's birthday honours...
, published in Melbourne by Lothian Books in 2005. His autobiography, Dead Lucky, was published in May 2007.
Rescue on Everest
Lincoln Hall was left for dead while descending from the summit of Mount Everest May 25, 2006, after suffering from a form of altitude sicknessAltitude sickness
Altitude sickness—also known as acute mountain sickness , altitude illness, hypobaropathy, or soroche—is a pathological effect of high altitude on humans, caused by acute exposure to low partial pressure of oxygen at high altitude...
that caused him to hallucinate and become confused. According to reports, Sherpa
Sherpa people
The Sherpa are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, high in the Himalayas. Sherpas migrated from the Kham region in eastern Tibet to Nepal within the last 300–400 years.The initial mountainous migration from Tibet was a search for beyul...
s attempted a rescue for hours, but as night began to fall, their oxygen supplies diminished and snow blindness set in, they were ordered by their expedition leader Alexander Abramov 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 at 7am (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
Daniel Mazur
Dan Mazur is a contemporary mountain climber most widely known for leading Greg Mortenson's 1993 K2 expedition in "Three Cups of Tea" and for the rescue of Lincoln Hall, an Australian climber on Mount Everest on May 25, 2006...
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
High altitude cerebral edema
High altitude cerebral edema is a severe form of altitude sickness. HACE is the result of swelling of brain tissue from fluid leakage and almost always begins as acute mountain sickness...
, 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
North Col
The North Col refers to a sharp-edged pass or col carved by glaciers connecting Mount Everest and Changtse in Tibet. It forms the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier....
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
I Shouldn't Be Alive
I Shouldn't Be Alive is a documentary television series that airs on multiple networks in the United States, Canada, the U.K., Australia, India and Pakistan...