Lincoln Hall (climber)
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Lincoln Ross Hall OAM (19 December 195520 March 2012) was a veteran Australian
mountain climber Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...
, adventurer, author and philanthropist. Lincoln was part of the first Australian expedition to climb
Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
in 1984, which successfully forged a new route. He reached the summit of the mountain on his second attempt in 2006, miraculously surviving the night at on descent, after his family was told he had died. Lincoln Hall was the author of seven books, a founding member of the philanthropic organisation the Australian Himalayan Foundation and a speaker who shared his climbing experiences with audiences around the world. In 1987 Lincoln Hall was awarded a
Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
for service to mountaineering and in 2010 he won the
Australian Geographic Society Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the ''Australian Geographic'' magazine, ''DMag'' magazine, specialist book titles, travel guides, diaries and calendars and online media. It published editions of the Australian Encyclop ...
's Lifetime of Adventure award. He was a life member of the Australian National University Mountaineering Club. Lincoln Ross Hall died of
mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The most common area affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lining ...
aged 56 on 20 March 2012.


Early life

Hall was born in
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
, Australia and went to
Telopea Park Telopea Park is one of the oldest parks in Canberra, Australia. The name of the park is from Walter Burley Griffin's original plan for Canberra where he planned Telopea Park at the end of Sydney Avenue. The park is named after the floral emblem ...
High School. He studied
Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
at the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
and learned to climb at climbing crags in the
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
, most notably Booroomba Rocks (where he pioneered a number of classic routes). He developed his ice climbing skills in the
Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range cordillera system ...
at Blue Lake and trained to climb by traversing the walls of buildings at his university campus.


Career

Hall had his real start with
mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...
when he participated in the Australian National University Mountaineering Club expeditions to
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
from 1975 to 1978. This culminated in the ANUMC 1978 expedition to the Himalayan peak
Dunagiri Dunagiri is a historic area in Almora district in the state of Uttarakhand in India. Dunagiri is known as the birthplace of modern-day Kriya Yoga due to the fact that Lahiri Mahasaya was initiated into Kriya Yoga by Mahavatar Babaji at this s ...
() in India. Hall and his climbing partner
Tim Macartney-Snape Tim Macartney-Snape (born 5 January 1956) is a mountaineer and author. On 3 October 1984 Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer were the first Australians to reach the summit of Mount Everest. They reached the summit, climbing without supplementary ...
(Australia) were invited by expedition leader Peter Cocker to join him at Col Camp so the pair could force through a route through to the summit ridge. They did so then made an audacious push for the summit after spending a night out on the mountain. Hall was pivotal in the successful summit bid by Macartney-Snape. The pair descended through an
electrical storm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
, however Hall spent another night out on the mountain. Cocker ascended during the night and met him at the top of the fixed ropes and accompanied him back to Col Camp. The ANUMC team then raced Hall down to Base Camp where he was helicoptered to a Military Hospital near Delhi. This was at the time possibly the highest helicopter rescue in the Himalayas. The successful Dunagiri trip by the ANUMC forged the Hall and Macartney-Snape partnership, setting the stage for their Himalayan mountaineering careers including their 1984
Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
expedition. After Dunagiri, Hall participated in and led numerous climbing adventures around the world, including many first ascents by Australian climbers. Amongst these were two expeditions to climb Mount Everest in
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
(including the first Australian ascent in 1984); the first ascent of Mount Minto in the
Admiralty Mountains The Admiralty Mountains (alternatively Admiralty Range) is a large group of high mountains and individually named ranges and ridges in northeastern Victoria Land, Antarctica. This mountain group is bounded by the Ross Sea, the Southern Ocean, a ...
of
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
(1998); and ascents of other notable peaks including
Annapurna Annapurna (; ne, अन्नपूर्ण) is a mountain situated in the Annapurna mountain range of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal. It is the tenth highest mountain in the world at above sea level and is well known for the difficu ...
II (7963m) in Nepal,
Makalu Makalu ( ne, मकालु हिमाल, Makālu himāl; zh, t=馬卡魯峰, p=Mǎkǎlǔ fēng) is the fifth highest mountain in the world at . It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas southeast of Mount Everest, in Nepal. One of th ...
(8481m) on the China-Nepal border, and
Carstensz Pyramid Puncak Jaya (; literally "Glorious Peak") or Carstensz Pyramid, Mount Jayawijaya or Mount Carstensz () on the island of New Guinea, with an elevation of , is the highest mountain peak of an island on Earth. The mountain is located in the Sudi ...
in
Irian Jaya New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...
, Indonesia.


Rescue on Everest

Lincoln Hall narrowly survived after his ascent of Mount Everest in 2006. He was left for dead at an altitude of 8700m while descending from the summit on 25 May 2006. He had fallen ill from a form of
altitude sickness Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is the harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People can respond to high altitude in different ways. Sympt ...
, probably
cerebral edema Cerebral edema is excess accumulation of fluid (edema) in the intracellular or extracellular spaces of the brain. This typically causes impaired nerve function, increased pressure within the skull, and can eventually lead to direct compressio ...
, that caused him to hallucinate and become confused. According to reports, Hall's
Sherpa Sherpa may refer to: Ethnography * Sherpa people, an ethnic group in north eastern Nepal * Sherpa language Organizations and companies * Sherpa (association), a French network of jurists dedicated to promoting corporate social responsibility * ...
guides attempted to rescue him for hours. However, as night began to fall their oxygen supplies diminished and
snow blindness Photokeratitis or ultraviolet keratitis is a painful eye condition caused by exposure of insufficiently protected eyes to the ultraviolet (UV) rays from either natural (e.g. intense sunlight) or artificial (e.g. the electric arc during welding) ...
set in. Expedition leader Alexander Abramov eventually ordered the guides to leave the 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 by a team making a summit attempt. The team consisted of team leader
Daniel Mazur Daniel Lee Mazur is a mountain climber, trekker, and expedition leader who has ascended nine of the world's highest summits, including Mount Everest and K2. In addition, he is known for several high altitude mountain rescues: the 1991 rescue of R ...
(U.S.), Andrew Brash (Canada), Myles Osborne (UK), and Jangbu Sherpa (Nepal). 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. 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 Cerebral edema is excess accumulation of fluid (edema) in the intracellular or extracellular spaces of the brain. This typically causes impaired nerve function, increased pressure within the skull, and can eventually lead to direct compressio ...
. At the same time, Abramov dispatched a rescue team of 12 Sherpas guides from the base camp. The rescue team comprised Ongshu Sherpa, 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 __NOTOC__ The North Col (; ) refers to the sharp-edged pass carved by glaciers in the ridge connecting Mount Everest and Changtse in Tibet. It forms the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier. When climbers attempt to climb Everest via the North ridge ...
where he was treated by a Russian doctor Andrey Selivanov. He arrived at Advanced Base Camp the next day in reasonably good health although suffering from
frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the ha ...
and the lingering effects of cerebral edema. He lost the tips of his fingers and a toe to frostbite. Hall's survival and rescue came shortly after the death of UK climber David Sharp on the mountain. Initially, no attempt was made to rescue Sharp. While he was unconscious but still alive, other climbers passed him and continued on their own ascents. However, 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 Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineering, mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropy, philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa people, Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became th ...
. Dan Mazur said of his team abandoning their summit attempt, "The summit is still there and we can go back. Lincoln only has one life."


After Everest

He remained close with Myles Osborne, who sacrificed his only attempt on Everest to aid Hall. Osborne says Hall was "a great guy, really laid back, with a penchant for bad jokes." ''
Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasion ...
'' aired ''Left for Dead on Mount Everest'', an Emmy Award-nominated documentary special, in 2006. Hall wrote two books about his experience: ''Dead Lucky: Life after death on Mount Everest'' (2007) and ''Alive In The Death Zone: Mount Everest Survival'' (2008). A second documentary, ''Miracle on Everest'', based on Hall's book ''Dead Lucky'', premiered in 2008 on
National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...
in the
USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and on
ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...
in Australia. Hall's story was later featured in the ''
I Shouldn't Be Alive ''I Shouldn't Be Alive'' is a documentary television series made by Darlow Smithson Productions, a UK-based production company, that featured accounts of individuals or groups caught in life-threatening scenarios away from civilization in natu ...
'' episode, "Left for Dead on Everest" (16 February 2011).


Death

Hall died on 20 March 2012 at the
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School ...
in Sydney, after suffering from
mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The most common area affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lining ...
. He had been exposed to asbestos while working as a builder in the 1960s. Friend and fellow mountaineer
Greg Mortimer Greg Mortimer (born 10 December 1952) is an Australian mountaineer. Mortimer is notable as one of the first two Australians (with Tim Macartney-Snape) to successfully climb Mount Everest, on 3 October 1984. Their ascent, without supplemental o ...
, who was with Lincoln at the end, said: "It was very peaceful in the end, around 11:45 last night. Lincoln got into quiet, rhythmic breathing—it was almost meditative—and then he quietly slipped away". Hall lived in the Blue Mountains in
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
with his wife and two sons, who survived him.


Bibliography

* ''White Limbo: The First Australian Climb of Mt Everest'' (1985) Kevin Weldon, Sydney. *''The Loneliest Mountain: The Dramatic Story of the First Expedition to Climb Mt Minto, Antarctica'' (1989) Simon & Schuster, Sydney. *''Blood on the Lotus'' (fiction) (1990) Simon & Schuster, Sydney. *''First Ascent: The Life and Climbs of Greg Mortimer'' (1996) Simon & Schuster, Sydney. *''Douglas Mawson: The Life of an Explorer'' (2000) New Holland, Sydney. *''Fear No Boundary: The Road to Everest and Beyond'' (with Sue Fear) (2005) Lothian Books, Melbourne. *''Dead Lucky: Life after death on Mount Everest'' (2007) Random House, Sydney. *''Alive In The Death Zone: Mount Everest Survival'' (2008) Random House, Australia.


See also

*
Beck Weathers Seaborn Beck Weathers (born December 16, 1946) is an American pathologist from Texas. He survived the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, which was covered in Jon Krakauer's book ''Into Thin Air'' (1997), its film adaptation '' Into Thin Air: Death on Ev ...
, American climber who was left for dead on Mount Everest in 1996.


References


External links


Lincoln Hall's website
*https://youtu.be/sSXn0uzeIo0 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Lincoln 1955 births 2012 deaths Australian mountain climbers Australian summiters of Mount Everest Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Deaths from mesothelioma Australian National University alumni Australian Buddhists