Thursday, March 22nd .....

What a sad story to hear that Lincoln Hall, who came back from the dead in 2006, has succumbed to mesothelioma. It’s a tragedy that he probably acquired the disease when, at the age of 9, he helped his dad build cubby houses out of asbestos cement sheets.

The story of his supposed death on Mt Everest in 2006 is an amazing one. He had been part of the first successful climb of Everest by an Australian expedition in 1984 but had not reached the summit himself. He tried again in 2006 even though he had suffered from severe frostbite on previous occasions and knew he would be in great pain if he went back to the high mountains. He did reach the summit but on the way back he collapsed. The rest of his party suspected he had cerebral oedema, a type of altitude sickness. The sherpas of his party tried to rescue him but it was believed he was near death and Alexander Abramov, the leader of the group, ordered them to leave Hall alone in the tent and retreat to comparative safety. A message was sent out that he had died.

Apparently, in the climbing season, the path to Everest is crowded with numerous parties and twelve hours later he was discovered by a group making a summit attempt. He was lucid, almost naked and sitting cross-legged in the snow. The summit party immediately aborted their attempt and went to his assistance. Soon after they were met by a group of 12 sherpas who had been sent up by Abramov to retrieve his body.

There is another twist to this story. A few days earlier, a British climber, David Sharp had died after falling into unconsciousness. It was reported that several parties had passed him while he was still alive, making no attempt to rescue him. Obviously, climbers understand the risks and don’t expect other climbers to stop what they are doing to give a helping hand. It costs tens of thousands of dollars to join an Everest expedition and most climbers only get one attempt in their lives. But, how can a human being ignore another climber in distress?

Now, knowing me as a serial name-dropper, you’ll expect that I have a personal connection to the case. Well, in about 1997 or 1998, Lincoln Hall gave a talk in Mittagong. I think a climbing friend of his was launching a book and Hall was there to support him. We received an invitation to go back to the author’s house for a drink and met Lincoln Hall in person. Sadly, we have no strong memories of the occasion, and I’m sure we made absolutely no impression on Mr Hall.