Lincoln Hall *1956 +2012: The lucky one

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Lincoln Hall (born in 1956) was an Australian Climber who was rescued from Mt Everest after summiting. He became famous because he survived a night alone on the mountain and also, because he was rescued, while David Sharp died some days earlier being in similar circumstances.

The above portrait was stolen on an exhibition.

He wrote many books and held many keynotes about this event. In 2012 he died of cancer.

From Wikipedia:

Lincoln Hall reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 25, 2006. On his way down he started suffering from altitude sickness. According to reports, Sherpas 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.

However, the next morning at 7am (12 hours later) Hall was found still alive at 8530m by a team making a summit attempt. „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.“

Dan Mazur and his team abandoned their summit attempt to stay with Hall, while a rescue team of 12 Sherpas, dispatched by Abramov, climbed up from below. 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.

This painting is part of the set Into thin Air with ten more portraits of climbers. Click for an extensive description.