Lincoln Hall (climber) - Career Summary

Career Summary

Hall was born in Canberra, Australia, and went to Telopea Park High School. He studied Zoology at the Australian National University and learned to climb at climbing crags in the Australian Capital Territory, most notably Booroomba Rocks (where he pioneered a number of classic routes). 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.

Hall had his real start with mountaineering when he participated in the Australian National University Mountaineering Club expeditions to New Zealand from 1975 to 1978. This culminated in the ANUMC 1978 expedition to the Himalayan peak Dunagiri (7066m) in India. Hall and his climbing partner Tim Macartney-Snape (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, 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 Expedition.

After Dunagiri, Hall's mountaineering career went from strength to strength as he participated in and lead numerous climbing adventures around the world, including many first ascents by Australian climbers. Amongst these were two expeditions to climb Mount Everest in Nepal (including the first Australian ascent in 1984); the first ascent of Mt Minto in the Admiralty Mountains of Antarctica (1998); and ascents of other notable peaks including Annapurna II (7963m) in Nepal, Makalu (8481m) on the China-Nepal border, and Carstensz Pyramid in Irian Jaya, Indonesia.

Hall was best known for his miraculous survival after his ascent of Mount Everest in 2006 when he was left for dead at 8700m and he survived the night. He wrote numerous books, was a founding member of the philanthropic organisation the Australian Himalayan Foundation and was a speaker, sharing his experiences with audiences around the world.