Lincoln
Hall OAM

Speaker Profile

Lincoln Hall
In Memoriam
1995 - 2012

It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Lincoln Hall: a world-renowned mountaineer, adventurer, writer, humanitarian and a truly inspiring speaker.

In May 2006 Lincoln Hall stood on the 8,850 metre-high peak of Everest, the achievement of a 25 year-old dream - only hours later he was left for dead on the mountainside. He spent the entire night alone without shelter or oxygen, but inside him was a spark of life which flared into a commitment to survive despite impossible odds. He was found alive the next morning by the last few climbers on the mountain, and after being resuscitated by those altruistic climbers, he was able to descend from 8,600 feet under his own steam.

His unique understanding of risk and motivation came from 20 years of alternating corporate and instructional programs with his work as a guide in the Himalaya, the Andes, Antarctica as well as Australia. Lincoln climbed over 40 mountains in seven countries. Along with his two Everest climbs, his most challenging achievements were his voyage in a small yacht to Antarctica to make the first ascent of remote Mt Minto, and the first ascent of the South Face of Annapurna 2, at the time the highest unclimbed mountain face in the world.

Lincoln was the chief organizer of the first Australian Everest expedition, which established a new route on the North Face without supplementary oxygen. Although he turned back short of the summit, he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his role in the five-man expedition. His keynote speaking career began with his accounts of how their small team achieved such an audacious goal. Lincoln's bestselling book, White Limbo: the First Australian Ascent of Mt Everest, is now in its third edition.

Since White Limbo, Lincoln wrote eight more books, among them biographies and a novel, as well as accounts of his own adventures including Alive in the Death Zone, winner of a CBCA Book of the Year Award and shortlisted for the 2010 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. He wrote documentary scripts and was the Editor and Managing Editor of two major adventure magazines. Documentaries were made about five of Lincoln's expeditions including the Emmy Award-nominated Left for Dead on Mount Everest (2006), a 50 minute NBC Dateline special. A sixth film, Miracle on Everest (2008) based on his book Dead Lucky, premiered on National Geographic Channel in the USA and on ABC1 in Australia. Lincoln promoted both his new book and Miracle on Everest during a thirteen city tour of North America.

Lincoln was a founding Director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of Himalayan peoples and their environments. As a resident of the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Lincoln's commitment to his community led to his appointment to the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area Advisory Committee.

Lincoln is survived by his wife and their two teenage sons, Dylan and Dorje.

- The Team at Saxton