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, probably
cerebral edema, that caused him to hallucinate and become confused. According to reports, Hall's
Sherpa guides attempted to rescue him for hours. However, as night began to fall their oxygen supplies diminished and
snow blindness 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 (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. At the same time, Abramov dispatched a rescue team of 12 Sherpa 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 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 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. 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==