Lincoln Hall (born 1956) is a veteran Australian mountain climber and author. Hall is the author of White Limbo, the story of the first Australian team to climb Mount Everest. While others in the team made it to the top, Hall was forced to turn back close to the summit due to illness. Nursing a bruised ego for years, he finally made it to the top in 2006.
Dan 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, while a rescue team of 12 Sherpas, dispatched by Abramov, climbed up from below. The rescue team comprised 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.
Dan Mazur perhaps summed things up best when he said, reflecting on his team abandoning their summit attempt, “The summit is still there and we can go back. Lincoln only has one life.” Indeed, Dan Mazur and the Sherpas involved in the rescue are the biggest heroes on Everest. Would you give up your summit quest to save someone’s life?