Left for Dead on Everest: Lincoln Hall’s Incredible Survival Story

Picture this: you’re stranded on the world’s highest peak, the wind screaming around you, air so thin it feels like you’re breathing through a straw. Every move could be your last.

That’s exactly what happened to Lincoln Hall, a seasoned Australian climber, back in 2006. Against every odd stacked against him, he made it out alive.

Teetering on the Edge at 28,200 Feet

Climbing Everest isn’t a casual weekend hike—it demands months of grueling prep. Lincoln knew the dangers inside out, but fate had other plans during his 2006 expedition.

Near the summit, at a staggering 8,600 meters (about 28,200 feet), cerebral edema hit him hard. That’s when your brain swells from the altitude, and it can kill you fast. His guides fought for hours to bring him back, but as darkness fell and the storm raged, they believed he was gone. To save themselves, they had no choice but to leave him.

The next morning, Lincoln’s family got the devastating news: he’d died on the mountain. Heartbreak all around. But up there, the fight wasn’t over yet.

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Alone on a knife-edge ridge, Lincoln was balanced over an 8,000-foot drop, dressed only in a thin fleece. No gloves, no hat, no goggles, no oxygen—his team had taken it all, assuming the worst. The biting cold should’ve finished him in hours, but somehow, he held on.

Come dawn, another group stumbled upon him. American climber Dan Mazur and his crew spotted Lincoln sitting up, completely out of it, rambling about being on a boat instead of the deadliest mountain on Earth.

“I imagine you are surprised to see me here,” were Lincoln’s first words to Dan.

“Where did you come from?” Dan shot back, stunned.

Giving Up the Summit to Save a Life

Lincoln was a mess—frostbitten, parched, barely making sense. His body had taken a brutal beating from the night exposed on those slopes.

Dan, along with Andrew Brash, Myles Osborne, and Jangbu Sherpa, didn’t hesitate. They handed over oxygen, food, water, and warm clothes. For hours, they stayed put on that windy ridge, nursing him back from the brink.

In doing so, they ditched their own shot at the summit. It was a gut-wrenching call, but one rooted in pure humanity—something high-altitude climbing doesn’t always allow.

“We didn’t even talk about it,” Dan later shared with The Bulletin in 2006. “We all just knew. You can chase the summit another day, but you only get one life. Leaving him there? That would’ve haunted us forever. How do you live with that?”

“I Wish We Hadn’t Seen Him… But We Did”

Slowly, they got Lincoln down to the North Col, then to Advanced Base Camp. He began recovering from the frostbite, brain swelling, and that brush with death. Amazingly, he pulled through, though it cost him fingertips and a toe.

“He was ‘dead,’ so his team stripped his gear,” Dan told People. “Three Sherpas with him—poking his eyes, no response. They thought it was over. Maybe he was on the edge. Others said they did all they could.”

Lincoln’s tale didn’t stop on Everest. Drawing from Tibetan Buddhism, he poured his experience into a book, Dead Lucky: Life After Death on Mount Everest. It’s a raw look at staring death down and coming back.

He never blamed the climbers who left him. None of that bitterness.

Dan’s heroism earned him piles of praise—letters from Washington’s Governor Christine Gregoire, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Congress members, and countless emails from everyday folks. National Geographic gave him props too.

“I really wished we hadn’t found him there,” Dan admitted. “But since we did, there was no question what to do.”

How Lincoln Hall Passed Away

Lincoln lived a full life after Everest, pouring his energy into climbing, writing, and helping communities in Nepal. He kept going until 2012, when he died at 56.

Friends say it was mesothelioma, a tough cancer tied to asbestos exposure from his early days as a construction worker. He left behind a wife and two sons.