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He came as close to crossing over to the other side as anyone could. Mountain fever or not, Hall is now old enough and experienced enough to recognize that the siren's call does not come without serious risk of injury or death."Dead Lucky" is his tale of a successful climb exceeded by a near-death experience. Most important, Hall knew what he needed to live for and he was lucky enough to be able to step back just short of death's door. In the most dramatic act of the book, Hall is struck violently with his own ice-axe in a near-lethal blow delivered by the younger Sherpa, which the young Sherpa had earlier snatched from him."Dead Lucky" could not have been written by a young man.
Twenty-two years earlier Hall had to turn back just short of Everest's summit. Late in the year's climbing season and after four sudden and unexpected deaths, (two on an earlier expedition and two from his expedition which occur on the "A Team), Hall gets his shot at summiting the Big Guy. Risking their own lives and no longer able to continue the rescue, the Sherpas leave Hall in order to save themselves. With radio communications, a new rescue effort is mounted.
The two Sherpas dispatched are thugs who clearly do not want to be sent out on a rescue mission. After suffering extreme dehydration, debilitating fatigue, frostbite and cerebral edema, Hall is left for dead on the mountain by four Sherpa guides who had managed to bring him about 1,000 feet down from the summit, a process which took more than seven hours. Hall's night-on-the-mountain hallucinations occur in a state of physical and mental breakdown. These hallucinations showcase more than any logical analysis the broken-down state of his mind. If you like to read adventure memoirs and tales of mountaineering in particular, you may find yourself taken off course by Australian mountaineer Lincoln Hall in "Dead Lucky." While lacking some of the dramatic style of "Touching the Void" or "Into Thin Air," Hall writes as a middle-aged man in a calmer, matter-of-fact, almost contemplative style.More than twenty-years after his first attempt at Everest as a young world-class climber, in 2006 at the eleventh hour, Hall is lucky enough to get invited on a major Everest expedition in the role of photographer.
Two different Sherpas are sent up from below to bring him down. For me, Hall's trip down Everest is the most compelling part of the tale. They deeply resent Hall and attempt to extort and blackmail him. They don't care whether Hall lives or dies. Hall's return from the mountain is more eventful than his climb. Two decades and many climbs later, Everest's peak still calls out to him. That's one of the reasons that I recommend this book.
To provide context, Hall brings the reader back into realm of real events by narrating in a parallel timeline the events that occurred elsewhere (including the announcement of his death) at basecamp and back at his Australia home, while he remained alive on the mountain. When a different climbing team discovers Hall to still be alive, they provide enough water and oxygen to revive him. Lincoln Hall is a middle-aged man who gets a last chance at accomplishing his inner young- man's dream.
After reading High Crimes, Dark Summit and watching Everest: Beyond the Limit, this was an obvious choice to finish the Everest 2006 season. I had heard about Lincoln Hall from other writers and reporters and wanted to hear first hand about his experience of spending the night on Everest. I liked the book and recommend it to anyone who is interested in the 2006 season on Everest.
The person I gave this book to absolutely loves it. It makes for great reading.
This is the most tedious bit of mountaineering literature I have read. This book should be at most 50% shorter than it is. Really not sure what his point is during the first half of the book is; certainly not a clue about the first 30% The monotone writing about getting to base camp, acclimatization and telling us about all his exploits and friends is more painful than frostbite.My basis for comparison is "Solo, Nanga Parbat" by Messner which is a must read.
This man had a determination to live, and a way to tell his harrowing story, that makes for fascinating and very rewarding reading.
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