In his autobiography Dead Lucky: Life After Death on Mount Everest, Australian mountaineer and journalist Lincoln Hall recounts the journey that led him to, and got him down, a near-fatal trek to Mount Everest’s summit in May of 2006. In this heart-wrenching tale, Hall carries the reader step-by-step through his emotionally and physically draining expedition. In the end, Hall survives by choosing family over death. Hall states in his author’s notes that Dead Lucky was the most difficult book he’s ever written, not because of the traumatizing memories he had to recall, but because of eight severely frostbitten fingers. But like any good journalist, Hall found a way to tell his story.
In 2006, Hall and his family had just returned from a three-year stint living in Singapore and were back in the Blue Mountain area of Australia. Hall reclaimed his editing job at Outdoor Australia magazine in Sydney, and was busy in the throws of work, family, and book writing. Then came the call from Michael Dillon, an adventure cameraman who had been on Everest with Hall in 1984 when he was forced to retreat just shy of the summit due to frostbite. Dillon was putting together a team to accompany Christopher Harris, a 14-year-old Australian climber who was attempting to be the youngest person to summit Everest. Dillon asked Hall to come along and film the journey.
After talking it over with his wife and family, Hall accepted the invitation. The fact that he never reached the summit some 22 years ago still haunted him. If he failed to reach the summit this time, he would humbly accept defeat. Hall also assured himself that his intentions were pure. He had a job to do. “As a cameraman, my role was to record our climb of Everest, a far safer motivation that an obsession with the summit. My own dreams of summiting remained a shadow in the wings, but if Christopher Harris succeeded in his attempt to be the youngest person to climb to the peak, I hoped to be beside him, filming history.”
The group soon set out to make history, and Hall’s dream of summiting this harrowing mountain did not remain a shadow in the wings for long. This is where one of the major themes in the book breaks through the surface: What limits do you set on personal ambitions when you are on the job? After weeks of acclimatization and hiking from Base Camp to Intermediate Camp to Advance Base Camp, they were ready to set out for the North Col, which lies at 23,200 ft. But fate dealt an unfortunate hand that morning, as Christopher suffered a “collapse,” or severe drop in blood pressure, and was forced to retreat. Richard and Mike chose to stay back with Christopher, but encouraged Hall to keep trekking.
After debating his decision, and literally writing out the pros and cons of continuing to the summit, Hall decided to move forward, claiming he owed it to Barbara, himself, and his boys. His job as Christopher’s cameraman was over, but his personal need to reach the summit was unrelenting. Another theme emerges with this decision: How far will adventure journalists go to get their story? Where do you draw the line? Hall was knowingly risking his life. But to him, there was no other choice.
Hall reached the summit around 9 a.m. on May 25, 2006. He remembers, “The weather was perfect, with only a few harmless clouds in the around the lower peaks and some more solid cover to the west. Everything was good. Everything was going according to plan.” Hall and four accompanying Sherpas began to descend Everest. Hall quickly began to unravel. The extreme lack of Oxygen at such a high altitude began to take a toll on his mind and body. He began to exhibit symptoms of cerebral edema, a potentially fatal fluid accumulation in the brain. The Sherpas tried to help him down, but his hallucinations got the best of him, and he refused their help. With only a few hours of sunlight left, the Sherpas were ordered to leave Hall, as they would likely die if they spent a night on the summit. Hall was pronounced dead that night.
The next morning a few climbers stumbled upon Hall sitting on the edge of the summit. He had done the absolute impossible. He survived a night alone on the summit. His vivid hallucinations began to subside, and he was able to make it down the mountain with the assistance of various climbers and Sherpas.
Hall’s story reveals a common theme among many adventure journalists. They are so passionate about their adventure, that living to tell their story is not their first priority. They risk their lives to reach the unreachable, defeat the undefeatable. His story immediately drew multitudes of media attention from all over the globe. As a journalist, he knew what to expect: media outlets portraying the best story, not necessarily the true story. So Hall decided that he—frostbitten and all—would tell the story himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment