"Dead Lucky" by Lincoln Hall

In recent years, I’ve read several books and watched movies about mountain climbers who have challenged themselves to reach the top of Mount Everest. 

The most recent book was Dead Lucky by Lincoln Hall (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2009). Like many mountaineers, Hall had a long history climbing the highest mountains in the world. As his skills and accomplishments grew, he became one of Australia most renowned mountaineers.

His first attempt to climb Everest was in 1984, but he was forced to turn back when daylight was running out. Then in 2004 an old friend contacted him about serving as a high altitude documentary cameraman for a fourteen year old Australian boy who wanted to climb Everest. The opportunity was too tempting, and Lincoln had what he called “unfinished business.”

After more than a year of fundraising and physical preparation, the team left for Base Camp to join a guided expedition with the 7SUMMITS-CLUB. During acclimatization climbs it became evident that young Christopher could not continue. Despite that setback, Lincoln was still allowed to make his own summit attempt.

They say the hardest part of climbing Mount Everest isn’t going up, it’s coming back down. Even though Lincoln made it to the top, his body started to falter quickly on the descent. It became so bad that he was left for dead at the 28,000-foot level. Dead Lucky sets the stage for Lincoln’s successful climb and tragic yet miraculous descent. His successes include reaching the 29,035-foot summit and surviving the night without oxygen and supplies within the notorious “death zone.”

Dead Lucky is an amazing story about one man’s quest to reach a goal and surviving to return to his family. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys true stories about brave people who do remarkable things. -- Margy