They climbed alpine-style without the back-up or support of a large team, without the aid of artificial oxygen and on a route never before climbed. And they succeeded.
This book tells of avalanches that swept away vital equipment and came close to burying the climbers; it recounts the heartbreak of the decision by some of the team members not to go for the summit and the exhilarating elation of success tempered by the terrible price exacted by the mountain from those who dare to take up such a challenge.
But White Limbo is more than a book about a climb. It gives a history of the other expeditions to Mount Everest, it details the build-up to the Australian attempt, and it gives a fascinating glimpse of life in Tibet in the far west of China where few Westerners have ever traveled.
It also reveals the fears and ambitions that drive these men in their commitment to the dream of joining the elite company of those who have stood on the roof of the world. In capturing all this with the deft, sure touch of a writer with a natural and poetic talent, Lincoln Hall has written a book which will stimulate and satisfy those who climb and those who stand in awe.
Lincoln Hall is one of Australia's few world-class mountaineers. Born in Canberra in 1955, he first went rock climbing at Booroomba just outside the national capital. He remembers the anniversary of his first climb more readily than he remembers many other dates!
It was while studying for a degree in zoology at the Australian National University that he climbed his first mountain, Mt Cook in New Zealand, and decided to try to make his life in the mountains. For his first expedition he joined an ANU Mountaineering Club climb of 7066-metre Dunagiri in the Indian Himalaya. It was on this climb that he suffered from severe frostbite which resulted in the loss of several toes. Undeterred, he returned to India a year later and climbed in the Kulu Himal. This was followed by the first Australian ascent of 6850-metre Ama Dablam in Nepal, 6200-metre Anyemaqen [Amne Machin] in central China, and then 7200-metre Trisul in India. In 1983 Lincoln was a member of the first Australian expedition to reach the summit of 7937-metre Annapurna II, and in 1984 the same small team made the first Australian climb of 8848-metre Mt Everest.
To make a living and to raise money for expeditions Lincoln has led expeditions and treks in South America, India, Kashmir and Nepal, his favorite part of the world and a place which has made a profound impact on his attitudes, values and lifestyle. While climbing is the focus of his life, Lincoln has always enjoyed writing. On all his expeditions he keeps a diary as well as writing poetry.
Tim McCartney-Snape is a director of the adventure travel company Wilderness Expeditions. He was born and spent the first twelve years of his life in Tanzania and graduated from the Australian National University in 1979 with a degree in Biological Sciences. Since then he has worked on his family farm in Victoria, and as a mountaineering, skiing and trekking guide. Rock climbing in Australia and mountaineering in New Zealand provided the background that was needed for the expeditions he has made to Dunagiri (1978), Kulu Himal (1979), Ama Dablam (1981), Mt Anyemaqen (1981), Trisul (1982) and Annapurna II (1983).
