Half-undressed and hatless, an Australian climber given up for dead on Mount Everest greeted an American mountaineer with the words: "I imagine you are surprised to see me here."
This description of the remarkable encounter was given by US mountaineer Dan Mazur in a telephone interview with Everestnews.com after he gave up his own bid for the summit to help rescue the Australian, Lincoln Hall, 50.
Hall had been reported dead by his expedition teammates after reaching the 8,848-meter summit of Everest on Thursday but then succumbing to acute altitude sickness as he began his descent.
Hall, one of Australia's most experienced climbers, became disoriented, lay down in the snow and resisted attempts by accompanying sherpas to help him, according to an account of the incident posted on the Internet by his expedition leader, Alexander Abramov.
The two sherpas with Hall were forced to leave him behind when they ran out of oxygen and Abramov issued a statement Friday that the Australian was dead.
But the team of climbers led by Mazur came upon Hall several hours later and found him alive.
This description of the remarkable encounter was given by US mountaineer Dan Mazur in a telephone interview with Everestnews.com after he gave up his own bid for the summit to help rescue the Australian, Lincoln Hall, 50.
Hall had been reported dead by his expedition teammates after reaching the 8,848-meter summit of Everest on Thursday but then succumbing to acute altitude sickness as he began his descent.
Hall, one of Australia's most experienced climbers, became disoriented, lay down in the snow and resisted attempts by accompanying sherpas to help him, according to an account of the incident posted on the Internet by his expedition leader, Alexander Abramov.
The two sherpas with Hall were forced to leave him behind when they ran out of oxygen and Abramov issued a statement Friday that the Australian was dead.
But the team of climbers led by Mazur came upon Hall several hours later and found him alive.
Mazur radioed the news back to camp and in a rescue operation involving about a dozen sherpas and a Russian doctor, Hall was brought to Everest's advanced base camp where he was treated for frostbite and altitude sickness. Abramov said earlier on an Everest news website that Hall was suffering "acute psychosis, a disorientation in space" and had been resisting efforts to help him.
He was diagnosed as suffering from acute oedema of the brain, a frequently fatal swelling of the brain that occurs at extremely high altitudes.
Hall, who lost several toes to frostbite on an earlier climb, was also said again to be suffering from frostbite. Abramov said Hall later told his wife Barbara in an emotional phone call of frostbite in his fingers.
He was diagnosed as suffering from acute oedema of the brain, a frequently fatal swelling of the brain that occurs at extremely high altitudes.
Hall, who lost several toes to frostbite on an earlier climb, was also said again to be suffering from frostbite. Abramov said Hall later told his wife Barbara in an emotional phone call of frostbite in his fingers.
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