Rob Hall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rob Hall
MBE NZBS
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| Born |
Robert Edwin Hall
14 January 1961 Christchurch, New Zealand
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| Died | 11 May 1996 (aged 35) Mount Everest, Nepal
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| Cause of death | Hypothermia |
| Resting place | South Summit of Everest |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Occupation | Mountain guide |
| Employer | Adventure Consultants |
| Known for | 1996 Everest disaster |
| Spouse(s) | Jan Arnold |
| Children | 1 |
Robert Edwin Hall (born January 14, 1961 – died May 11, 1996) was a famous New Zealand mountaineer. He was a top guide for a trip up Mount Everest in 1996. During this trip, he, another guide, and two clients sadly passed away.
A popular book called Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer tells the story of this expedition. The event was also made into a movie in 2015 called Everest. When Rob Hall died, he had reached the top of Everest five times. At that time, this was more than any other non-Sherpa climber.
Rob Hall met his future wife, Jan Arnold, in 1990 while trying to climb Everest. For their first date, Rob and Jan climbed Denali, a very tall mountain. Later, they got married. In 1993, Rob and Jan climbed to the top of Everest together. Jan was pregnant during the 1996 Everest trip, so she did not go with Rob.
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Rob Hall's Climbing Adventures
Rob Hall grew up in New Zealand. He spent a lot of time climbing in the Southern Alps. In 1989, Rob met Gary Ball, who became his climbing partner and good friend. Like many climbers, Rob and Gary looked for companies to help pay for their trips.
They decided to climb the Seven Summits. These are the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. They made it even harder by planning to climb all seven in just seven months! They started with Everest in May 1990. They climbed their last mountain, Antarctica's Vinson Massif, on December 12, 1990. They finished just hours before their deadline.
After this big success, they realized they would need to take bigger risks for future climbs to keep their sponsors. This would make climbing more dangerous. So, Rob and Gary decided to stop professional climbing. Instead, they started a business to guide other people up high mountains.
Adventure Consultants Company
Their company, Adventure Consultants, started in 1992. It quickly became a leading company for guiding expeditions. In their first year, they guided six clients to the top of Everest.
In October 1993, Gary Ball passed away from a lung problem. Rob Hall then ran Adventure Consultants by himself. By 1996, Rob had guided 39 climbers to the top of Everest. Even though it cost about US$65,000 to be guided by him, many people chose Rob Hall. This was because he was known for being very reliable and safe. In the climbing world, Rob Hall was sometimes called the "mountain goat."
In 1994, Rob Hall was given an award called the Member of the Order of the British Empire for his achievements in mountaineering.
The 1996 Everest Disaster
The 1996 Everest trip by Adventure Consultants had eight clients and three guides. Rob Hall was the main guide. The other guides were Mike Groom and Andy Harris. One of the clients was Jon Krakauer, a writer for Outside magazine. Rob had made a deal with Outside magazine. He would guide one of their writers to the top of Everest. In return, the magazine would give him advertising space and write a story about how popular commercial Everest trips were becoming.
The Climb to the Summit
Just after midnight on May 10, 1996, Rob Hall's team started their climb to the summit from Camp IV. Climbers from Scott Fischer's Mountain Madness company also joined them. Other teams from Taiwan and India were there too.
The climbers quickly faced delays. When they reached a difficult part called the Hillary Step, they found that no ropes had been set up. They had to wait for an hour while the guides put the ropes in place. About 33 climbers were trying to reach the top on the same day. Rob Hall and Scott Fischer had asked their climbers to stay close together. This caused traffic jams at the single rope on the Hillary Step. Many climbers had not reached the summit by 2:00 PM. This was the latest safe time to turn around and get back to Camp IV before dark.
Rob Hall's lead Sherpa, Ang Dorje Sherpa, and other Sherpas waited at the summit for the clients. Around 3:00 PM, they started to go down. On the way, Ang Dorje met a client named Doug Hansen. Doug was above the Hillary Step, and Ang Dorje told him to go down. Doug refused. When Rob Hall arrived, he sent the Sherpas down to help other clients. Rob said he would stay to help Doug, who had run out of extra oxygen.
The Blizzard and Rob Hall's Last Moments
At 5:00 PM, a snowstorm hit the mountain. It became very hard to see. The path back to Camp IV disappeared. Soon after, Rob Hall radioed for help. He said that Doug Hansen had passed out but was still alive. Adventure Consultants guide Andy Harris started climbing towards them with water and extra oxygen.
On May 11, at 4:43 AM, Rob Hall radioed again. He said he was on the South Summit. He reported that Andy Harris had reached them. But Doug Hansen had died during the night, and Andy Harris was also missing. Rob was not breathing bottled oxygen because his mask was blocked with ice. By 9:00 AM, Rob had fixed his oxygen mask. However, his hands and feet were badly frozen, making it hard to use the ropes.
Later that afternoon, he radioed Base Camp. He asked them to call his wife, Jan Arnold, on the satellite phone. During their last talk, he told her he was comfortable. He said, "Sleep well my sweetheart. Please don't worry too much." He died soon after. His body was found on May 23 by other climbers. It is still just below the South Summit. In 1999, Rob Hall was given an award called the New Zealand Bravery Star for his brave actions.
Media Stories
- Jon Krakauer wrote an article and a book called Into Thin Air after the disaster. He thought that delays and guides not making climbers turn back on time caused the deaths.
- A TV movie about the 1996 Everest disaster, Into Thin Air: Death on Everest, showed Nathaniel Parker as Rob Hall.
- The TV show Seconds From Disaster had an episode about the 1996 event called "Into The Death Zone." Rob Hall's story is a big part of this episode.
- The song "The Climber" by Neil Finn was inspired by Rob Hall's death.
- A documentary called "Storm Over Everest" was shown on PBS in 2008. It was directed by David Breashears, who was on Everest in 1996.
- A movie based on the events, Everest (2015), was directed by Baltasar Kormákur. Jason Clarke played Rob Hall in this movie.
- Rob Hall is a character in an opera called Everest (2015) by British composer Joby Talbot. The opera tells the main parts of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster.
- The song "Mr. Hall" by Anjan Dutt is based on Rob Hall's story.
Major Climbs by Rob Hall
- 1990 – Seven Summits (including Aconcagua, Mount Everest, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro, Denali, Kosciuszko, Vinson)
- 1992 – Attempted K2 (helped save his climbing partner Gary Ball from a lung problem)
- 1992 – Mount Everest
- 1993 – Dhaulagiri (reached 7300m with Gary Ball and Veikka Gustafsson. Rob tried to rescue Gary, who got sick and later died on the mountain.)
- 1993 – Mount Everest (with his wife, Jan Arnold)
- 1994 – Mount Everest
- 1994 – Lhotse
- 1994 – K2
- 1994 – Cho Oyu
- 1994 – Makalu
- 1995 – Cho Oyu
- 1996 – Mount Everest (died while coming down)
