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10 Interesting Facts about Rob Hall

Robert Edwin Hall was born on 14 January 1961 in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was famed as the New Zealand mountaineer who made five ascents of earth鈥檚 highest peak, Mount Everest. Rob is also best known as the head guide of a 1996 Mount Everest expedition in which he, a fellow guide and two clients died in a blizzard near the summit of the mountain.

A best-selling account of the expedition was given in Jon Krakauer鈥檚 into thin Air, and the expedition has been dramatized in the 2015 film Everest. Therefore, this article will explore some of the interesting facts about the mountaineer to create a clear picture in the reader’s mind.

1. He grew up on the South Island of New Zealand

Hall was raised in humble circumstances on New Zealand’s South Island, where the Southern Alps were close by and this sparked his interest in mountain climbing. He got work as a designer and manager with numerous producers of outdoor clothes and climbing equipment after quitting school early

2. He reached the first summit at 19

Growing close to the Southern Alps, he discovered mountaineering largely through his efforts and quickly he developed resilience close to New Zealand鈥檚 finest climbers. Throughout the years he kept on perfecting his skills and in 1980 when he was just 19, he reached his first Himalayan Summit, the 6,856-metre Ama Dablam in Sola Khumbu- the Sherpa region of Nepal.

In the second year, he climbed another Himalayan which was at their home, in the New Zealand Alps. This caused a stir and made him famous and liked by the people.

3. He formed a climbing partnership

In the 1980s Hall formed a partnership with Gary Ball whom they later made their first ascent of Everest in 1990 accompanied by Peter Hillary. After seven months hall and Ball climbed the highest peaks on every other continent making them complete the so-called seven summits. Later in 1991, they went into business together and they formed their firm called Adventure Consultants and which organized a climbing expedition for paying clients.

Hall and Ball again climbed Everest in 1993. In the same year Ball, unfortunately, died from a form of altitude sickness on another mountain.

4. He was a designer

Rob dropped out of school at the age of 14, he approached a small New Zealand company called Alpsports with a selection of his prototypes for rucksacks, tents and outdoor clothing. By 16 years of age, Rob had assumed the position of production manager and designer for the company as he also kept improving his skills in mountaineering. At the age of 17, Rob was in charge of a large team of seamstresses. He also worked as a guide in Antarctica for the New Zealand Antarctic Research Programme.

5. He died when his wife was pregnant with his child

Hall met his wife, Jan Arnold who was a New Zealand physician during his Everest summit attempt in 1990. Hall and Arnold climbed Denali for their first date and later they tied a knot. In 1993 Hall summited Everest along with Arnold. In the 1996 tragedy, Arnold would have accompanied his husband on his Everest expedition, but she was pregnant therefore she couldn’t make it. She had their daughter, Sarah Arnold two months later after Hall had died. Jan later married a German cabinet-maker Andreas Niemann in 2002 and they gave later birth to their daughter.

6. Hall鈥檚 Everest tragedy was documented

Jon Krakauer, a journalist who was on Hall’s expedition for a magazine assignment chronicled the 1996 Everest tragedy in the best-selling book titled Into Thin Air 1997. The documentary film Everest was shot in 1998 in IMAX big screen format by a crew that was on the lower level of the mountain at the same time. In 2015, Everest, a Hollywood dramatization featured Jason Clarke in the starring role of Hall.

7. He Radioed his wife before dying on Everest

Hall had just completed his fifth ascent of the world鈥檚 highest mountain when he was trapped by howling winds, bitter cold and snow on the way down. Rob Hall accepted his fate when he learned by radio that his rescuers could not be able to reach him. He then called his pregnant wife in New Zealand and she told her 鈥淣ot to worry about him too much,鈥� thus reassuring her so she could be able to sleep even as his life was ending. His wife, later on, said he managed to impart her some peacefulness because she was able to sleep for seven hours.

8. Hall’s body is still on Mount Everest.

Hall took a tour consisting of eight clients and three guides. Among them was Jon Krakauer who was a journalist that wanted to cover the trek for a magazine, and Beck Weathers an American who wanted to climb the summit just like Ball. After several hours things changed Rob was caught in a blizzard and was swept away while endeavouring to rescue a fatigued client. Frostbitten, haggard, and running low on oxygen, Rob couldn’t make it. His body remains on the mountain to this day. Some of his team managed to survive like Jon Krakauer who enabled the story of Rob’s expedition to survive.

9. Rob Hall managed to climb the seven summits

After Rob and Ball meet, they two decided they want to climb something more exciting than their familiar Southern Alps. So, the two set out to accomplish climbing the seven summits which was a mountaineering challenge first completed in 1985. The seven summits refer to the tallest mountains on each continent. Several corporate sponsors offered them donations after they heard what they were going to do. In 1990 the two set out, they summited Everest in May and made their way down the list from there. At the end of December, they completed the trek just hours before their deadline.

10. He was honoured with the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

Having made immense contributions to mountaineering, Rob Hall was honoured with the most excellent order of the British empire. This is interesting in that it shows that his efforts in that particular field were recognized and appreciated.