EverestHistory.com: Rob Hall 1961-1996

Rob Hall, climbing visionary and entrepreneur. In 1990 along with his climbing partner Gary Ball, Rob Hall climbed all of the highest points on each of the seven continents in just 6 hours shy of 7 months. 1990 was a year of accomplishments for Rob, he reached the Summit of Mt. Everest for the first time, and he was the lead climber in the expedition, which included Peter Hillary, the son of Sir Edmund Hillary. It was also in 1990 and during his Everest trek that he meet Jan Arnold, the women he would fall in love with and marry in just 2 short years.

Jan is a doctor and at that time was working at a clinic about 3,000ft below base camp. After the successful climb Rob stopped by the clinic and asked Jan to go out on a date with him. She agreed. The date was a climb to the top of Mt. McKinley. Both Jan and Rob are New Zealand natives; in fact Rob received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal for his 7 summit feat.  Jan would accompany Rob on many climbs, including the summit of Mt. Everest in 1993.

In 1991 Rob and Gary started dreaming up what would become the first operation offering climbing ascents to the top of world’s highest peaks. The company was called ‘Adventure Consultants’, and they considered it to be an immediate success. In May of 1992 Rob and Gary had 10 clients, paying $35,000 each to be guided to the top of Mt. Everest. They enlisted the services of friend/climber, Guy Cotter to help as a guide. Six of the clients reached the summit.

Rob and Gary led another successful climb with clients up Everest in 1993; however Gary did not make the summit due to bleeding from his sinuses. This was foreshadowing what was to come. In October Gary died of pulmonary edema while climbing Dhaulagiri in Nepal. Rob had to bury his body in a crevasse.

Rob persevered and with the support of his wife, who worked as the team doctor at base camp made his fourth successful climb up Everest in 1994. With the assistance of Ed Vestures, Adventure Consultants took six clients to the summit. Rob continued to climb hard, adding Lhotse and Makalu to his list, which already included K2. He guided 39 clients to the top of Everest between 1990-1995, and added many more peaks to the list that Adventure Consultants would guide. By 1996 clients were paying $65,000 to climb Everest with Rob.

Unfortunately, it all ended tragically on Mt. Everest in 1996. Shortly after reaching the summit a storm hit the mountain and Rob along with several other climbers, was trapped. Rob stayed with his client and died. Rob Hall is survived by his wife Dr. Jan Arnold and their daughter. Shortly after Rob’s death Jan sold the business to Guy Cotter.

Just the facts: Rob summited Everest May 10, 1990, May 12, 1992, May 10, 1993, May 9th, 1994, Lhotse 5/16/94, Cho Oyu 10/6/1994 and 9/26/95, Makalu 5/18/95 and Everest again on 5/10/1996 when he stayed with his client and died on Everest.

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