Lincoln Hall, 50, was stranded near the summit of Mount Everest. His team of Sherpas and Russian guides had left him for dead after he collapsed and lost consciousness.

Dan Mazur, of Olympia, was leading a team up the mountain when they spotted Hall.

Suffering from acute altitude sickness, Hall was reportedly sitting dangerously close to a sheer drop-off, was half undressed and without a hat. He said, "I imagine you're surprised to see me here."

Abandoning their chances to summit, Mazur's team revived the Australian climber and helped him down to a lower camp.

Mazur later told an Australian newspaper that his team never discussed whether or not to stop.

"We just felt like we knew that's what we had to do. He's half-clothed, he's sort of talking, we're giving him oxygen and water. How could we leave a person like that?"

The rescue comes just two weeks after a stranded British climber, David Sharp, died on the mountain.

There are reports that about 40 climbers passed him on their way to the summit.

Fifteen people have died on Mount Everest this season.