Hall had his real start with mountaineering when he participated in the Australian National University Mountaineering Club expeditions to New Zealand from 1975 to 1978. This culminated in the ANUMC 1978 expedition to the Himalayan peak Dunagiri (7066m) in India. Hall and his climbing partner Tim Macartney-Snape (Australia) were invited by Expedition Leader Peter Cocker to join him at Col Camp so the pair could force through a route through to the summit ridge. They did so then made an audacious push for the summit after spending a night out on the mountain. Hall was pivotal in the successful summit bid by Macartney-Snape.