Climbing the Himalayas is no easy feat, and reaching the summit of Mount Everest is even more challenging. Every year, many climbers ascend but “never make it back down,” and numerous videos document the bodies littering the mountain. Some corpses, frozen in the ice for years, have even become landmarks, sparking curiosity about the stories behind them.
Frances Arsentiev from Hawaii was introduced to mountaineering at the age of six when her father took her up Colorado Peak, setting her on a lifelong path of climbing. On May 22, 1998, she became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, setting a world record. That year, Frances and her husband, Sergei Arsentiev, decided to attempt climbing Everest without bottled oxygen. The ascent went smoothly and was well within their control, but tragedy struck during the descent.
During the descent, Frances began suffering from hypothermia, and her husband fell to his death while trying to get help. A passing couple, Ian Woodall and Cathy O'Dowd, found Frances—barely alive and suffering from severe cold. In fact, many climbers had passed by Frances before this couple, but none stopped to help. All Ian and Cathy could do was stay with her, offering words of comfort that ultimately did little to help, as they watched her slowly die.
Reflecting on the experience, Cathy described it as deeply haunting. “We saw a strange figure—an woman in a purple snowsuit—but what caught our attention was her unnatural twitching and convulsions. Perhaps sensing our presence, she began saying, ‘Don’t leave me,’ ‘Why are you doing this to me?,’ ‘I’m American, don’t leave me behind.’ She kept repeating these phrases endlessly.”
The sight of Frances’s life slipping away had a profound impact on Ian and Cathy—one that few can imagine. Their passion for climbing diminished significantly. The following year, they returned to Everest in Frances’s memory. To their surprise, her body was still there. It wasn’t until nine years later that it was finally buried, becoming the infamous “Everest Sleeping Beauty.” In truth, “turning a blind eye” isn’t necessarily seen as cruel behavior on Everest. Frances had collapsed in a high-traffic area used by climbers ascending to or descending from the summit. Stopping to rescue someone would have required extra energy and oxygen equipment. In such an extreme, frigid environment, “every breath comes at a great cost.” Climbers are solely focused on surviving and simply don’t have the capacity to help others.