When asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, George Mallory replied, "Because it's there." Unfortunately, this great mountaineer rests forever on the snowy summit. Yet his famous words have lived on, inspiring generations to conquer and pay homage to the mighty peaks. Some of them, like Mallory, ultimately rest in Everest’s eternal snow.
The summit of Everest is not only a sacred site where humans challenge their dreams but also a spiritual hall where the song of life echoes far and wide. Here, stories of life and death never truly end—they deepen the understanding of life and reverence for nature for all who come after.
Encountering a Stranded Climber on the Ascent
In 1998, female explorer Cathy O'Dowd began her journey to conquer Everest. Just four hours from the summit, Cathy and her team encountered a climber in dire straits—and a story of life unfolded.
Upon finding the climber, Cathy and her teammates thought they had discovered a deceased mountaineer. The climber was roped to a slope, her body twisted at an unnatural angle. In her memoir, Cathy described: "At first I thought it was a poor soul who had broken their spine descending, but then realized she might have been injured and secured by her companions, who likely went down for help."
Rescuing someone on Everest is no easy task—there are no emergency calls, no search-and-rescue teams, and the climb back to Everest Base Camp from their position would take at least three days...
At this point, Cathy was just 240 meters from the summit, and reaching the top within four or five more hours was within reach. Should they conserve their strength to push for the summit, or risk their lives to save the stranded climber? With resolve, Cathy immediately caught up to the leader—South African explorer Ian Woodall—and urged the team to rescue the climber.
The climber was roped to the slope, lying on her back, with part of her clothing undone—likely due to the body’s false sensation of intense heat in extreme cold. Her skin had turned a milky white, feeling smooth to the touch, and she was probably severely frostbitten. "Don’t leave me," the woman murmured repeatedly as she sensed people approaching.
Carrying her down the mountain would take days
Later-arriving team members found the woman had no major external injuries. Beside her was an empty Russian-made oxygen bottle, indicating someone had passed through, left the bottle, and continued on.
The team started dressing her to keep warm, but her hands were so swollen she couldn't wear gloves. Throughout the process, the climber neither resisted nor helped herself—she had likely lost control of her muscles. Several members unroped her and tried to carry her on their shoulders downhill. "With no muscle control, she felt very heavy. It would have taken several people several days to carry her down," Cathy said. "Worse still, we couldn’t provide her with oxygen. Giving her a mask would have endangered our own lives."
One member tried calling Base Camp, but there was no response. Suddenly, the woman said, "I’m American ! I’m American !" Cathy learned her identity: Frances Arsentiev. She had climbed Everest with her husband, Sergei Arsentiev, attempting the feat without supplemental oxygen or Sherpa guides.
Husband Dies While Descending for Help
As the team felt helpless, three Uzbek climbers appeared. Woodall sought their help. The leader of the trio told Woodall that they had attempted to rescue Frances the day before during their own summit bid—the oxygen bottle was theirs. "Her condition was too critical; she couldn’t be saved."
Woodall, Cathy, and others stood in minus 30-degree Celsius temperatures for nearly an hour. Cathy could no longer feel her feet. Eventually, they decided to leave Frances behind and inform rescuers after descending. Soon after, Frances stopped speaking and slipped into unconsciousness.
Shortly after abandoning Frances, Cathy and her team successfully summited. After a second Everest attempt in 1999, Cathy became the first woman in history to summit Everest from both the north and south routes.
Frances Arsentiev died not long after being left by Cathy’s team. Later, U.S. officials declared her the first American woman to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen. Her husband, Sergei Arsentiev, tragically fell from a steep ice ledge while securing his wife for descent and rescue, and rests forever on Everest.
Returning to Everest Nine Years Later to Bury Her
After successfully summiting Everest, Cathy married Woodall. For the next nine years, Frances Arsentiev’s frozen body remained on Everest. Anyone taking the same route would see her corpse—the purple climbing suit she wore became a stark “landmark” on the snowy path to the summit.
Cathy and Woodall lived with guilt over abandoning Frances. In 2007, 50-year-old Woodall decided to return to Everest to bury Frances Arsentiev as the closing act of his climbing career. He hoped his actions would fulfill the promise he and his wife had made to Frances back then: "We’ll do our best."
Before departing, Woodall told reporters at Everest Base Camp: "In 1999, when we summited Everest again, we saw Frances’s remains were still there. I was shocked—she would remain in that position forever on Everest. Climbers can’t possibly bury a body, so I decided to launch a special expedition to give those who lost their lives on Everest a proper burial."