Francys Arsentiev was the American climber known as the "Sleeping Beauty" of Everest. On May 22, 1998, she reached the summit from the north side, the first American woman to do it without bottled oxygen. She and her husband Sergei were separated on the way down. Uzbek climbers gave her oxygen on May 23, and Cathy O'Dowd and Ian Woodall gave up their own summit bid to stay with her on May 24, but she died at about 8,600 m. Sergei died trying to reach her. Her body lay beside the route for nine years until Woodall moved it out of sight in 2007.
- BornJanuary 18, 1958, Honolulu, Hawaii
- DiedMay 24, 1998, aged 40
- WhereAbout 8,600 m, North Ridge of Everest (Tibet)
- RecordFirst American woman on the summit without bottled oxygen
- HusbandSergei Arsentiev, died on the same descent
- Body movedMay 23, 2007, by Ian Woodall's team
The "Sleeping Beauty of Mount Everest" is Francys Arsentiev, an American climber who died high on the mountain's north side on May 24, 1998, two days after she became the first American woman to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen. For nearly a decade her body lay in view of the climbing route, resting on its side as if asleep, and passing mountaineers gave her the name that made her story famous. Her death, her husband Sergei's doomed attempt to save her, and the climbers who had to choose between her life and their own make this one of the most discussed tragedies in Everest's history. This is the full story, told from the records of the climbers who were there.
Who Is the Sleeping Beauty of Everest?
Francys Arsentiev is known as The Sleeping Beauty of Everest. She died on the north side of Everest on May 24, 1998, on the way down from her summit two days earlier, the first ascent of Everest by an American woman without bottled oxygen.
Francys was born Francys Yarbro in Honolulu, Hawaii, on January 18, 1958, the daughter of John Yarbro and his wife, Marina Garrett.
Photo: Francys Arsentiev(The Sleeping Beauty of Mount Everest)
As a young child, she pursued her education at TASIS, The American School in Switzerland, and joined Stephens College. Later, she graduated from the University of Louisville and completed her Master's at the International School of Business Management. After her academic years, she started working as an accountant in Telluride, Colorado.
Francys always had a craving for mountaineering. She was six when she knew she had a passion for climbing the high peaks, and it took her on expeditions from the Himalaya to Everest, her last. With her Russian husband she made the first ascent of a 5,800 m peak in Russia that the pair named Peak Goodwill, climbed the West Buttress of Denali, and stood on both summits of Elbrus, where she became the first American woman to ski down the mountain. Her husband was Sergei Arsentiev.
Francys met Sergei Arsentiev in the Himalaya in 1991, reportedly on an Annapurna expedition, and they married in 1992. Francys already had a son, Paul Distefano, from an earlier relationship.
Photo: Francys Arsentiev with her husband
Sergei, Francys' love, was a true pioneer of mountaineering. He climbed all five of the Soviet Union's 7,000 m peaks, which earned him the Snow Leopard title, and in 1989 he crossed all three tops of Kangchenjunga in a traverse. It is a fact that only a few people have been able to accomplish this climb. One of Sergei's mountaineering activities was climbing Annapurna in 1991 with no oxygen. In addition, he made his way to the top of Annapurna from the north face to the Summit in alpine style.
Introduction to Francys Arsentiev's Mount Everest Journey
Francys Arsentiev's journey to Mount Everest is one of the most compelling and emotional stories in mountaineering history. Her passion for mountaineering was as much as any climber who dreams of conquering Everest, and it brought her to the spot. However, it became one of the saddest stories in the history of Everest expeditions.
Francys' story is never complete without her husband, Sergei Arsentiev, a Russian pro-climber. He was also called 'snow-leopard' by many since he climbed all Soviet peaks over 7000 meters. He was beyond perfection in the field of mountaineering. Francys and Sergei first met during the Annapurna Expedition in 1991, and it was love at first sight. After a year, they tied their nuptial knot in 1992 - Sergei moved to the United States after the Soviet Union broke up in December 1991.
Francys was one of the climbers who accompanied her husband Sergei Arsentiev on several expeditions, including Denali's West Buttress and Elbrus. With so much passion and confidence, she was determined to become the first American woman to summit Mount Everest without bottled oxygen. Alison Hargreaves of Britain had been the first woman to do it, in 1995.
On May 17, 1998, the pair climbed from Advance Base Camp to the North Col, without bottled oxygen. The next day on May 18, they had already reached an altitude of 7,700 meters. Similarly, on May 19, Francys and Sergei reached Camp 6 at about 8,200 meters. On May 20 they set out for the summit.
Their headlamps failed near the First Step, and they turned back to Camp 6. They tried again on May 21 but turned around after only 50 to 100 meters. By then, they had been spending more time than expected in Camp 6, which is believed to be more dangerous.
Francys and Sergei made their third attempt from Camp 6 on May 22, 1998. This time they made it. Francys became the first American woman to reach the top of Everest without bottled oxygen. Moving slowly without oxygen, they summited late in the day and had to spend another night above 8,000 meters.
That evening, on the way down, the two became separated. Sergei reached Camp 6 on the morning of May 23 and found that Francys had not arrived. He turned around and climbed back up to find her, carrying oxygen and medicine.
The same morning, a team of Uzbek climbers on their way to the summit found Francys high on the route. She was half-conscious, starved of oxygen and badly frostbitten.
The Uzbek climbers gave her oxygen and carried her down as far as they could, until they were exhausted and their own oxygen ran low. Then they had to leave her clipped to the fixed rope.
That evening, on their way down, the Uzbek climbers passed Sergei climbing up toward his wife with oxygen and medicine. Nobody saw him alive again. A year later, Jake Norton of the 1999 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition found Sergei's body lower on the North Face. He seems to have fallen while trying to reach her.
Francys Arsentiev Timeline: May 1998 to 2007
The bars show how high Francys was each day, starting from 6,500 m. She spent a week above 7,000 m and five nights above 8,000 m, all without bottled oxygen.
| Date | Altitude | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| May 17, 1998 | North Col (about 7,000 m) | Climbed from Advance Base Camp, no bottled oxygen |
| May 18, 1998 | 7,700 m | Moved up the North Ridge |
| May 19, 1998 | Camp 6 (about 8,200 m) | First of five nights above 8,000 m |
| May 20, 1998 | First Step (about 8,500 m) | Headlamps failed, back to Camp 6 |
| May 21, 1998 | Just above Camp 6 | Turned around after 50 to 100 m |
| May 22, 1998 | Summit (8,849 m) | Late summit, separated from Sergei on the descent |
| May 23, 1998 | About 8,600 m | Uzbek team gives her oxygen. Sergei climbs back up and is not seen again |
| May 24, 1998 | About 8,600 m | Cathy O'Dowd and Ian Woodall stay over an hour. Francys dies |
| May 1999 | North Face | Jake Norton of the Mallory and Irvine expedition finds Sergei's body |
| May 29, 1999 | Summit | Cathy O'Dowd returns and summits from the north |
| May 23, 2007 | About 8,600 m | Ian Woodall moves Francys out of sight of the route |
Tragic Events on Descent From Mount Everest Summit
Francys Arsentiev's emotional story doesn't end here. It was reported that she was still alive on the following day, May 24, 1998. On the morning of May 24, Cathy O'Dowd and Ian Woodall of the South African expedition found Francys in the spot where the Uzbek team had left her.
One of the climbers, Cathy O'Dowd, mentioned her story with The Guardian and said she was left in a dilemma as to whether to put her expedition and sponsors of her climb in vain or save the woman in need. But she mentioned that seeing Francys in that condition killed her willingness to climb Everest.
Cathy described what she saw:
"The person was lying with their harness clipped to a line of fixed rope, stomach uppermost, head and legs dangling down on either side. I knelt cautiously next to the body and saw it was a woman."
Francys' hands were all swollen, and Cathy's team tried replacing her clothes, but they felt that she was just like a dead weight.
Several Uzbek climbers also reached the spot. They had tried to help Francys the day before and told Cathy she was too far gone.
Cathy and Ian stayed with Francys for more than an hour at around -30 °C. In the end they left her, because two climbers could not carry her down from 8,600 meters. Cathy has called it a very hard decision. She and Ian gave up their own summit attempt to stay with Francys, but they could not bring her back.
Cathy O'Dowd returned the next year. On May 29, 1999, she reached the summit from the north side, which made her the first woman to climb Everest from both sides. Her first ascent, from the south, was on May 25, 1996.
Also Read:
Haunting Details of What Happened on the Mountain
If you are here to know every detail about what happened to Francys Arsentiev on Everest, you are about to go through some very touching information. Be ready for it.
As per Cathy O'Dowd, 'Francys was discovered with her harness clipped to a line of a fixed rope, stomach uppermost, and head and legs dangling down.'
The Uzbek climbers who found her on May 23 were on their own summit push. They gave her oxygen and carried her down until their strength and oxygen ran out, and they could not stay.
The South African team gave up its summit attempt to stay with her. Cathy and Ian spent more than an hour with Francys before accepting that two worn-out climbers could not get her down the North Ridge.
When Cathy's team found Francys, she was still alive and had milk-white skin and several details of frostbite. No rescue team could reach that height, and the cold, the wind and the thin air did the rest.
By then Francys had spent five nights above 8,000 meters without bottled oxygen, the last two in the open. That is the most likely reason she slipped in and out of consciousness.
The Uzbek Team's Rescue Attempt
The Uzbek team found Francys Arsentiev on the morning of May 23, 1998, half-conscious and frostbitten. They gave her oxygen and carried her down as far as their strength allowed, then left her clipped to the fixed rope.
Some retellings say the Uzbeks walked past her. The accounts gathered on her Wikipedia page say the opposite: they spent oxygen and energy on her that they needed for their own descent.
What led to the death of Francys Arsentiev or Mt. Everest's sleeping beauty?
Francys Arsentiev, or the Sleeping Beauty of Mount Everest, most likely died of hypothermia and the effects of extreme altitude, probably including cerebral edema. No autopsy was possible, so the exact cause was never recorded. Hypothermia is what happens when the body loses heat faster than it can make it. Francys had been above 8,000 meters for days.
Several climbers tried to help her while she was alive. The Uzbek team gave her oxygen, and Cathy and Ian stayed with her for over an hour. At 8,600 meters none of them could carry a helpless climber down, and she died where they found her.
The South African expedition team said that the risk was too significant until they had established a real chance of saving her.
Francys and Sergei Arsentiev started the expedition without support, sherpas, or oxygen. It's evident that the air is thin at a high altitude and the oxygen level is beyond the basic. And Francys had climbed to the top without oxygen, which was dead serious. Having no oxygen supplies and extreme cold, around -30 °C, likely caused cerebral edema, which led to her death.
Her Final Words
Francys final words came out before her death on May 24, 1998, which appears to be heart-wrenching. The Sleeping Beauty of Mount Everest expected some help from the climbers who found her, and she was half-conscious then.
When the climbers who found her had to move on, seeing her condition, she urged them to help and not leave her behind. That never happened, and she lost her life in the cosmos of Mount Everest.
When Cathy O'Dowd found her, Francys gazed into her eyes half-consciously and said, 'Don't leave me here.' When Cathy told her she needed to fetch the rest of her team and promised to return when they returned from the expedition, Francys murmured, 'Why are you doing this to me?'
Francys again said, 'I am an American. I am an American.' Cathy knew that the American teams were a day behind them. So it was not possible to bring her back to the American camps.
Why Did She Get the Name 'Sleeping Beauty of Everest'?
The name came after her death. Francys died lying on her side, still clipped to the fixed rope, close to the main North Ridge route at about 8,600 meters.
Her body stayed there, in view of everyone climbing from the north, for nine years. Passing climbers said she looked as if she were asleep, and 'Sleeping Beauty' spread through expedition reports and later online. Since 2007 her body has rested out of sight of the path.
Is Sleeping Beauty still on Mount Everest?
Francys Arsentiev, the Sleeping Beauty of Mount Everest, is still on Mount Everest. Ian Woodall, one of the two climbers who had stayed with Francys in her final hours, returned in 2007 with the Tao of Everest expedition. With Sherpa support he moved her body away from the climbing route, wrapped it in an American flag, and committed it to the mountain, out of sight of those who pass. The expedition, which Woodall called The Tao of Everest, also set out to move the body known as Green Boots.
Photo: Francys Arsentiev's body in Everest
Woodall found her on May 23, 2007, nine years after her death. After a short ceremony his team moved her body lower on the face, out of sight of the route. Reports say she was wrapped in an American flag with a note from her son.
Everest Without Oxygen
Everest saw about 13,700 summits from 1953 to the end of 2025. Fewer than 3% of them were made without bottled oxygen, according to Alan Arnette's figures from the Himalayan Database. The mountain's peak, at a staggering five miles above sea level, has relatively low air pressure and thinner atmospheric conditions. If we talk about the climbers, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler made history on May 8, 1978, by becoming the first to conquer Mount Everest without the aid of supplementary oxygen. The climbers achieved the impossible, earning them recognition and admiration in the mountaineering world. Many experts in the field considered it physically impossible for the human body to accomplish at that time.
On August 20, 1980, Messner went back and climbed Everest alone from the Tibetan side, again without bottled oxygen. Some other members of the exclusive group of honoured mountaineers who have conquered the world's highest peak under these challenging conditions include Ang Rita Sherpa, who made ten summits without bottled oxygen between 1983 and 1996, and Adrian Ballinger, who summited without it from the north side in 2019.
Climbing Everest without oxygen is an actual test of strength and determination. It is still rare. In the spring 2025 season only four of 851 summiteers went up without it. And it can be dangerous, so be responsible with your climb.
Overall, what we know from the tragic story of Francys Arsentiev is that you are never a pro-climber in the jaws of the deadliest mountains like Mount Everest. Safety comes as the first priority before any adventure or record-keeping procedure. It has been evident that many eyes have shed tears for Francys Arsentiev's tragic death, but in the meantime, she has left a great message about mountaineering to the world. 'You are never safe in the mountains, though you think you are well-prepared and all set.' Francys Arsentiev 'The Sleeping Beauty of Mount Everest' will never be forgotten - she always lives in the history of mountaineering in the world.
At the same time, message the new climbers: Be responsible with your mountaineering career and do not take it for granted. It can cost you your whole life, which you can not retrieve after it's gone. Be focused, grow connections, and groom the support teams. It might be of use to you as well as others.
Francys Arsentiev: FAQs
Who was the Sleeping Beauty of Everest?
Francys Arsentiev, an American climber from Colorado. She died on the North Ridge on May 24, 1998, two days after becoming the first American woman to summit Everest without bottled oxygen.
Is Francys Arsentiev's body still on Everest?
Yes. In May 2007 Ian Woodall, one of the climbers who stayed with her in 1998, moved her body off the route to a spot lower on the face, where climbers no longer pass it.
Why couldn't anyone rescue her?
She was at about 8,600 m, on steep ground, after days without bottled oxygen. Climbers at that height can barely move themselves, and no helicopter could reach her. Uzbek climbers gave her oxygen and carried her some way down, and two climbers gave up their summit to stay with her.
Who was the first woman to climb Everest without oxygen?
Alison Hargreaves of Britain, on May 13, 1995. Francys was the first American woman, three years later.
What happened to her husband Sergei?
Sergei went back up to look for her on May 23, 1998, and was never seen alive again. His body was found lower on the North Face in 1999.
