Jump to content

Francys Arsentiev

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Timster360 (talk | contribs) at 22:10, 21 August 2011. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Francys Arsentiev (January 18, 1958 – May 24, 1998) became the first woman from the United States to reach the summit of Mount Everest without the aid of bottled oxygen on May 22, 1998.[1]

Francys Yarbro Distefano-Arsentiev was born Francys Yarbro, on January 18th 1958, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to John Yarbro and his wife Marina Garrett. At six her father took her to the Colorado Mountains. She was forever hooked. Growing up, she attended school at TASIS, The American School in Switzerland as well as school in the US. Francys attended Stephens College before graduating from the University of Louisville. She then received a Master’s degree from the International School of Business Management in Phoenix. Francys worked as an accountant in Telluride, Colorado during the 1980's. In 1992 she married Sergi (Serguei) Arsentiev. Francys climbed many of the Russian peaks including the first ascent of Peak 5800m (with Sergi, they named it Peak Goodwill) as well as Denali via the West Buttress. Fran became the first US woman to ski down Elbrus. She reached the top of both the east and west summits of Elbrus. By this time, she developed an interest in fulfilling a life long dream of becoming the first American woman to Summit Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen. [2]

In May 1998, the pair arrived at base camp, Mount Everest. On May 17th, 1998 Sergi & Fran ascended from ABC to the North Col. On May 18th, they ascended to 7,700 meters as 21 other climbers (see below) reached the summit of Everest from the North. On May 19, Sergi and Fran climbed to 8200 meters (Camp 6). Sergi reported by radio that they were in good shape and were going to start their summit attempt on May 20th at 1:00am. On May 20th, after spending the night at 8200 meters (Camp 6), Sergi and Fran started their summit attempt but turned around at the first step when their headlamps failed. On May 21st, Sergi and Fran again stayed at Camp 6, after ascending only 50-100 meters before turning around.[3] After two aborted attempts on the summit (May 20 and 21), they began their final push on May 22, 1998. Due to the absence of oxygen supplementation at such high altitude, the two moved slowly and summitted dangerously late in the day. As a result, they were forced to spend the night in the hostile environment high upon the mountain. During the course of the evening, the two became separated. Sergei made his way down to camp the following morning, only to find that his wife had not yet arrived. Realizing she had to be somewhere dangerously high upon the mountain, he set off to find her, carrying oxygen and medicine.

Details of what happened next are sketchy, but the most plausible accounts suggest that on the morning of the 23rd, Francys was encountered by an Uzbek team who were climbing the final few hundred meters to the summit. She appeared to be in a half-conscious state, affected by oxygen deprivation and frostbite. Unable to move on her own, they attended to her with oxygen and carried her down as far as they could, until depleted of their own oxygen, became too fatigued to continue the effort. As they made their way down to camp that evening, they encountered Sergei on his way back up to her. This is the last time he was seen alive.[4]

On the morning of the 24th, two South African climbers, Ian Woodall and Cathy O'Dowd, and several more Uzbeks encountered Francys while on their way to the summit. She was found where she had been left the evening before. Sergei's ice axe and rope were identified nearby, but he was nowhere to be found. The South Africans called off their own attempt to reach the summit and tried to help her for more than an hour, but because of her poor condition, the perilous location and freezing weather, they were forced to abandon her and descend to camp.[5] She expired as they found her, lying on her side, still clipped onto the guide rope.

The mysterious disappearance of her husband Sergei was solved the following year when a member (Jake Norton) of the 1999 "Mallory and Irvine" expedition discovered his body lower on the mountain face, apparently having sustained a fatal fall during an attempt to rescue his wife.[6]

Ian Woodall initiated and led an expedition in 2007, "The Tao of Everest", with the purpose of returning to the mountain to bury the bodies of Francys Arsentiev and an Indian climber nicknamed "Green Boots", both of which were plainly visible from the nearby climbing route. Bad weather delayed the attempt, but on May 23, 2007, Woodall was able to locate, and after a brief ritual, drop Francys' body to a lower location on the face, removing her from view.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ The Age. May 6, 2007
  2. ^ http://www.everestnews.com/stories2007/fran05012007.htm
  3. ^ http://www.everestnews.com/stories2007/fran05012007.htm
  4. ^ http://www.everestnews.com/stories2007/fran05012007.htm
  5. ^ Daily Mail. April 30, 2007
  6. ^ http://www.cetneva.spb.ru/en_ars2.htm
  7. ^ The Tao of Everest expedition 2007[dead link]

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Francys_Arsentiev&oldid=446055049"