Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world is not just a Himal. It is a dream for many, and it is the highest form of adventure known to mankind. There have been thousands of crazy people, mad for adventure and the thrill of climbing mountains, heading to the peak of the world’s best view, which is Mount Everest viewpoint.
The summit of Everest, every year, comes with unbelievable stories and magic with every climber. Most of these stories are so exciting and so motivating that we cannot stop ourselves from appreciating them forever. Unfortunately, few of those stories are so very devastating. These sad stories remain in the mountains for a very long time, and one such devastating story from Mount Everest is that of the sleeping beauty. A brave soul who died in May 1998 at Everest, on her way back from the summit. Although her body was demised on Everest that year, Everest Sleeping Beauty remained the most popular name in the history of Everest climbers forever.
So, are you ready to embrace the story of the sleeping beauty of Everest?
Who is Sleeping Beauty Everest?
Sleeping Beauty Everest is a name given to an American climber Francys Arsentiev.
Francis Arsentiev is known as The Sleeping Beauty of Everest. She died on Mount Everest on May 24, 1998, when she descended from the top of the tallest mountain after setting the record of the first American female to climb Everest without oxygen.
Francys was an American native, born and raised in Hawaii, Honolulu. She was born on January 18, 1958, as Francis Yabro – the daughter of John Yarbro and his wife, Marina Garrett.
Story of Francys Arsentiev
Popular with the name Sleeping Beauty, Francys Arsentiev was just an extra motivated woman in her final year of her 40s. Born on January 18, 1958, as Francis Yarbro, she was raised in a straightforward household by her mother Marina Garrett, and Father John Yarbro. She was a regular child, attending American School in Switzerland and working hard to get into a good college. For college, Francis went to Stephens College and later got her master’s degree in Business. In her mid-20s, Francys worked as an accountant in Telluride, Colorado.
Back, then the only exciting thing in Francy’s life was her endless craving for mountains. During one of such climbs to Annapurna of Nepal, she met the love of her life, her husband, Sergei Arsentiev in 1991. The duo then tied a vow with a promise to conquer all the highest peaks in the world and be the first couple to do so.
Who was the husband of Francys Arsentiev?
Sergei Arsentiev was a Russian Climber and Mountaineer. He was the husband of Francys Arsentiev. Before meeting Francys, Sergei climbed all mountains above 7000m in Soviet Russia. Popular with the nickname “snow-leopard”, this beast conquered more than 8000m peaks in Nepal. He also successfully climbed Annapurna and Kanchenjunga before going to Everest. That’s where he found his love and fellow mountaineer Sergei, during the most challenging Annapurna expedition. After dating for a year, the duo married in America and Sergei followed his wife, thus living in America. The two continue conquering higher mountains together before they are ready to beat Everest.
Before Everest…
Francys had climbed a few high peaks around the Alps and America before 1990, but the journey took a big turn after she met her husband Sergei Arsentiev, who was also a passionate mountaineer. Their first big climb together was Russian Peak Goodwill at the height of 5800m. They also climbed Denali via the West Buttress in Russia.
In 1994, Arsentiev was noted to be the 1st American woman to successfully ski down Elbrus. She was also the first woman to have summited Elbru’s east and west peaks at that time. Getting quite famous in America, now her dream was “Everest”, the highest of all mountains. She climbed Annapurna and a couple of other 8000ers preparing well for Mount Everest. She not only dreamed of climbing Everest but also wanted to make a record that would last forever. And thus comes the big ambition of being the “First American Woman to climb Everest without oxygen”.
How did Sleeping Beauty die?
After years of preparation and months of saving, the duo finally dared to go to the Everest Expedition on May 17, 1998. The hike started at the North Col at Everest Base Camp in Nepal without oxygen. The duo started their Everest Expedition from the North Col and on May 18, they reached the altitude of 7,700 meters. The next day, they got to the height of 8200 meters and couldn’t continue further, forced to stop at Camp 6. On May 20th, they started Camp 6, but the weather was not in their favor, causing the heavy snowfall.
As soon as they started to climb, they lost the headlamps. Due to this they dropped the climb on May 20th and re-attempted the summit on May 21. Again after 100 meters, they couldn’t continue the climb, forcing them to return to Camp 6 again. The 3rd attempt was made on May 22nd, and Francys and Sergei finally made it to the summit. It all seemed like a happy ending, but the main challenge was to come down.
After about one hour from the successful step to the summit, only Sergei came back to Camp 6. When other climbers from Uzbekistan asked Sergei why he was alone, the husband was so confused. Apparently, he thought Francis was before Tim Expedition team at around 09.35 at 8,450 meters. When they asked him where his wife was, he was confused and said, ‘Where is my wife? Didn’t she come down?’
Shortly later, the team noticed that Francys was at 8500, leaning against the rock, in a semi-conscious state. She slipped from the harness and was left without any tools. Her Husband, Sergei was last seen by the Uzbekistan team, climbing back to rescue his wife. And he was never seen again. Sergei’s death was confirmed by a research team of climbers in 1999s only.
On their way down, a team of Uzbekistan climbers provided Francys with oxygen, made her free from the rope, and left her there. There was no way they could have carried her down, and she was in no state to walk herself. Another team led by, Cathy O’Dowd and Ian Woodall, later mentioned that they had seen Francys in next day, still alive, but unable to walk. The team of Cathy tried to help Francys, but after a few hours of attempts, they gave up. The team even dropped their Everest expedition and yet couldn’t help Francys.
It is said that Francys stayed leaning on the rock for a long time, and she seemed to be in a long peaceful sleep. The climbers who saw her body other 1998, named her the ‘Sleeping Beauty of Everest.’
After the death hours… “Tao of Everest”
The body of Francis and Sergei remained on Everest for a long time. Until then, a lot of people had already heard about the story of “Sleeping Beauty”, especially fellow climbers Ian Woodall and Cathy O’Dowd. It was Ian Woodall who decided that he must remove the dead body of Francys and Green Boots. So, he started to lead the campaign “Tao of Everest” in 2007, with the sole purpose of removing dead bodies in Everest.
Thanks to the brave Nepali climber, Phuri Sherpa, the two were able to rescue the body of Francys on 23 May 2007. They couldn’t bring her body down, but took her body out of snow and rock, gave her a proper ceremony, and dropped her body off the North Face into a mountain grave. After that, she was no longer a landmark for Everest Climbers.
Ian Woodall remembers the experience saying, “Rescuing the body was harder than going to the summit”. During that mission, he also rescued the Body of Green Boots, who had died during the 1996 Mount Everest disaster.
Family of Francys Arsentiev
In 1977, Francys was married to John Abel, an American Citizen. They had a son together named Paul Abel. But in just a year, the couple divorced each other. Maybe Francys was too wild to be tamed in a house, and she found her love later Sergei Arsentiev, who died together, in the same place.
Paul, who was only 11 when her mother died on Everest now lives in Telluride, Colorado with his family. Thanks to God, he got to be raised in a beautiful family with his father John Abel.
What is the death zone and its relationship with sleeping beauty?
Near the summit of all the mountains above high peaks, there will be a zone getting through which is a very challenging task. This is considered the most dangerous zone of the mountain and 60 to 85% of all the deaths during mountain climbing happen in the death zone. In most of the mountains, it is said that the oxygen level drops lower than 40% in this death zone, and staying longer can lead to permanent loss of breathing.
Like all other mountains, Mount Everest also has its death zone somewhere between 8200 m and 8800m and it is believed that almost 300 climbers have died in this date zone. Mount Everest, death zone, which is also known as Rainbow Valley, is currently leading to more deaths, especially due to overcrowding in the climbing season. The namesleeping Beauty often comes about death zone because she also died somewhere between 8200 m and 8400 m. And her body remained a landmark in the death zone of Everest for a long time.
What is Rainbow Valley?
Rainbow Valley, although sounds like a very jolly name is a miserable place on Earth. The death of Everest, between 8200 m to 8600 m with 80% of the death in Everest reason is named the ‘Rainbow Valley’. Since there are a lot of human bodies and waste like jackets, T-shirts, and more in this region Everest, it looks like a colorful landmark when seen from below, just as a rainbow. But when viewed closely, this is a brutal land piece. Some famous Everest deaths such as that of Sleeping Beauty Everest and Green Boots also happened in this rainbow valley.
Here’s more about the Green Boot’s death.
Although some bodies from the death zone have been removed over the years, there are still a few lying there, buried below the snow.
Sleeping Beauty Body
The body of Sleeping Beauty was just lying there being the landmark for the climbers to recognize the route for almost nine years after her death. The 2007 campaign, Tao of Everest, helped to move the body of the Sleeping Beauty. It was recorded that the body of Sleeping Beauty of the Everest was repositioned towards the lower face of the mountain. They covered her body with the American flags as a sign of honor no longer being able to be seen by the climbers. She is now resting in the lap of the Everest which she always aimed.
Sleeping beauty face pictures
Hannelore Schmatz Mount Everest Sleeping Beauty
Talking about Sleeping Beauty, people often mistake her for Hannelore Schmatz. Somewhat similar to the story of Sleeping Beauty, she is yet another enthusiastic woman who fell under the tragedy of Everest. After labeling herself as ‘The fourth woman to reach the summit of Everest’, the descent was not in her favor. Unfortunately, when returning she also became ‘the first woman and German citizen to die on Everest’.
When they were returning from the summit, she was out of the oxygen tank and was urged to rest. Despite the Sherpa’s warnings, she stayed there with another climber, Ray Genet who also died there from exhaustion. She was in no condition to move, and the night was approaching too. Sungdare Sherpa, one of the sherpas with them stayed with her for the night and lost some of his fingers and toes. She died about 100 meters above the Camp IV desperately uttering the words, “water, water…”.
She was there as the landmark for other climbers. Most of them even confused her for a tent. But when climbers passed through her they said her body was more of a tragic grave than a landmark. They said, ‘She sits there as if she was taking a break from climbing. Her wide-open eyes and hair waving from the wind tell us she was warning us that we’re there under the rules of mountains.’ Later she got named as, ‘Sinister Guard.’ After the body has been visible to the climbers for so many years, she is now resting beneath the thick layer of snow. Her body was swept away by an avalanche and is no longer visible.
