The Most Famous Russian-American Couple That Died On Everest: FRANCYS AND SERGEI ARSENTIEV

In the spring of 1998, Francys Arsentiev became the first woman to summit Everest without the aid of supplemental oxygen, however she didn't manage to made it back safely remaining forever 'The Sleeping Beauty of Everest'. Shortly after her death, Everest also took the life of her mourning husband who was also a mountaineer - Sergei Arsentiev...
Thanks for watching!
Check out my True Crime channel:
/ @archiestruecrime
Watch next:
Anatoli Boukreev's Tragedy on Everest: • 1996 Everest Tragedy: ...
Marco Siffredi's Last Snowboard Ride Down Mount Everest: • DISAPPEARED SNOWBOARDI...
1952 SECRET Soviet Everest Expedition: • 1952 SECRET Soviet Eve...

[@ArchiesArchive]

Thanks for watching! Don't forget to subscribe if you liked this video.

[@Docta_Tma]

Archie, I've been watching your vids for atleast 2.5-3 years now and I have to ask where is your accent from? You do seem to be losing it as all these videos have gone by but still, I just can't pin the accent. 😂 please, don't take offense to my question! Also nice video as always!

[@adambane1719]

2,503 and years?? How old are you bro !?@@Docta_Tma

[@divinecommerce3912]

To The Son left behind... My deepest condolences.

[@adambane1719]

You'll need to contact him via different route. Not here.

[@claudiat.2662]

This is really sad, especially because of her son. I would not consider doing this if I were a mother but this is still really sad

[@evab.6240]

It is very sad indeed. But all those dudes who climb also have kids that will get left behind if something happens. People keep mentioning the "oh so irresponsible and selfish" mothers who choose to climb or do any dangerous activity. How many fathers passed away in the mountains chasing their daredevil dreams, and noone bats an eye about the kids left at home. That probably was not your intention but i just felt like it needs to be said in general.

[@phillipproussier3723]

@@evab.6240 Why are you genderizing this? They say the same about men with families.

[@VanessaCurry711]

Agreed dad or mom should NEVER do smthg like this we are on borrowed time as it is!! I dk bout anyone else but I selfishly want as much time as possible with my children

[@rolfsinkgraven]

Her son did not want her too go because he saw it in a dream, she did not listen and for filled her destiny, poor kid................

[@ashmaybe9634]

Two women had summited Everest without oxygen before 98; Lydia Pounamu Bradey in 88 and Alison Hargreaves in 95 (who did it solo without sherpas).

[@silentbliss7666]

They are from New Zealand and Britain. Francis wanted to be the first woman from US to do so.

[@desdicadoric]

All totally pointless

[@adambane1719]

To you maybe. But some people actually have dreams... that they are realising@@desdicadoric

[@ofthenote7162]

@@silentbliss7666 But Archie's Archive talks about her as the first woman - period - and that is wrong!

[@unHingedOYT]

One thing I appreciate about this channel is that you tell us about their lives prior to their tragedies, I follow a lot of adventure disaster channels and most of them begin from the day of the tragedy as if their life before is irrelevant hence why those stories are also 7-10 minutes only….thank you for your effort.

[@adambane1719]

Your welcome !

[@adambane1719]

*Yop're

[@adambane1719]

*Youpre

[@adambane1719]

*Yop're

[@adambane1719]

*Youre

[@garlickebagg]

I also read Jon's book, the only part that made sense to me, was that, no matter how hard it is to get up there, it's much much harder to get back down. Jon made a bunch of bucks from that 1996 tragedy, but as i read the book, i also knew that i was reading His version of the truth. Thank you, Archie, for presenting these stories in the fair and unbiased way that you do. And your questions often fill in the blanks. Danke.

[@mandalorianmama]

Two nights in the death zone with no oxygen... It's amazing she was even alive when they found her

[@sinisterdoom9009]

Was thinking the same!

[@dawnfollett9215]

To All, I was a community hospital ICU RN for 25+ years. The thing that I liked or loved the most about what I did--was I took care of people at all ages who presented with a variety of health problems. Death respects no gender or age. People who are paralyzed at any level so often admire and/or envy the rest of us who are not paralyzed--and can lead “normal” lives. Some folks put their life at risk when they smoke, take drugs, and/or drink to excess--and worse yet--drive while intoxicated. We can die in a car accident, or get shot by some clown with their AK-whatever at Walmart. I personally would not want to climb mountains--or do anything that puts my life at high risk for a shorter one. I find it a little crazy that more and more folks do these mountain climbs, leave their litter behind, if not their body too. I would hope that when permits are given to do these risky mountain climbs--that people are required to attend a lecture that emphasizes and drills home the point that they may not return home because of the risk. Trails littered with bodies and trash is not the sort of scenery I would be interested in. Each to their own--but I fail to see the “glory” in doing something where you never get to enjoy reaching the summit--because you never make it back to tell the story. “Thank You.”

[@kailoveskitties]

Sorry, but I have very little sympathy for people who decide to climb everest when they have kids at home. “Don’t leave me!” I bet her kid was thinking the same thing about her.

[@kailoveskitties]

Rob Hall was an asshole for leaving his pregnant wife at home to go die on a mountain, for example. I bet his daughter is very proud of the father she never even got to meet. 🙄

[@silentbliss7666]

Is our sympathies any good here?

[@amateurastronomer9752]

What the sense in being so harsh? I mean, if you think she did something wrong, she clearly paid the ultimate price for it. Her son says he doesn’t resent her and it was a blessing she died doing something she loved. If the son is your concern and he’s not resentful towards her, why should you be?

[@leanderrowe2800]

I agree with the writer's comment. As a single mother myself, I would be very irresponsible if I knowingly go on a dangerous trip that I may not come back.

[@lindapage4866]

I agree with the writer I'm a mother of two boys I brought them into this world they are your responsibility and they need your love and guidance , climbing you can still do but to climb obviously dangerous mountains leaving your children motherless is wrong and selfish

[@Zadir09]

Another great video man!

[@jamsjars9505]

Props to that couple that noticed Francys and tried their best to help despite their lack of manpower and equipment to actually get her out of there. They tried their best but had to choose their own lives in the end.

[@frankblangeard8865]

They should have known, and probably did know, that they could not save Francy's life. They simply prolonged her dying and achieved nothing.

[@MMMNemesis]

I also read "Into thin air" by Jon Krakauer. Later, I saw a documentary. He was not in it, but a lot of the others that was there that day, were. Nobody even mentioned him and I think not everyone on that mountain that day agrees with what he wrote in his book. Unfortunately I have forgotten the name of the documentary, but I wouldn't take Jon Krakauers story as absolute truth, if you read the book he will even himself admit at one point that his memory don't add up with some of the elses. Climbing Everest is an extreme task for most people, your brain will be so tired it will make things up, I'm not saying Jon Krakauer is necessarily lying, I mean that if we're looking at memories, we will end up with more than one truth, because of how brains work. Also, in a stressful situation where people are literally dying, being a bit paranoid about people around you can be a life saving thing evolutionary speaking, and I think he was suspicious about some of the others by pure instinct.

[@mandalorianmama]

Memory is weird. It's very fallible. While his account is surely not the whole truth, neither is anyone else's account, as their memories are also fallible

[@moonwacha]

I agree !! I feel like Krakauer narrated his first impression of what he believed happened. Then when he finally learned the whole story, he doubled down instead of apologizing. :/ didn’t wanna hurt his ego

[@middleagedrenegade9178]

Krakauer is a snake. Anatoli Boukreev is an absolute hero by actions and character, and all Krakaur did was turn his nose up and write a bunch of shit (which as OP said, was disagreed with by others there).

[@kkal9915]

Correct. Plus Anatoly was under no obligation to go back to the summit in late afternoon having just returned to camp from his own summit ascent/decent, without oxygen bottles and needing a few hours to rest! Yet he did and rescued stranded expedition members who deviated from the plan and stayed longer which put their lives and others' at risk. @@middleagedrenegade9178

[@nellie7320]

Excellently told, thank you 😢♥️♥️

[@PqV72MT4]

Ignoring a child's dream is a bad idea

[@Simp_Zone]

Ah another Mount Avrast documentary. Thanks Archie!

[@FinnishLapphund]

I assume they were already affected by the height when they failed to be able to realise that her needing to sit down on the way up, meant she/they needed to turn around.

[@desdicadoric]

Sergeis wives were rather unlucky. Feel sorry for the kids these people leave behind. If I was about to do something irresponsible and or dangerous you can be damn sure I’d not take my wife with me.

[@user-jr8ou8ui8m]

Nice to see other photos of the couple

[@enricoelconi408]

One question: Why at a certain point they separated Serguei took the longest way to go down and left his wife alone taking the shortest way down. That makes no sense

[@Alpha1111Omega]

He must be cursed. 3 wifes dead. Poor man really. 😢

[@user-jr8ou8ui8m]

I just posted this too. Just like Jim Morrisons wives too

[@pewsterbaby]

@@user-jr8ou8ui8m Morrison was never married. His girlfriend, Pam Courson, died 3 or 4 years after him and Patricia Kennealy, the wiccan ceremony woman, lived for decades afterward, so I dunno where you got that one from.

[@user-pg7cx9wo1m]

Or was he killing them ?

[@pewsterbaby]

@@user-pg7cx9wo1m Yeah, ya never know about those Russians. Their culture doesn't value human life and people are suspicious of everybody else. Nobody even smiles, nation of poker faced cold people.

[@sharonanderson8680]

Sorry but I don't feel sorry for any of these people who take such extreme chances with their lives, plus they shouldn't have children

[@pixie7435]

If she had oxygen the entire way, i think things would have been very different. People do need to remember it was dangerous then, before the huge amount of traffic we see today on Everest . So in a sense, at a certain point it is every man or woman for themselves. To save her, would be to risk so many other souls. She knew the risks and took them, and unfortunately and very sadly paid the ultimate price

[@odisseyidetdomoy2151]

Спасибо.

[@travelerforever8849]

The thrill of going up a mountain.. done that, its something you never forget.. but never forget to weight the dangers.

[@imaghost2961]

Wait is this the couple who abandoned their child to do these stupid mountain climbs??? If it is, I don’t feel sorry for them at all. I have zero respect for them either. It’s the kid that people should feel sorry for. I think he was like.. 10? Wow. Imagine loving a dangerous sport more than your own kid. I probably sound like a jerk, but that poor kid probably grew up feeling like his parents didn’t love him. Selfish awful people. How could they do this to their son? How could they not once think about how their actions would affect him?

[@TBlack-dz5bo]

You don’t sound like a jerk, you are just stating the sad reality that their quest for glory outweighed the risk of orphaning their child. It’s good for parents to be passionate about things, but these two were reckless and couldn’t rest on their many achievements. At some point I’m sure their kid is going to confront this fact, so unfair!

[@imaghost2961]

⁠@@TBlack-dz5boPhew! I was kind of worried I was being a jerk. Yeah. What happened to that kid is so fricking unfair. Why have a kid if you’re going to abandon, or neglect it? Or treat it like garbage? I mean I don’t know if he was neglected or abused, but he definitely was abandoned.

[@Vaslof]

For you it is a stupid mountain climb, for them it was much more.

[@you-dont-know-me]

I don't have kids, but if I did, they would be piggy-backing on me, on my life, not suddenly taking over my life, I am still a person, I still live my life, and my kids are not taking it over. I sure would help them out, but my life is still my life and they and everyone else can f.o. I'd rather have none. Its my life and I will do as I please untill it is over, and besides 10yr old kid in US is not like going to starve to death or anything so who cares. Poor people.

[@silentbliss7666]

If every couple think like you then there won't be divorces.

[@santanuchatterjee2663]

Their endeavour had been made them unforgettable and left an unique message to the upcoming ages of heroic mountaineers.

[@terrilane2973]

Algorithm for well put together video

[@Anomic-mo9ji]

I wonder if there is a person in their later years looking back on their long life and wondering why they passed on a chance to climb Everest and lamenting that they didn't freeze solid there 35 years ago.

[@moniquecastelo]

I don't care how experienced you are, no one should spend so many nights in the death zone specially with no oxygen 🤨 and descending in the night is always... questionable

[@phillipproussier3723]

You would do the same thing if you were up there.

[@stee8345]

Hello ! 😊

[@carlosue5472]

They went down in history for being two of the stupidest egoists in history.

[@Docta_Tma]

Definitely never realized how dangerous mountaineering can be when I was only 6 or 7 and my family went to Switzerland and Italy to walk up and down all these huge ass mountains well into several thousand meters. I think we did a 5000-meter trail that was only halfway up or less. The views were so gorgeous I can remember them now, even in my 30s.😅

[@kkal9915]

Those ski resorts on the Alps between Italy and Switzerland are about 3,700 meters (12,000 feet) high, not 5000 m. Just a few days ago the bodies of five missing skiers, all from one family, were recovered, and a sixth person was missing. They had set off from Zermat, a popular ski destination Saturday morning March 10, 2024 and were reported missing in the Tête Blanche region, according to police in the canton of Valais. The skiers were family members aged between 21 and 58 from the Valais canton, while the sixth person is from the canton of Fribourg. Police did not reveal the identities of the dead skiers, whose bodies were found in Tête Blanche on Sunday.

[@anuaraiza983]

How come is that her beautiful picture of her in the summit is available for the world to see?

[@zztop4996]

Ian Woodall's story regarding Arsentiev wasn't any different. Researchers digging more deeply and watching all the videos about the 1996 Everest Disaster, including the one that includes info. on death of Bruce Herrod, their teammate from the UK, will find confirmation everywhere that there was nothing positive nor the fruit of goodwill related to anything Woodall and O'Dowd said or did. Great video, by the way.

[@pewsterbaby]

Yeah, they hung around her feeding their shadenfreud.

[@pewsterbaby]

She went up there trying to prove herself to her MOTHER, who was a cold fish. She chased her mother's approval all the way up the mountain. It's shown in a personal letter she wrote to her mother in another documentary. And while it's being read posthumously, the freaking woman had the audacity to roll her eyes at her daughter's feelings.

[@StAlphonsusHasAPosse]

Summit fever strikes again

[@ninachkah13]

I don't mean to be morbid..... but in the past, ive definately had some very dark thoughts about ending my life and this seems like a great way to do it. Its almost like an existential challenge... being ok that you'll die but then having to be faced with the actual choice to find the strength to fight for your life. I hope that makes sense.

[@imaghost2961]

Hey, are you okay?

[@garlickebagg]

You certainly are not the only human to process this idea, but one of the few who looks at this honestly and sincerely. Don't let anybody get away with their Shame game. Danke.

[@Anon_571]

It's called having a purpose in life. Many people risk their lives for many reasons, some do it in their work to provide for their families, some do it out of passion for a sport or a hobby.

[@MsAdventure531]

…and in that very moment one’s purpose, one’s being, one’s existence is revealed,and the idea of ending it would dissipate like early morning fog on Lotsë.

[@garlickebagg]

@@MsAdventure531 that was poetical, beautiful ❤️👍.

[@edwigcarol4888]

"conquer" ; "dream" ; "dying doing the thing you love" ; being the first of xxx" and a bulk of superlatives at each sentence" I would be fed up by these wheel of Prayers if it weren't for my fascination of this cultural mythos.. A ritual that kills you.. that is psychologically interesting Must be all suicidal somehow... Kind of snobby suicide, having an overdose is too dirty... or isn't it just the same, in another manner ? A destructive exasperated passion of some sort, being high with a drug or on the Everest kills you. Each of these behaviors expresses contempt for the basic biological needs of the body Air to breathe Warmth Metabolism/ homeostasis

[@toscadonna]

That poor kid. Very irresponsible and selfish for a mother and stepfather to go mountain climbing where you can so easily die and leave your kid an orphan.

[@bogdansedan5504]

I am still confused at how they got separated?

[@littletrebleclef]

They were in the dark and got separated, they were probably delirious due to lack of oxygen.

[@bogdansedan5504]

@@littletrebleclef thx man. you are the mvp

[@theanti-feminist5718]

She actually said, “don’t leave me, I’m American “👀

[@adambane1719]

This is YT, so prolly not !

[@norgrenarn]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@user-jr8ou8ui8m]

sergeis wives lives all ended in tragedy? Just like Jim Morrison (hilaire nelsons husband)😮

[@kevinmalone3210]

She was nicknamed, Sleeping Beauty, because of her looks and how her skin turned all white after she died on Everest.

[@frankblangeard8865]

When you climb Everest you have to be prepared to pass someone who is dying and not stop to 'help them'. Ian and kathy were not prepared to do that. They stopped to 'help' Francys and simply prolonged her suffering without accomplishing anything and also ruining their own summit attempt.

[@kevinmalone3210]

They were able to give her some comfort by being with her.

[@KevlarVTX]

Prolonged her suffering? I'd have to take points off.

[@littletrebleclef]

No shade to Sergei, but he seemed a bit cursed. Like all his wives die in the end... I wonder if he felt that way too and took his own life. I recall Aristotle Onasis claimed Jacqueline Kennedy had the Kennedy curse after one of his sons died. It seems death follows some people closer than others for whatever reason.

[@jcdova29]

Congratulations on being the first woman to summit Everest without the use of bottled oxygen!! Hope it was worth it!!

[@maryamk3977]

19:54 sad and beautiful

[@CharmSchool_Reject]

Im confused, does one have to be unemployed to be considered a mountaineer? She trekked anapurna? ... Thats as mountanieer as most get?

[@fionawilson6472]

It's not that she wasn't a mountaineer, it's that she wasn't a *professional* mountaineer. It's not a judgment of ability, necessarily, it's just that she's not doing it as her job. Professionals make their money by climbing, either through sponsorships, or by guiding others.

[@qmaube1]

Are you using AI to narrate. It keeps mispronouncing words.

[@garlickebagg]

He's Canadian, don't use it against him. He was born like that.

[@SirDeanYawl]

F Krakauer

[@KevlarVTX]

18:40. Please cite some sources for this information. As far as I've found, Sergei never found Francys and fell to his death. Very strange pro-Sergei, pro-Russia bias to this whole video.

[@shanehopke8966]

Rip legends

[@ronpagala7496]

Wasted beauty

[@johnsmith-um3fk]

Why have you hid the bodies? It's like in the kindergarten: if i close my eyes with my hands the bad i would see wouldn't be there! There's nothing disgusting on these pictures of their bodies, and beyond of all they're reacable easily! So why hiding?

[@ode4162]

Possibly because youtube may either demonitise or outright remove the video, or simply to respect the families of the deceased.

[@DustyInTheWind]

1😊

[@leanderrowe2800]

How could Sergei left his wife up there and came down alone ? On top of it, he knew her son was waiting for his mother to come home. He is the biggest jerk !

[@Escalusfr]

Watch the video, he LOST her in the dark because they climbed too late, and spent the following days trying to find her, going so far others wondered how he could still stand... You didn't even watch the video, did you?

[@travelerforever8849]

the guilt killed him at the end...

[@steve3po13]

May the KZbin God's bless this video with the algorithm, Amen 🙏🙏

[@ladyweasellou3367]

Wow, what a jerk. I thought you said they were in love.... that's not love, that's selfish Bull.

[@whyareyoulikethis2819]

By that logic she didn't love her son either. She left him to go have dangerous fun after all.

[@ladyweasellou3367]

@@whyareyoulikethis2819 Yep, that's a logical conclusion as well

[@Assia131]

Who knows the conditions they were in when they descended, that's why they were separated

[@kkal9915]

They became separated in darkness while descending. This is the worse thing you can do there. They started the whole thing late and that was there mistake as well as several others who started late and could not make it. There is a very well know rule that one never ascends too late to allow time to descend to se what you are during light hours, otherwise it is extremely risky doing it in the dark @@Assia131