Ever after on Everest (Visit this link)

Francys Arsentiev strode into the Telluride bank that spring day in 1998, stoked and confident. She was leaving soon to make history on Mount Everest, where she hoped to be the first American woman to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain without supplemental oxygen. "I remember she was extremely excited about it," says Peter Kenworthy, a former banker who saw her that day. "She was in training, in tip-top shape, and trying to do something no one had ever done. I think it was the farthest thing from her mind that she wouldn’t come back."

Instead, Arsentiev faced the cruel side of the majestic and fickle mountain, known by Tibetans as Chomolungma, Goddess Mother of the World — a goddess who offers her suitors random portions of tragedy and success.

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