Marty Hoey (1951 – May 15, 1982) was a mountain climber who took part in the 1982 expedition to Mount Everest. During an attempted ascent that would have made her the first American woman to summit Everest, she plunged over the edge of the Great Couloir and died. The cause of her death was an unsecured climbing harness.[1]
Hoey worked for Dick Bass, at his Snowbird ski resort. She befriended him and accompanied him on his successful ascent of Mount McKinley and he was also a member of her climbing group when she perished on Mount Everest in 1982. When Bass eventually summitted Mount Everest in 1985, he dedicated his ascent to her.[2]
Hoey was the first woman mountain climbing guide to be hired at Rainier Mountaineering. Lou Whittaker at first was convinced that a woman could never have the strength and endurance required for the job. Marty had to take a job as cook for the climbers at 10,000 foot Camp Muir for a couple of years before being given the opportunity to prove herself.