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I really enjoyed this book, but one of the issues I had with it was the Prologue shows McDowell leaving his climbing partner, Woolf, on the mountain to die. While this serves to paint a pretty clear picture of his character, it is by far and large his largest moral failing. He goes through this large transformation after prison, yet never comes to terms with this incident and apart from a fireside chat with Paige, it is never really addressed in the book. Did any one else notice this?

I did notice this and I found it to be a little disconcerting too. I expected some kind of resolution at one point or another in the book or at least for McDowell to show some remorse or to have some memories of the incident. I wish the author inserted some extracts from McDowell's memoir. Maybe this issue could have been addressed there.

My thoughts are that maybe the author didn't want to sound obvious about McDowell having changed from his heartlessness to being kind-hearted enough to help others when in need, instead he wanted the readers to see for themselves the full contrast of how McDowell changed to a better person. We see him leaving Woolf out in the cold to die and also murdering his grandson Jeremy but later on, after encountering many things that included loneliness while he was on the run, he learns to appreciate people and realize that other people matter too. Hence, we see him saving Kitsy's life. This clearly shows that he is now a changed man, not just doing things for his personal gain but helping people, making things right for the least.

I do feel it may have been beneficial for this to come up again, although it is true that the readers can see a change in McDowell's character by his actions (e.g. saving Kitsy even though it could mean he gets caught) rather than him literally saying "I feel bad for what I've done in the past".
I agree that an excerpt from the memoir may have helped here.

Woolf had been mentioned in the prologue and during a conversation between Hiram and Paige. Hiram was sure about the situation under which he had to leave Woolf in the mountains where he died. That instance seemed helpful in adding to the character-development of Hiram which showed his decision-making instincts.

I did notice this. I thought it would have made more of an impact on the story. It's a shame that it's only used as a strong introduction to the character of Hiram but that it isn't explained in the second part of the story, as most of his other shameful actions were.

For me, it would have made a greater impact had this been addressed later on in the book.

This issue was not properly addressed in the book, but it did play an important role in the introduction and development of Hiram's character. Although, I do think Hiram is not entirely a very likable person, but anyone would do that in order to survive. In those situations it's do or die, either you live or you help. It's a very tough decision to make, and many would have to act the way Hiram did. Everything does not always go the way we want it to. In those circumstances, mostly survival kicks in.

Just like Hiram's breakout from jail, his unlimited cash supply on run and many other things even the character of Woolf was forgotten by the author after the first page, I think he just created it to show the cruel face of McDowell to his readers without any other significance to it.

I think mentioning the incident showed the type of person Hiram was and his ambition and self centered attitude. I don’t think it really needed to be brought up again after that.

Yeah, it's disconcerting how a person can leave another person to die without any guilty conscious. Especially taking his oxygen tank. I don't think anyone can be practical to such an extent. Also, it shows how unrepenting he is to not mention it again.

This is one of his actions that I think was one of the worst. Just leaving someone, especially a friend, to die is completely atrocious, and the fact it's never addressed somehow makes it even worse

I think that even though McDowell seemed to come to terms on a lot of his shortcomings in the end, he still had a similar way of thinking. When he left poor Woolf up on that mountain, it was with the mindset that the man was too far gone and any risking of his own life would be foolish. It's similar to his reasoning behind ending Jeremy's life--it was for the best and the most logical thing to do in his mind. He was a surgeon, probably used to blocking out feeling.

And yet, wouldn't that make him more eager to preserve life?

It seems as though he retained this quality to his thinking all the way to the end, but his actions overshadowed it.

Yes. It definitely was more focused on as a part of revealing his character but not focused on as a part of his growth. Although it would have been nice to have it addressed more, it didn't bother me. Maybe if he had more time, he would have eventually gotten there.

I think that the story of Woolf in the beginning was to highlight and show the readers the true character of Hiram McDowell at that stage. I don’t particularly think that it needed to be brought up again. Throughout the story, we see the transformation of McDowell take place. We see his character from the beginning and then follow him through his rise and subsequent fall to rock bottom. As he pieces his life back together after his escape from prison, he meets various individuals along the way that help and aid him in his transformation. I don’t see that it would’ve done anything to the story to circle back to the situation with Woolf. If the author circled back to Woolf, he would also have needed to circle back to Carole, Michael, and others that he had wronged along the way.