The very exciting news is that i got to meet Will Steger Sunday evening, and the timing was
positively Divine! For the past 3 years, ever since i learned that he was on the expedition in Peru
where Daddy died, we have been trying to find a chance to talk. Just 4 weeks earlier, January 8, i
lost my beloved Cattledog, Scrapper, to a strange auto-immune disease, which gave her hemolitic
anemia; her own immune system was eating up her red blood cells. According to the blood tests,
her bone marrow was turning out new red blood cells as fast as it could, but they were of the
immature variety, and the numbers just weren't keeping up. She even had an all-day blood
transfusion (nearly 1000 cc from her Cattledog buddy, Frank, who belongs to our friend and vet,
Murt Byrne), but to no avail. She has been my best doggie ever, my 24 hour a day, most loving
and faithful friend and companion for nearly 9 years. She adored me from her very first day in my
life as a tiny puppy, and all she ever wanted to do was please me, be with me no matter where i
was, and be a perfectly obedient, fun, and happy companion. Her loss affected me second only to
losing my Father. Having never had children of my own, she was the closest thing that i could
imagine; and now i completely have an empathy of the pain which parents feel at that most terrible
loss of a child..... All the grieving, and torrents of tears those first few days after she died seemed
also to be for Daddy, for i found myself thinking of him a lot, missing his love and guidance, and
feeling such great losses. i was Daddy's girl, and quite the tom-boy. We puttered around
together, building or doing this or that (from these early experiences stemmed my confidence to
tackle my own house-building as well as other wild projects!!), 'teased' the bees (he set me up
with a little booth by the road to sell honey, and his specialty, creamed honey--made by adding
special finely-crystalled honey, which would 'grow' and 'cream' an entire batch), went skiing
(mostly on Pike's Peak), watched Sky Sox baseball games, listened to the Brooklyn Dodgers on
the radio, Red Barber calling the plays; he loved the night sky and the stars, and taught us many
constellations; and on several winter nights, he would awake us to see the Northern Lights in the
early morning hours!! There were many hikes and camping trips every year, and lots of picnics to
Taryall and Wilkerson Pass east of South Park, west of Colorado Springs. And what of skipping
rocks on Maroon Bells Lake near Aspen... i was blessed to have been able to climb on Mt.
Whitney and the Matterhorn with him! Anytime my hands would be too cold, he'd put one under
each armpit; instant warm for me, great loving discomfort for him. He let me drive the car when i
was young, out on the lonely desert roads going to visit relatives in California, and took me for
my license at 8 am the morning of my birthday!! And he had a fabulous compost pile, which he
lovingly tended each year. Soon my horse added precious humus to that pile! Our 'deal' was that
i would fill the manure cart, and he would dump it on the compost pile. How beautifully grew his
huge iris collection, as well as his carrots, beets, and corn, along with Ma's great rockgarden.
When we were little, my brother and i would sit with him in his big chair, one on either side, and
he would read to us, night after night, while Mom knitted and listened too. The Tall Book of
Make Believe, and especially the story 'Bad Mousie,' was a favorite. Garth Williams' incredible
illustrations piqued our imaginations as well!!!!! It was glorious!! Daddy was a warm and loving
person, very open and friendly and caring, and full of life and warm humor. He left me with some
favorite meals---peanut butter and lettuce sandwiches on whole wheat bread (Velveeta and cheese
too), beets all summer, and our very favorite: Christmas morning breakfast of Wheaties topped
with vanilla ice cream and applesauce (not to mention the Whitney Christmas tradition---the
Christmas monster; pile up the presents, cover with a sheet, and make a face or a scene. Tucked
safely away, no present peeking or guessing.) He was a prolific writer, and sent lots of little notes
to his various friends, just to say 'hi!' and keep in touch. Even though we weren't as close during
my teen years, i always adored him, admired him (and he was so handsome!), and wanted to be
daddys-little-girl again... To this day, his friends, family, and old patients still remember him in
great detail and with much fondness. i was indeed blessed to have such wonderful, loving parents
who believed in me and encouraged me, knowing i could do anything i put my mind to. Along
with my extended family from the Whitney and Bradley clans, i couldn't have asked for better!!!!
Hallelujah!!

i am most likely a New Mexican today because of childhood trips; to Taos when there were only
600 people, visiting a medical school friend, Dr. Pond. How i loved the adobe houses and the
pueblo, the dirt roads, and the great variety of animals wandering all over! And visiting another
medical school friend, Dr. Shipman in Pojoaque. A child's dream world---cottonwood lined
driveway, and gorgeous old adobe house with myriads of rooms going here and there, plenty of
secret hide-a-ways!! i loved the vegetation too, and always felt really comfortable here.
Colorado was a wonderful place to grow up, and now to visit, but NM is home sweet home.

Will Steger is the man who completed a 2000 mile trek across the Arctic, March-August, 1995,
arriving at the North Pole on Earth Day, where there was a great celebration. Named the
International Arctic Project (IAP), he travelled with 3 other men and 2 women, from 5 different
countries. Will was the oldest of the group, the youngest being 20 years his junior. He has done
many Arctic treks and explorations, and Shaklee has been his major sponsor for over 3 years, as
well as his nutrition advisor. They developed "Will Power Soup" for the trip; a mere 750 calories
per serving! But they needed around 6000 calories each day, so special meals were developed!
They were on the internet for their entire trip, and talked to school kids every day. i received the
daily faxes of their progress and conditions, and was glad to be in my warm home!! But more on
that later. The expedition to Peru in the summer of 1965 was organized by the Iowa Alpine Club,
and Daddy had gone down there in June. There were several climbs over the next few weeks,
with some climbers being very advanced, and others being intermediate. Daddy had flown from
Colo. Spgs. to Miami, where he left his backpack (that i have to this day). He had to replace his
equipment, including a new camera that Will remembers both of them playing around with. Then
it was on to Peru. Will hitch-hiked from Minnesota to Miami, arriving in only 36 hours. That
adventuresome 20 year old! But i remember how we hitched all over the place back then too, as
well as giving a lot of total strangers rides ourselves! It was a lot of fun, really quite safe, and we
met some great folks, some of whom are cherished friends to this day. How the times have
changed.....

Will was involved in three 'first ascents' by new routes of peaks over 18,900 feet in the Peruvian
Andes, and had arrived somewhat earlier. Being only 17 when Daddy died (and my brother, Ed,
only 15), i either didn't know how to find out more, or was in just too much pain to expose myself
to more pain-through-knowledge (or whatever it was!!); so for nearly 30 years i hadn't tried to
search out more details. What i knew was really quite sketchy, and i had carried this vague
information around all those years. Then something really miraculous happened! Right after my
next door neighbor, Sue Hertel (that fabulous painter of horses and animals, lover of people and
the earth, and my wonderful friend), died in March 1993, her daughter, Clare, and i were talking
and crying on her porch, sharing the loss of our parents. Clare worked for Shaklee in the Public
Relations dept. for several years, and she was the chief PR person for all of Will's Shaklee-
associated trips. Her first assignment for Shaklee was PR for the Daedalus Project---the first
totally man-powered flight of a small airplane the 76 miles from Greece to Santorini, following
the path taken by Daedalus and Icarus in Greek Mythology. Shaklee Performance Drink was
specially formulated for this historic voyage; such a great need to supply muscle fuel and
hydration for the severe physical stress! Performance was a major part of Will's rations too!!! In
1993, Will established the IAP, and planned several training expeditions in preparation for the big
trip in 1995; this was when Shaklee became involved as one of the Founding Sponsors, as well as
the dietary advisor to help with the nutrition needs in such extreme conditions!! Clare was there
when they left from Russia, and also when they arrived back in the North West Territories, as well
as other wonderful events related to the various expeditions. As we sat and talked, i told her of
losing my precious Daddy to a mountain in Peru in 1965. Clare said this had a really familiar ring
to it!! When she first met Will, they were talking about how he became involved in Arctic
exploration, dog-sledding, and the environment of the far North. He had told her that he was
once interested in mountain climbing, but 2 of his friends were killed in the summer of 1965 in
Peru, and he decided then to pursue Arctic exploration rather than mountain climbing. Whether
he thought mountaineering was more dangerous than Arctic exploration, or just took the accident
as a sign, i have yet to ascertain!!

Will was just 20 years old in 1965, and the youngest member of the expedition. Only 5 people
were on the climb of Ranrapulca that day (i think it was the last day of the trip). My Father was
roped with another man, Tom Himes, who was 36 years old, and teaching at a Catholic School in
Santa Fe. For some reason, all these years i had been under the assumption that he was only 19.
His parents lived in Albq., but as far as i know, we never spoke to them, and i had no recollection
that he was from NM; i always thought he was from Minnesota. It has now occurred to me that
somewhere in my subconscious i knew of Will Steger, perhaps had heard a little about him from
some unknown source, and somehow transposed him for Tom. Neither Mom or Ed had this
notion, so it is quite a mystery. WHEW!!!!! When i first knew of Will's presence in Peru, i had
assumed that he and the man who had died were friends, as i had always thought that they were
the same age and from the same state. And often when i thought of the other man's death, it
seemed even more sad because i was thinking he had died so very very young in life, being nearly
my own age at that time. It is an absolute miracle that the 3 people on the other rope were saved.
i had known that a British woman, Joyce Dunsheath, her husband, and another man were roped
together, and that she had fallen into a small crevasse, thus saving the three of them from falling
into the big one (2000' deep) that had taken Daddy's life. Will added the details; he had been on
that same climb only days earlier, and some of the climbers had left a belay rope up the final,
nearly vertical ascent to the summit. On the day of the accident, Will was climbing another
mountain across the valley from Ranrapulca. Throughout the day, he had often looked over to see
the 5 small dots working their way up the mountain. A little later on in the day, a cloud started to
form over the summit, and soon was growing and moving downward. It caused the temperature
to drop, and the fairly soft snow that had before provided a good surface for securing pickaxes,
was now hard and crusty and much more dangerous. He watched as those 5 small figures
disappeared into the storm, even thinking they might turn back from attempting the summit. But
they had indeed reached the summit. It seems, perhaps, that someone had tried to retrieve that
belay rope which previously had been secured to the summit (they were breaking camp that next
day, and no one else would be needing it), and perhaps that was the cause of the fall. i suppose
no one will ever really know, and speculation is futile. The other observation that Will had made
on his own ascent of Ranrapulca some days earlier, was to see first hand how the smaller
crevasses were situated. The slope was about 70 degrees, and the smaller crevasses were at
approximately a 45 degree angle to the main snowfield. There were large cornices over each
small crevasse, so that anyone careening down the mountain slope would be propelled over those
smaller crevasses to continue down the mountain. There was a small break in one of the cornices,
and it was through this small hole that the woman miraculously fell. The three of them were
unconscious for quite some time, and when they awoke, found themselves dangling on the
mountains' edge, Joyce in the small crevasse, the two men on the slope. Back then, climbers
didn't wear the protective head gear that is common today, and Will said that after the initial
couple of seconds of panic at falling, the speed and impact of the decent most surely caused each
person to be unconscious almost immediately; i felt as if he were trying to reassure me that Daddy
felt almost no pain, and really had almost no idea of what was happening.....

Mom has never put together memoirs about the accident and the people with whom she spoke
and visited, and just today i encouraged her to begin before they are lost in space. It seems
important at this time in my life to get this all together!! As i told Will, i was in such pain and
denial at the time that i don't remember many of the details. And then i went off to college less
than a month later, and was able to occupy my mind with other things and not pursue those
details. The years just slipped by, as did the decades; and until the connection with Will arrived
nearly 3 years ago, i hadn't thought about pursuing it. Now i'm going to get it going!!! Will and i
spent nearly an hour talking, and he told me some of what he remembers. Now i wish i'd had a
tape recorder running, because it was so emotional and amazing, that several of the details are
already lost. When Daddy had first arrived at camp, he and Will struck up a friendship over
photography. Daddy was showing Will his new camera; Will said he was so kind to him, showing
a lot of interest in what he was up to, and helping him with his own camera. Daddy had always
taken a lot of pictures, even when he was out by himself. His favorite feature on a camera was
the delayed shutter, allowing him to run and get into the picture. i still remember him doing it
many times with me, and with our whole family!!! i, too, love that feature!!! He was also big on
wearing bright scarves, or some other article of clothing, so that it would show up against the
snow! He loved slide shows, so most of his old photographs are color slides. i need to do a
'show' myself one day soon!!! One of our great sorrows is that we never got Daddy's film back.
Ma just told me that a priest who had been on the expedition, Father Joseph Braig, had taken
charge of the film, and was going to get it developed and then send it to her. She never heard
from him again. About a year later she went to an Alpine lecture in Denver with 2 of our dearest,
longtime climbing friends, Bob Ormes, (a professor at Colo. College, and author of several
mountaineering books) and Betsy Cowles Partridge, (renown woman mountaineer and one of our
dearest friends all my growing-up years); and the priest was there. Just as soon as he realized
who Mom was, he disappeared, and has never been heard from since. Later, she worried that he
had mis-interpreted a letter she had written to him shortly after the accident, when he first
contacted her. From what i understand, he was one of the better climbers on the expedition, and
she had stated her regrets that he hadn't been with the other 5, as his greater expertise might have
saved them. She thinks he may have thought she meant she wishes he had died instead. i would
certainly hope he hadn't really thought that!! How sad it never was resolved...

Miscommunications have certainly caused the vast majority of wars and hatred since the
beginning of time. So even one or two pictures would be a blessing!! Will told me he
remembers right where his negatives from that trip are stashed, and as soon as he returns from his
post-IAP lecture tour, he will get them printed. He clearly remembers taking photographs of the
mountains, and perhaps even of those 5 little dots of climbers. He admitted being more into
photographing views than people, but thinks there may be a group-shot somewhere in there. i am
very excited to see what he sends!!!

Another special thing that stuck with Will was when he returned to camp after the accident. Of
course, the people in his party were unaware of what had happened. He knew immediately that
something wasn't right. People were walking around somberly, and in a very dark, quiet way.
But what really struck him was how giddy the three were who had survived. They were indeed
joyous to be alive, and amazed at the miraculous way in which they had been saved. But also
very dispirited at the deaths of Daddy and Tom. i'm sure it's a feeling which stayed with each of
them forever.....the tragedy and the triumph once again.... i'm kind of sorry that i didn't record on
cassette or video all that Will told me that night; i want to remember every word, every detail, and
already i've lost some of it. i feel like a very dry sponge, just waiting to be soaked to dripping!!!
i'll have lots of questions next time we speak!! Will hopes to speak with Ed on the phone soon,
and maybe Ed can record their conversation. Will also hopes to visit all of us in Colo. within the
next year, so perhaps i can have the video camera running.....

International Arctic Project

continued on the next page......
Annie okl's Home Page 10


Annie okl's Home Page1

With Will Steger, Cerrillos NM, 1996

annie and baby kanga

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