Mount Steele, East Ridge in Winter, 1982. On December 28 a helicopter of Trans North Turbo Air dropped us at Base Camp on the Steele Glacier. We were Jirí Kohout, leader, his brother Ivan, Ivan Bohácek, Josef Rubín and me. We spent that night in our tents in good weather at –30° C and no wind. The weather stayed the same for the next two days as we established Camp I at 10,000 feet and Camp II at 12,000 feet. From Camp II Ivan Kohout, Bohâcek and I went on toward the top. We reached a suitable place for a tent at 14,000 feet at four P.M. The wind picked up and so we had problems in making a tent platform and in pitching the tent. The way we spent New Years Eve was not ideal but on the morning of January 1, 1982 the wind was bearable despite a temperature of –37° C. We soon reached the beginning of the final slope but from there to the top it was endless. Nevertheless at three P.M. we got there with –42° C. and a 30 mile-per-hour wind. Kohout suffered from frostbitten hands and I had stomach trouble, probably from the altitude. We reached our tent before dark and spent a long and bad night there. Ivan’s hands were very bad and we had problems on the descent the next morning as it was very windy again. At Camp II we were welcomed by our friends and after warm drinks we went down immediately. Jirí Kohout had a 30-foot fall after his crampon failed on hard ice and he twisted his ankle. We reached Camp I in the dark. That was the worst night of all since everyone was suffering from frostbite. It was clear that Ivan Kohout and Bohácek needed hospital care. We could hardly walk all the way to the Alaska Highway as we had planned. We called for help. It took long minutes and many unsuccessful attempts to warm batteries, fix the antenna, but then things went quickly. We were told that a helicopter would come after two hours and so both Ivans started for Base Camp while we packed up Camp I. They reached Base Camp just as the helicopter landed. Jirí Kohout, Rubin and I spent a comfortable night at Base Camp trying to eat up as much food as possible. On January 4 the helicopter came again. We all met in the Whitehorse Hospital where they treated our frostbite. All could be released but Ivan Kohout, who stayed until the next flight for Montreal and then Prague.

VladimÍr Weigner, Czechoslovakia