Remembering Ann Wykoff

Recently, Seattle lost one of its greats. Ann Wyckoff passed away at the remarkable age of 98, and it’s hard not to smile when thinking about the life she lived. Ann had a deep love for adventure and an unmistakable verve for life that she passed on to her children and everyone lucky enough to know her.

I crossed paths with her family in 1980 when I climbed Kilimanjaro with her daughter Martha. A few years later, in 1984, Ann joined our Ultima Thule Everest Expedition, spending a week with us in Lhasa, Tibet. The food there was pretty awful, but Ann had thoughtfully brought along a stash of pickled vegetables. They were fantastic, and somehow perfectly summed her up: prepared and generous. Funny what sticks with you after all these years, isn’t it? She will be deeply missed.