For those who live to be in the mountains, Fred Beckey was a hero. In an unapologetic style, he was first to climb some of North America’s greatest peaks before they were popular even as tourist attractions, let alone climbing. He died Monday at 94.
German-born he emigrated to the U.S. when he was very young and was introduced to the mountains through the Boy Scouts near Seattle. In 1942, he blew doors on the then-infant climbing community when he and his brother completed the second ascent of British Columbia’s Mt. Waddington, which requires a heinous approach through rivers and over countless ridgelines. He went on to be the first to scale many classics of the Northwest, like Mt. Despair, now North Cascades National Park, Forbidden Peak near Cascade Pass and Liberty Bell above the Great Cascades Highway. The University of Washington graduate also put new routes up iconic Alaskan peaks like Mt. McKinley, Deborah, and Hunter.
Beckey–who’s life was chronicled in the recent film Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey-was revered as much for his lifestyle as his countless climbing accomplishments. He lived out of his car so he could climb non-stop (even into his 80’s) and was relentless in the mountains, unafraid of dropping those who couldn’t keep up. His three-volume tomb, the Cascade Alpine Guide documenting Northwest climbing routes is lovingly referred to as “Beckey’s Bible,” and was popular not only for its info, but its pearls of wisdom. “The exaltation one can get in the presence of mountains can be a memorable lesson in humility and an aid to self-realization,” he once wrote.
Beckey was still climbing with the help of close friends and was apparently planning a trip back to the Himalayas where he had climbed before. A legendary mountaineer with a witty sense of humor, he will live on as an icon to the climbing community.
“For me, the appeal of climbing has many sources,” he said. “A long(ing) to escape from artificial civilized order, a need for self-rejuvenation, a desire to restore my sense of proportion. When you are climbing, you experience freedom from restraints.”
