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Fred Beckey

{{Short description|American rock climber and mountaineer}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Fred Beckey

| image = Fred Beckey, about 1990.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Fred Beckey, circa 1990

| birth_name = Friedrich Wolfgang Beckey

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1923|1|14}}

| birth_place = Düsseldorf, Germany

| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|10|30|1923|1|14|df=y}}

| death_place = Seattle, Washington, U.S.

| nationality = American

| other_names =

| alma_mater = University of Washington

| occupation = Rock climber, mountaineer, guidebook author

| known_for =

| signature = Fred Beckey's signature.jpg

}}

Friedrich Wolfgang Beckey (14 January 1923 – 30 October 2017), known as Fred Beckey, was an American rock climber, mountaineer and book author, who in seven decades of climbing achieved hundreds of first ascents of some of the tallest peaks and most important routes throughout Alaska, the Canadian Rockies and the Pacific Northwest.{{cite news | last = Modie | first = Neil | title = Icon to some, legendary climber Beckey still obscure to many | work = Seattle Post-Intelligencer | publisher = Seattle PI | date = 2003-03-08 | url = http://www.seattlepi.com/local/111703_beckey08.shtml | access-date = 2006-01-07 }} Among the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America, seven were established by Beckey, often climbing with some of the best known climbers of each generation.{{cite book

| last1 = Roper

| first1 = Steve

| author-link=Steve Roper

|first2=Allen

|last2=Steck

|author2-link=Allen Steck

| title = Fifty Classic Climbs of North America

| year = 1979

| location = San Francisco

| publisher = Sierra Club Books

| isbn = 0-87156-292-8

}}

Early years

Beckey was born in 1923 near Düsseldorf, Germany to Klaus Beckey, a surgeon, and Marta Maria Beckey who was an opera singer. In 1925 economic hardships due to hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic forced his family to emigrate to the United States, settling in Seattle, Washington. His brother, Helmut "Helmy" Beckey, was born in Seattle in 1926 and would later become Fred's frequent climbing partner. At age twelve, Fred Beckey climbed Boulder Peak{{cite web |title=Boulder Peak - Peakbagger.com |url=https://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=27556 |website=www.peakbagger.com |access-date=3 October 2021}} in the Cascades by himself, after wandering off on a family camping trip. Afterwards, his family signed him up with the Boy Scouts{{cite news |last1=Bossick |first1=Karen |title='Dirtbag' Fetes Consummate Climber |url=https://www.eyeonsunvalley.com/Mobile/Mobile_Story_Reader/5105/%E2%80%98Dirtbag%E2%80%99-Fetes-Consummate-Climber/ |access-date=3 October 2021 |work=www.eyeonsunvalley.com |date=20 June 2018}} where he learned the basic concepts of climbing. Later he joined The Mountaineers. In 1939, at sixteen, Fred and two friends climbed 7,292-foot Mount Despair in the North Cascades, which was considered unclimbable at the time. In 1942, the teenage Beckey brothers snatched a second ascent of Mount Waddington, which was then considered the most difficult climb in North America.{{cite news |last1=Staff Report |title='Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey' returns, to show at LTCC |url=https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/sports/dirtbag-the-legend-of-fred-beckey-returns-to-show-at-ltcc/ |access-date=3 October 2021 |work=www.tahoedailytribune.com}} Beckey followed that with many more first ascents of summits in the Olympic and North Cascade ranges. In 1942 he joined 10th Mountain Division, based in Colorado, and served as an instructor.Denver Public Library 10th Mountain Database

After the war, Beckey studied business administration at the University of Washington, while still spending a lot of time climbing mountain ranges in the Northwest and desert rock formations in the Southwest. After graduation in 1949 he worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and became a print shop sales representative.{{citation |last=McFadden |first=Robert D. |title=Fred Beckey, Conqueror and Chronicler of North American Peaks, Dies at 94 | newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 31, 2017 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/obituaries/fred-beckey-dead-mountain-climber.html?hpw&rref=obituaries&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0}} However, he soon discovered that his work interfered with his climbing. For a time, he worked as a delivery truck driver, which left him time for climbing. As time went on, he decided that climbing was his life's focus. He never married or had children, he never pursued a professional career, he never sought money or financial security as a goal—his goal was to climb mountains.

In 1955 Beckey joined the International Himalayan Expedition to climb the world’s fourth-highest peak, Lhotse. During the expedition his tentmate developed cerebral edema at 23,000 feet on the night before they were to attempt the summit. Beckey descended in the blizzard to get help, but was later blamed by his teammates for abandoning his partner, who was rescued by others.{{cite journal | title = Solu Khumbu Climbs: First Ascents After Lhotse | journal = American Alpine Journal |year=1956 | volume = 10 | issue = 2 | page = 7 }} Consequently although Beckey seemed a likely choice as a member for first American Everest Expedition in 1963, he was never invited by his ex-teammates. Afterwards Beckey shied away from the large team efforts abroad, preferring smaller alpine-style undertakings alone or with a few companions seeking out America's last unclimbed peaks or striking routes considered too difficult to climb. He often climbed 40 or 50 different summits a year, and over the decades managed to achieve nearly one thousand first ascents.

Guidebook author

File:Fred-Beckey.jpg

File:Fred Beckey - 2012 g.jpg

File:Fred Beckey - 2014.jpg

In the late 1940s, he asked The Mountaineers of Seattle to publish his first climbing guidebook for the local peaks. They turned him down, and the American Alpine Club agreed to print a few thousand copies for a flat fee. Between climbs, he wrote several books, most notably the Cascade Alpine Guide, the definitive three-volume description of the Cascades from the Columbia River to the Fraser River, now in its third edition, published by The Mountaineers.

Later accomplishments

In 2003, his 563-page book on the history of the region, Range of Glaciers, was published by the Oregon Historical Society Press. According to a reviewer, he did much of the research for the volume in Washington, D.C., at the Library of Congress and the National Archives, scouring files of the State Department, U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies. Beckey also perused the Canadian archives in Ottawa, Ontario; Hudson's Bay Co. archives in Winnipeg, Manitoba; British Columbia archives in Victoria, British Columbia; records of the Northwest Boundary Survey at Yale University; and records of the Northern Pacific and Great Northern railroads in Minneapolis.

Beckey continued climbing when over 90 years old.{{cite web|last=Shore|first=Richard|title=Fred Beckey climbing at Nightmare Rock|url=http://altusmountainguides.com/blog/fred-beckey-climbing/}}{{cite web |last1=Franz |first1=Derek |title=World renowned alpinist and climbing pioneer Fred Beckey dies at age 94 |url=http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web17f/newswire-fred-beckey-dies-at-age-94 |website=Alpinist |publisher=Alpinist LLC |access-date=4 December 2019}} His life was the subject of a 2017 documentary, directed by David O'Leske and produced by Patagonia, called Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey. The film won over 26 international awards, including: the Best Feature Mountain Film at the 2017 Banff Mountain Film Festival; the Best Mountaineering Film at the 2017 Kendal Mountain Film Festival; and, the People's Choice Award at the 2017 Banff Mountain Book Festival.{{cite web |title=Awards |url=http://dirtbagmovie.com/awards.html |website=Dirtbag Movie |publisher=Fred Beckey Film LLC |access-date=4 December 2019}}{{cite web | url=http://dirtbagmovie.com/awards.html | title=Awards }}

Mount Beckey, a previously unnamed, 8,500-foot peak in remote West-Central Alaska Range ({{coord|62|51|20|N|152|8|15|W}}),{{cite web |title=Mount Beckey - Peakbagger.com |url=https://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=19088 |website=www.peakbagger.com |access-date=1 October 2021}} was named after Beckey, after he, Calvin Hebert and John Middendorf climbed it in 1996.{{cite news |last=Middendorf |first=John |title=Fred Beckey: Will Belay for Food! |url=http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/News_FredBeckey.htm |work=www.traditionalmountaineering.org}}

Death

Fred Beckey died of congestive heart failure, in Seattle, on October 30, 2017 at the age of 94.{{cite news | title = Remembering Fred Beckey | publisher = The Mountaineers | date = 2017-10-30 | url = https://www.mountaineers.org/blog/remembering-mountaineer-fred-beckey | access-date = 2017-10-30}}

First ascents

File:DevilsThumb.jpg, Alaska]]

Partial list of notable first ascents:

  • 1939 Mount Despair, North Cascades
  • 1940 Forbidden Peak, North Cascades - with brother Helmy, Lloyd Anderson, Jim Crooks, and Dave Lind.
  • 1945 Price Glacier, Mount Shuksan, North Cascades with Jack Schwabland and Bill Granston{{cite book | last = Selters | first = Andy | title = Ways to the Sky | publisher = The American Alpine Club Press | year = 2004 | location = Golden, CO | isbn = 0-930410-83-1 }}{{rp|138}}
  • 1946 East Ridge Devils Thumb, Alaska with Bob Craig and Clifford Schmidtke (Aug 25){{rp}}
  • 1946 Liberty Bell, North Cascades, Washington
  • 1947 Mount Hozomeen's South Peak{{cite web |last1=Reppy |first1=Jack |title=Fred Beckey: A Timeline of Ascents |url=https://www.sutori.com/en/story/fred-beckey-a-timeline-of-ascents--ssWmdLANxVGqrWNWYe7VEdUJ |website=www.sutori.com |access-date=3 October 2021 |language=en}}
  • 1947 North Peak, Liberty Bell, North Cascades - 1947
  • 1948 North Ridge of Mount Baker, North Cascades Fred Beckey, Ralph and Dick Widrig (August 1948){{rp|156}}
  • 1948 Prusik Peak, North Cascades with Art Holben{{Cite book |last=Beckey |first=Fred |title=Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. |publisher=Mountaineers Books |year=2008 |location=Seattle, WA}}
  • 1954 Northwest Buttress to North Peak, Denali, Alaska (May 27) with Donald McLean, Charles Wilson, Henry Meybohm and Bill Hackett.{{rp|166}}
  • 1954 South Ridge, Mount Deborah with Heinrich Harrer and Henry Meybohm{{rp|169–170}}
  • 1954 West Ridge Mount Hunter (Alaska) - with Heinrich Harrer and Henry Meybohm{{rp|170}}
  • 1959 Crescent Arete, Mount Owen, Tetons, with Yvon Chouinard
  • 1959 Yocum Ridge, Mount Hood, Oregon, with Leo Scheiblehner{{rp|172}}
  • 1960 Outer Space, Leavenworth, Washington with Ron Niccoli {{cite web |title=Rock Climb Outer Space, Central-East Cascades, Wenatchee, & Leavenworth |url=https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105793664/outer-space |website=Mountain Project |access-date=3 October 2021}}
  • 1961 North Face of Mount Edith Cavell, Canadian Rockies, Canada with Yvon Chouinard and Dan Doody {{cite web

| last = Child | first = Greg | title = Rock Legends

| work = Outside Magazine |date=October 2000

| url = http://outside.away.com/outside/magazine/200010/200010rocklegends1.html

| access-date = 2006-10-04 }}

Other notable ascents

File:Fred Beckey - Louise Falls - 2006.jpg

Personality

Timothy Egan captures Fred Beckey's personality in a chapter of The Good Rain. Beckey named Vasiliki Ridge, by Washington Pass, after his one true love. Beckey was a quintessential dirtbag climber, well captured by a classic portrait of him by Corey Rich{{cite news |last1=Rassler |first1=Brad |title=The Public Ownership of Fred Beckey |url=https://sustainableplay.com/the-public-ownership-of-fred-beckey/ |access-date=3 October 2021 |work=sustainable play}} from 2004 Patagonia's Fall catalog, where he is trying to hitchhike while holding a sign "Will belay for food". His reputation is well known among many climbers, captured in a T-shirt "Beware of Beckey: He will steal your woman, steal your route." {{cite book | last = Egan | first = Timothy | title = The Good Rain | year = 1991 | isbn = 0-679-73485-6 }}

Books

  • Fred Beckey's 100 Favorite North American Climbs (Patagonia Inc., 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-9801227-1-8}})
  • Range of Glaciers: The Exploration and Survey of the Northern Cascade Range (Oregon Historical Society, 2003 {{ISBN|0-87595-243-7}})
  • Cascade Alpine Guide (3 vols.) (Mountaineers Books, 1973–2008)
  • Columbia River to Stevens Pass (1973, 3rd ed. 2000, {{ISBN|0-89886-577-8}})
  • Stevens Pass to Rainy Pass (1977, 3rd ed. 2003, {{ISBN|0-89886-152-7}})
  • Rainy Pass to Fraser River (1981, 3rd ed. 2008, {{ISBN|0-89886-423-2}})
  • Challenge of the North Cascades (1969, 2nd ed. 1996, {{ISBN|0-89886-479-8}})
  • Mount McKinley: Icy Crown of North America (Mountaineers Books 1993, paper 1999, {{ISBN|0-89886-646-4}})
  • The Bugaboos: An Alpine History (1987) (Introduction Only)
  • Mountains of North America (1986)
  • Mountains of North America (Sierra Club, 1982)
  • Darrington and Index Rock Climbing Guide (Mountaineers Books, 1976)
  • Guide to Leavenworth rock-climbing areas (Mountaineers Books, 1965)
  • Climber's Guide to the Cascade and Olympic Mountains of Washington (American Alpine Club, 1949, revised edition 1953)

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Fred Beckey}}

  • [http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=9373 Biography] at HistoryLink
  • [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204485304576645473106063438 2011 Profile] in The Wall Street Journal by Michael J. Ybarra
  • [http://www.mindstrengthbalance.com/learn/interviews/fredbeckey.htm 2007 Interview appearing in The Learning Project: Views of Authentic Learning]
  • New York Times, 16 Dec. 2008. [http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/12/15/sports/golf/1194835655194/the-old-man-of-the-mountains.html?ref=sports The Old Man of the Mountains] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217072425/http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/12/15/sports/golf/1194835655194/the-old-man-of-the-mountains.html?ref=sports |date=2008-12-17 }}. Video report on Fred Beckey. (The video displays the date of Dec. 16, although the URL states Dec. 15.)
  • [https://vimeo.com/70662261 Summer 2012 short film] of Fred climbing in the Dolomites on Vimeo

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckey, Fred}}

Category:1923 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:German emigrants to the United States

Category:Mountain climbers from Seattle

Category:University of Washington Foster School of Business alumni