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mastadon
Trad climber
crack addict
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Fred typed in all caps? Doesn’t surprise me.
Climbed with Fred 45 years ago. I was 19 and in as good shape as I ever was. Fred kicked my ass on the 6000’ approach. Did the math on that years later and realized that Fred WAS 50 YEARS OLD!!! We got strip searched at the Canadian border. Had a stove blow up in between us in the tiny hut we were in. Couldn’t get much better than that.
There will never be another Fred. He will live on forever in the minds of the climbing community.
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Timmc
climber
BC
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RIP Fred. You certainly lived a full life chasing mountains.
Upthread, there is mention of the CAPS use in his emails. This is a funny example:
One of my favourite trips with Fred was to the Adamants. He was researching for his book and still climbing reasonably well, even though he was in his mid 80’s.
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BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
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^^^THAT'S A GREAT PICTURE!
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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I found the NYTimes Obit really flat and missing the mark, and it said as much...
"Mr. Beckey was virtually unknown to the general public..." which was true, but then "Indeed, Mr. Beckey shunned publicity and people. He lived like a hermit in Seattle, holing up to write or vanishing for months on expeditions. He looked like a scruffy hobo — a wiry, stooped nomad with a backpack, a shapeless jacket, dirty pants and sneakers."
as if, somehow, when you spend most of your life a committed adventurer you find time to have a public, social life, one that the NYTimes would recognize that is...
there are so many Beckey stories out there, the image of him driving around with his index box of climber contacts looking for a partner to engage in the next adventure seems so much a part of North American mountaineering that Beckey seemed to be the embodiment of that distinct style, self sufficiency and seeking objectives far from the orthodox view of what the "next big problem" was...
who hasn't looked up in awe of one of the many "Beckey routes" in some far off range, awe that he had been there before anyone else, awe of the vision of the line, awe that he was still "out there" doing more routes.
Fred's legacy is there for all of us to share.
Thanks Fred!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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LA Times obit today was not even worth linking. :-/
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Here’s to a life well lived ,
Thanks for the inspiration Fred!
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Cragar
climber
MSLA - MT
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In some ways it is rather nice when the general population 'misses' the mark. If they didn't miss it, most likely 'it' wouldn't be a unique specialness. Fred Beckey was not part of that group in any except for having a pulse and even then his was different.
He was simply amazing and to understand him you have to engage in some aspects of his endeavors. His adventurous lifestyle transcends that of modern adventurous lifestyler and he is in his own universe.
RIP Fred Beckey and thank you.
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Timmc
climber
BC
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BJ, that’s hilarious. I have no idea how they got my photo. It was published in a couple Patagonia catalogs ...?
The only connection is that Bow Falls was the only successful climb Fred and I did together.
We skied across Bow lake and then swung tools to the top.
After that we did many trips taking the rack for a hike.
TM
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Phred
Mountain climber
Anchorage
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It would be interesting to know what Fred's last first ascent or new route was. Any ideas?
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Outside the Asylum
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Tim's e-mail is a classic. I'll have to dig up some of the ones FRED sent me.
In summer 2016, FRED visited me at home, to talk about the history of climbing at Squamish. I picked him up at a friend's he was staying at, and we had coffee en route. Although I was paying, he insisted that we go to Tim Horton's instead of that large Seattle company, as it was "cheaper". (And gossip has it that he did well with "Microbucks" stock...)
As for the newspaper obituaries. Well, when David Brower died, the New York Times obituary was almost a full page. Barely a paragraph talked about his climbing, notwithstanding that he was one of the leading climbers in the USA from the 1930s on, and that it was well-documented.
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Oplopanax
Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
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HELLO NO I DONT KNOW ABOUT IT THINKING ROCK IS META
VOLCANIC BUT MAY BE OK WE DID A PEAK NEAR THUNDER
MTN NORTHEAST OF BELLC COOLA AND THE ROCK WAS REALLY
PRETTY GOOD WOULD BE A GOOD WILDERNES ADVENTURE AD
GETYOUR NAME IN A GUIDEBOOK WHEN IT IS PRINTED IN THE
YEAR 3006
A QUICK QUESTION AGTAIN SLESSE YOU GAVE ME THE
ALTITUDE OF THE ROAD AND TRAIL START BUT WHAT IS
MILEAAGE IN KM FROM THE BRDGE AT RIVERSIDE CAMP???
THERE WERE SOME CANAD GALS AT SMITH ROCK LAST
SWWEEKEND MAYBE THEY AREE STILL THERE
--- drew brayshaw wrote:
> Hey Fred,
>
> Have you ever been to Salient Mountain north of
> Bella Coola? What's the rock like? Flew over it
> today, the big buttress on the west face looked
> pretty good from the air!
>
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Timmc
climber
BC
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Great emails^
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feralfae
Boulder climber
in the midst of a metaphysical mystery
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Doug used to talk a lot about Fred Beckey.
What an exceptional individual!
With that level of focus, and that level of skill, all I can do is stand back and admire his life.
Very well done life. Awesome.
ff
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LuckyPink
climber
the last bivy
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BEST THREAD EVER
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Phred
Mountain climber
Anchorage
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Fred's response to a query about a peak he attempted in Alaska's Hidden Mountains:
HELLO SORRY AM NOT INTERESTED IN TELLING THE WORLD W HAT I KNOW ABOUT IT WHY DONT YOU CONCENTRATE ON THE THOUISANDS OF GOOD CLIMBS ALL OVER THE REST OF ALASKA - LIKE THE REVELATIONS AND KICHATNAS BEST F B
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fear
Ice climber
hartford, ct
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Now I finally know the real identity of BURT BRONSON!
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Timmc
climber
BC
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Good memories of making plans.
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Oplopanax
Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
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Fred used ALLCAPS to type because it was easier for him to read. Large print, sort of.
But it's funny because the Internet has trained us to see ALLCAPS as YELLING and Fred yelled all the time after losing his hearing.
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