{"id":22148,"date":"2017-11-01T15:14:06","date_gmt":"2017-11-01T22:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=22148"},"modified":"2025-11-20T20:00:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T04:00:05","slug":"remembering-fred-beckey-americas-preeminent-dirtbag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/climb\/remembering-fred-beckey-americas-preeminent-dirtbag","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Fred Beckey, America’s Preeminent Dirtbag"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most prolific North American climber of all time, passed away at 94<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fred Beckey, born Wolfgang Gottfried Beckey, was one of the most influential\u2014perhaps the<\/em> most influential climber\u2014in American history. He died on October 30 in Seattle\u00a0at the age of 94.<\/p>\n

Born in D\u00fcsseldorf, Germany, on January 14, 1923, “Fred started climbing in the Boy Scouts,” according to a report by The Mountaineers<\/a>, “and continued as a teenager with The Mountaineers, graduating from our\u00a0Basic climbing course.” In 1939, as a 15-year-old, he joined\u00a0REI co-founder Lloyd Anderson\u00a0on\u00a0the first ascent of Mount Despair.<\/p>\n

At 19, Fred climbed the highest peak in British Columbia, Mount Waddington (13,185\u2019), in the rugged Coast Mountains, completing the peak\u2019s second ascent with his brother Helmy. He went on to climb many of the tallest peaks in North America, established long alpine routes in Canada and the Pacific Northwest, and did the first ascents of innumerable desert towers on the Colorado Plateau, a 240,000-square-mile area covering the Four Corners area of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.<\/p>\n