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[music playing]
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-[beep]
-[Fred Beckey] Hey, this is
Beckey. This is Beckey.
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00:00:23,157 --> 00:00:24,392
Fred Beckey. This is Beckey.
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00:00:24,425 --> 00:00:26,560
Fred Beckey again.
Again, again.
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00:00:26,594 --> 00:00:28,062
Hey, I'm trying
to get ahold of you.
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00:00:28,096 --> 00:00:29,263
Hey, man, you're hard
to get ahold of.
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00:00:29,297 --> 00:00:30,731
I know, I left you
a message yesterday.
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00:00:30,764 --> 00:00:32,400
I've called about 35 people.
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00:00:32,433 --> 00:00:35,403
Hey, listen, I wanna talk to
you about a trip
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00:00:35,436 --> 00:00:36,670
that I have planned...
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00:00:36,704 --> 00:00:38,038
I'm leaving right now
for California
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00:00:38,072 --> 00:00:39,707
and then Arizona, then Utah.
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00:00:39,740 --> 00:00:42,610
I called you over and over.
Hey, where are you, man?
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00:00:42,643 --> 00:00:44,612
Are you off on the moon
somewhere? An Apollo mission?
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00:00:44,645 --> 00:00:47,115
Hey, listen,
I'm really pissed off.
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00:00:47,148 --> 00:00:49,117
P-I-S-S-E-D.
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00:00:49,150 --> 00:00:50,784
I got some free time now,
you know me.
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00:00:50,818 --> 00:00:52,019
I have more free time
than money.
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00:00:52,052 --> 00:00:54,188
Try to give me a call back
as soon as you can.
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00:00:54,222 --> 00:00:55,423
Call me back if you can.
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00:00:55,456 --> 00:00:57,057
So, give me
a call back anytime...
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It's not gonna be that big
a chunk of time in your life.
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[Alex Bertulis]
Fred Beckey is an enigma.
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There'll be
Freudian psychologists
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that will analyze him
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long after he's gone
to the next world.
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[Yvon Chouinard] He's totally
obsessive. That's who Fred is.
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You know, obsessive behavior
can lead to absolute genius.
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[Corey Rich] There is so many
urban myths and legends
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that surround
who Fred Beckey really is.
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[Steve Marts] He was driven
like no man I've ever met,
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relentlessly.
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[Eric Bjornstad] One track mind
most of the time.
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If it wasn't on women,
it was on climbing. [chuckles]
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[Conrad Anker] Fred chose
this other lifestyle.
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[Barry Blanchard]
He created his own culture.
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He became a culture of one.
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[Allen Huxley] I suppose
you could say he's like
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00:01:49,510 --> 00:01:52,313
the Bob Dylan
of mountain climbing.
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All these great achievements,
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but completely inscrutable,
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and no one's really sure
if they even like him or not.
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[Yvon Chouinard]
He's a dirtbag,
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00:02:00,921 --> 00:02:03,324
and because of that,
I don't think he'll get
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00:02:03,357 --> 00:02:06,460
the recognition
that he really deserves.
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[music playing]
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[Fred] I don't even really
know what motivates
a person to climb.
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00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:42,330
To me, it's some kind of
a combination of adventure
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00:02:42,363 --> 00:02:44,765
that has a certain amount
of risk,
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00:02:44,798 --> 00:02:46,634
depending on other people.
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00:02:46,667 --> 00:02:50,571
Almost any climb
has some uncertainty.
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00:02:50,604 --> 00:02:54,141
You never know, there could be
a rock fall, an avalanche,
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somebody could get hurt.
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00:02:55,509 --> 00:02:58,979
So there's certain amount
of adventure.
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00:02:59,012 --> 00:03:00,581
I mean, some people may think
it's an adventure
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00:03:00,614 --> 00:03:02,716
to go on a cruise ship
to the Mediterranean
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00:03:02,750 --> 00:03:05,653
and that's great
if they wanna do that.
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00:03:05,686 --> 00:03:10,224
To me, it's no adventure at all
unless somebody bombs the ship.
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00:03:13,427 --> 00:03:16,330
You know, good climbing today.
Good climbing.
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00:03:16,364 --> 00:03:18,599
Yeah, I enjoyed it. Pretty good.
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Hope I didn't fuck
you guys' movies up.
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00:03:21,101 --> 00:03:22,703
[Todd Offenbacher] Is there
anything more important
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00:03:22,736 --> 00:03:24,137
to you than climbing?
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00:03:24,171 --> 00:03:25,439
It's hard to say.
It's hard to say.
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00:03:25,473 --> 00:03:28,242
I like to write
and accomplish something.
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00:03:28,276 --> 00:03:29,777
I should have brought
a pencil with an eraser.
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00:03:29,810 --> 00:03:32,513
That was a fuck-up.
I should know better.
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[Todd Offenbacher]
How is it that you can climb
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00:03:34,515 --> 00:03:35,416
as well as you do still?
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00:03:35,449 --> 00:03:37,451
Really, what's the secret?
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00:03:37,485 --> 00:03:40,821
[Fred] I don't know,
I don't think I have any.
I don't know.
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00:03:40,854 --> 00:03:42,189
I don't take vitamins,
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00:03:42,222 --> 00:03:44,124
and I am not
a health food addict.
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00:03:44,157 --> 00:03:46,226
I just try to keep active.
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00:03:48,396 --> 00:03:50,631
I was drawn to Beckey
in my book The Good Rain
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00:03:50,664 --> 00:03:54,101
because he's a mythic figure.
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There are very few mountains
left in the world
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00:03:58,071 --> 00:04:00,107
that nobody's ever climbed.
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00:04:00,140 --> 00:04:03,444
And in the climbing world
to be credited with
a first ascent,
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00:04:03,477 --> 00:04:05,479
being the first human being
to climb a mountain,
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00:04:05,513 --> 00:04:07,515
is considered quite a big deal.
82
00:04:09,149 --> 00:04:11,151
[Barry Blanchard] It's hard to
imagine anyone in North America
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00:04:11,785 --> 00:04:13,421
starting to do
any form of climbing
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00:04:13,454 --> 00:04:15,689
and soon not hear
about Fred Beckey.
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00:04:15,723 --> 00:04:17,491
[Royal Robbins] His name
is everywhere.
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00:04:17,525 --> 00:04:19,360
This is the guy
from Pacific Northwest,
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00:04:19,393 --> 00:04:21,094
and he climbed
all over the United States,
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00:04:21,128 --> 00:04:22,430
in Europe, in Canada.
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00:04:22,463 --> 00:04:24,732
He was there
before the rest of us were.
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00:04:24,765 --> 00:04:27,200
[Yvon] Certainly no person
in the history of climbing
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00:04:27,234 --> 00:04:29,403
has ever amassed
so many first ascents.
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00:04:29,437 --> 00:04:33,106
[Conrad] What makes Fred
special in my book
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00:04:33,140 --> 00:04:35,409
is his unending quest
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00:04:35,443 --> 00:04:39,246
for new routes
to do something unexplored.
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00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:41,615
[Timothy] His contemporaries,
say in the 1950s or the 1960s,
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00:04:41,649 --> 00:04:44,618
those people ended up on
the cover of Life magazine.
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00:04:44,652 --> 00:04:47,621
That to me has been
one of the great mysteries:
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00:04:47,655 --> 00:04:51,124
Why did the best climber of all
never go on to the greatness
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that they all did?
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00:04:55,496 --> 00:04:57,731
[birds chirping]
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[music playing]
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00:05:02,169 --> 00:05:03,337
He is the ultimate dirtbag.
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00:05:03,371 --> 00:05:06,507
He was the first dirtbag
I ever knew,
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00:05:06,540 --> 00:05:09,643
and, you know, we all
became dirtbags eventually,
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00:05:09,677 --> 00:05:11,612
but he was the leader.
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00:05:16,784 --> 00:05:19,052
[Eric]
Because he climbed so much,
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00:05:19,086 --> 00:05:21,121
he didn't ever work at a job,
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00:05:21,154 --> 00:05:22,322
like nine-to-five, you know,
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00:05:22,356 --> 00:05:25,258
five days a week,
like most people.
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00:05:26,860 --> 00:05:29,530
[Alex] In the Alps, there was
a tradition of dressing up
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00:05:30,097 --> 00:05:32,533
formally for alpine climbing,
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00:05:32,566 --> 00:05:36,303
and Fred, he looked like
somebody that just came out of
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a homeless shelter
or someplace.
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00:05:40,841 --> 00:05:42,209
He had his own style,
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00:05:42,242 --> 00:05:44,712
there's no doubt about that.
He was different.
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00:05:44,745 --> 00:05:47,114
[Ed Cooper] He had
a pink Thunderbird,
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00:05:47,147 --> 00:05:50,250
and we all wondered
what kind of vehicle is that
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00:05:50,283 --> 00:05:52,786
to load climbing gear into.
We couldn't understand it.
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00:05:52,820 --> 00:05:55,322
[Alex] That T-bird did not
give him good mileage,
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00:05:55,355 --> 00:05:57,625
but it got a lot of laughs.
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00:05:57,658 --> 00:06:01,529
And of course,
it was the ultimate
pick-up car for women.
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00:06:03,296 --> 00:06:06,099
[Fred] I just bought
the car on a whim
as of kind of a joke.
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00:06:06,133 --> 00:06:07,167
It was a good road car,
actually,
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00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:08,702
but a little bit
of a gas eater,
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00:06:08,736 --> 00:06:10,303
and I drove it
all over the country.
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00:06:10,337 --> 00:06:14,174
Must have put a hundred
thousand miles on it.
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00:06:14,207 --> 00:06:15,476
[Barry]
We have a whole culture
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00:06:15,509 --> 00:06:18,278
of dirtbagism and road tripping
in North America,
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00:06:18,311 --> 00:06:20,514
and Fred's the grandfather
of it.
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00:06:20,548 --> 00:06:23,350
He's the grandfather
of the road trip.
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00:06:24,752 --> 00:06:27,154
[Ed Cooper] The legends
about him driving
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halfway across the Western
Continent, you know,
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to do a pinnacle in Arizona
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00:06:32,593 --> 00:06:34,462
and then to do some climbing
in British Columbia,
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00:06:34,495 --> 00:06:36,530
and then go back to Montana
for another climb,
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00:06:36,564 --> 00:06:37,665
those were all true.
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That's what he did.
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00:06:40,367 --> 00:06:43,403
You know, a lot of people,
a climbing trip is two weeks,
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00:06:43,437 --> 00:06:45,205
Fred would start off in spring,
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00:06:45,238 --> 00:06:48,308
climb through the summer
in the mountains
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and the high peaks,
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00:06:49,610 --> 00:06:51,111
Wind Rivers and the places
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00:06:51,144 --> 00:06:54,014
and then, in the fall,
wind up in the desert.
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00:06:54,047 --> 00:06:57,150
[Steve Gunn]
* There's a constant motion
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00:06:57,184 --> 00:07:02,155
* Makes you feel
like the ocean *
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00:07:02,189 --> 00:07:08,596
* Moving through the seasons
and I'm hoping for the best *
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00:07:08,629 --> 00:07:11,164
[Eric] He's just so restless,
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00:07:11,198 --> 00:07:13,333
always living out of his car.
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00:07:13,366 --> 00:07:16,537
His second home, for a while,
was my basement.
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00:07:16,570 --> 00:07:19,406
[Barry] Climbing actually
doesn't cost that much money,
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00:07:19,439 --> 00:07:20,708
especially the way
Fred plays it,
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00:07:20,741 --> 00:07:23,076
it doesn't have
to be that expensive.
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00:07:23,110 --> 00:07:26,213
Food is really available
in North America
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00:07:26,246 --> 00:07:28,148
if you know
where to look for it. [laughs]
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[Yvon] You know,
he'd go to restaurants,
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00:07:30,684 --> 00:07:33,286
and he'd pick up
10 packages of ketchup
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00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:35,556
and sugar and stuff 'em away.
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00:07:35,589 --> 00:07:39,560
Make up the eggs,
put a little
McDonald's sugar in here.
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00:07:39,593 --> 00:07:42,295
-Breakfast sandwich.
-Nice.
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00:07:42,329 --> 00:07:44,131
[Todd] All of us, kind of,
look at Fred going,
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"God, how can we get
a piece of that.
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How can we get
that Fountain of Youth
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00:07:48,001 --> 00:07:49,570
that lies within Fred Beckey."
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00:07:49,603 --> 00:07:52,773
I don't really know what it is
other than just his spirit
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00:07:52,806 --> 00:07:54,341
and his mindset
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00:07:54,374 --> 00:07:56,510
because if you watch him eat,
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00:07:56,544 --> 00:07:57,711
he eats like shit.
168
00:07:57,745 --> 00:07:59,079
He eats tons of fast food.
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00:07:59,112 --> 00:08:00,581
He doesn't drink,
he doesn't smoke.
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00:08:00,614 --> 00:08:03,283
but he'll hang onto
a piece of food for weeks,
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00:08:03,316 --> 00:08:05,352
and pull it out of
his backpack and eat it.
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00:08:05,385 --> 00:08:07,588
I got some cream cheese
that I swiped somewhere
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00:08:07,621 --> 00:08:10,624
and still... it's edible.
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00:08:10,658 --> 00:08:11,825
I remember driving with him
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00:08:11,859 --> 00:08:13,794
in the car
on a road trip somewhere,
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00:08:13,827 --> 00:08:16,063
and I took that empty
McDonald's coffee cup
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00:08:16,096 --> 00:08:17,397
and threw it away,
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00:08:17,430 --> 00:08:19,533
and real quickly
Fred started questioning me,
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00:08:19,567 --> 00:08:22,269
you know, "Have you seen my cup?
I had a cup around here."
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00:08:22,302 --> 00:08:24,237
He proceeded for the next
five hours to look for the cup,
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00:08:24,271 --> 00:08:26,139
talk about the cup,
bitch about the cup,
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00:08:26,173 --> 00:08:30,477
"At McDonald's,
you get free refills
with an empty coffee cup.
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00:08:30,510 --> 00:08:32,079
he'd been hanging on to
the cup for, who knows,
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00:08:32,112 --> 00:08:34,548
probably most of the summer.
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00:08:34,582 --> 00:08:37,517
[Yvon] Fred had this sport coat
that he bought for 25 cents.
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00:08:37,551 --> 00:08:39,687
He stuffed pieces of this
187
00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,056
Louis L'Amour novel
that he was reading,
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00:08:43,090 --> 00:08:44,424
stuffing it inside the liner--
189
00:08:44,457 --> 00:08:47,460
made a down jacket
out of it, basically.
190
00:08:47,494 --> 00:08:49,763
He bivouacked in that,
and then the next morning,
191
00:08:49,797 --> 00:08:54,267
burned the thing to heat up
some tea. [laughs]
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00:08:54,301 --> 00:08:57,437
He is the ultimate,
the consummate dirtbag.
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00:08:57,470 --> 00:09:00,708
You know,
living as unobtrusively
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00:09:00,741 --> 00:09:03,143
on the edge of society,
195
00:09:03,176 --> 00:09:04,712
as is possible for human to do.
196
00:09:04,745 --> 00:09:06,446
And to still have
a focus on something.
197
00:09:06,479 --> 00:09:10,117
He was not a druggie or drunk,
or anything like that.
198
00:09:10,150 --> 00:09:14,321
He was an addict,
but his addiction was climbing.
199
00:09:23,063 --> 00:09:25,298
[announcements on P.A.]
200
00:09:32,105 --> 00:09:34,307
[Todd] Once again
Fred Beckey had a mountain
201
00:09:34,341 --> 00:09:36,710
that was unclimbed,
scoped out.
202
00:09:36,744 --> 00:09:38,111
Now a lot of people
said before the trip,
203
00:09:38,145 --> 00:09:39,613
you know, is he
gonna be able to do it?
204
00:09:39,647 --> 00:09:40,848
What happens
if Fred Beckey dies?
205
00:09:40,881 --> 00:09:42,349
And I think we all
just kinda laughed and said,
206
00:09:42,382 --> 00:09:44,384
[Todd Offenbacher]
"Fred's gonna do it
with or without us."
207
00:09:44,417 --> 00:09:46,453
-[Fred] Where is this village?
-[man] From Kanding.
208
00:09:46,486 --> 00:09:49,156
-It's around two hours...
-[Fred] Down here.
209
00:09:52,492 --> 00:09:55,562
Of the unclimbed challenge,
I think...
210
00:09:55,595 --> 00:09:58,799
you're looking at Pakistan,
China, Greenland.
211
00:09:58,832 --> 00:10:03,370
China alone has just
got a wealth of beautiful,
212
00:10:03,403 --> 00:10:07,040
unclimbed peaks
in the 5000-, 6000-meter range.
213
00:10:07,074 --> 00:10:10,243
Hardly anybody
knows about 'em.
214
00:10:14,147 --> 00:10:16,984
I think it's
a thirty years dream.
215
00:10:17,017 --> 00:10:19,319
I cannot believe
that Fred would come back now.
216
00:10:19,352 --> 00:10:21,154
He's eighty three years old.
217
00:10:24,357 --> 00:10:26,426
[birds chirping]
218
00:10:26,459 --> 00:10:32,032
-You recording all this?
-[Todd laughs]
219
00:10:32,065 --> 00:10:35,068
Do you guys got
some first-aid stuff?
220
00:10:35,102 --> 00:10:36,970
I do have a roll of duct tape.
221
00:10:37,004 --> 00:10:41,374
I got lunch food. I got...
222
00:10:41,408 --> 00:10:44,277
a lot of lemon powder.
223
00:10:44,311 --> 00:10:48,181
[Todd laughs] Lemon?
All right...
224
00:10:50,684 --> 00:10:52,219
Anyone that's ever taken
225
00:10:52,252 --> 00:10:55,088
an international third world
trip into the mountains,
226
00:10:55,122 --> 00:10:58,625
knows how brutal
the travel can be.
227
00:10:58,658 --> 00:11:01,061
[horns honking]
228
00:11:01,094 --> 00:11:05,498
Are you excited to get
into the mountains, Fred?
229
00:11:05,532 --> 00:11:07,667
If you get too excited,
you wet your pants, you know?
230
00:11:07,701 --> 00:11:09,236
[Todd laughs]
231
00:11:17,277 --> 00:11:19,479
[David]
How's your head feeling?
232
00:11:19,512 --> 00:11:21,114
It's OK.
233
00:11:22,415 --> 00:11:23,751
My thinking is that,
234
00:11:23,784 --> 00:11:25,886
we don't want
to hurry it too much
235
00:11:25,919 --> 00:11:27,487
with the acclimatization.
236
00:11:33,526 --> 00:11:36,496
I think we are in a pretty
comfortable spot at his point.
237
00:11:36,529 --> 00:11:38,732
He seems to be doing OK.
238
00:11:38,766 --> 00:11:42,335
And that's the goal, to get him
as rested as possible
239
00:11:42,369 --> 00:11:44,671
because it's a big push.
240
00:11:55,715 --> 00:11:59,086
[Reinhold] It's boring to go
to the mountains,
241
00:11:59,119 --> 00:12:01,154
from the fifth year
of your life,
242
00:12:01,188 --> 00:12:03,056
up to the ninetieth year
of your life.
243
00:12:03,090 --> 00:12:04,457
This is boring.
244
00:12:04,491 --> 00:12:06,059
I hope
you're filming all this.
245
00:12:06,093 --> 00:12:08,261
[Timothy] Reinhold Messner
is largely recognized
246
00:12:08,295 --> 00:12:09,729
as the best mountaineer ever,
the guy who climbed
247
00:12:09,763 --> 00:12:11,698
every major peak
without oxygen.
248
00:12:11,731 --> 00:12:14,067
And there's this climbing
called "Alpine style,"
249
00:12:14,101 --> 00:12:16,269
which is climbing quickly
and without oxygen.
250
00:12:16,303 --> 00:12:17,737
and for that matter,
251
00:12:17,771 --> 00:12:20,073
without a supplemental
expedition at your base.
252
00:12:20,107 --> 00:12:22,042
Beckey was doing that when he
was in his teens and twenties,
253
00:12:22,075 --> 00:12:24,211
when everybody else
was saying you need a group.
254
00:12:24,244 --> 00:12:27,214
His experiences
and his climbs,
255
00:12:27,247 --> 00:12:30,450
I would say
his ocean of what he did
256
00:12:30,483 --> 00:12:33,821
and what is in his soul
is so big,
257
00:12:33,854 --> 00:12:36,623
that he could
give away forever.
258
00:12:36,656 --> 00:12:39,192
Why he is going to China
to hike up a mountain?
259
00:12:39,226 --> 00:12:40,727
It's not necessary anymore.
260
00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,031
It's much more important,
and much more intelligent,
261
00:12:44,064 --> 00:12:49,436
that he uses his last years
to do something creative.
262
00:12:49,469 --> 00:12:51,271
[Todd] You think you can make
it to the summit, Fred?
263
00:12:51,304 --> 00:12:52,672
On this trip?
264
00:12:52,705 --> 00:12:53,974
[Fred] I don't know, I hope so.
265
00:12:54,007 --> 00:12:56,176
[wind howling]
266
00:13:01,148 --> 00:13:03,250
[Ralph] Get some good sleep
last night, Fred?
267
00:13:03,283 --> 00:13:06,053
-No.
-[Ralph] No?
268
00:13:06,086 --> 00:13:09,622
At least the weather
looks better.
269
00:13:09,656 --> 00:13:11,458
Right now,
it stopped snowing.
270
00:13:11,491 --> 00:13:13,827
You can see
the mountain, yeah.
271
00:13:13,861 --> 00:13:14,794
We've got
a window of opportunity
272
00:13:14,828 --> 00:13:16,196
with the weather,
it looks like.
273
00:13:16,229 --> 00:13:17,630
Yeah.
274
00:13:17,664 --> 00:13:19,032
Yeah, I hope it lasts.
275
00:13:19,066 --> 00:13:21,234
You think you want
to go up tomorrow?
276
00:13:22,335 --> 00:13:24,804
[sighs]
277
00:13:36,716 --> 00:13:39,486
I haven't decided yet
when I want to go up.
278
00:13:39,519 --> 00:13:40,988
I'm just not sure I'm really,
279
00:13:41,021 --> 00:13:42,655
if I don't think
I can keep up,
I'm not gonna.
280
00:13:42,689 --> 00:13:44,424
There's no point to it.
281
00:13:45,859 --> 00:13:49,196
[Todd] Yeah, get some
sleep today, get some rest.
282
00:13:50,563 --> 00:13:52,832
Seems like you're
feeling better.
283
00:14:15,055 --> 00:14:16,689
-[Fred] Take your time up there.
-[Dave O'Leske] All right.
284
00:14:16,723 --> 00:14:17,690
-OK.
-OK.
285
00:14:17,724 --> 00:14:19,426
If we need an extra day,
take it.
286
00:14:19,459 --> 00:14:23,430
[Todd] OK, Fred, we're gonna try
and go early for the Summit.
287
00:14:23,463 --> 00:14:25,465
Just keep plugging away slow.
288
00:14:25,498 --> 00:14:28,068
-It's a hell of a job.
-[beep]
289
00:14:28,101 --> 00:14:29,402
[Todd] It was sad that Fred
290
00:14:29,436 --> 00:14:31,304
couldn't get up there
and climb with us,
291
00:14:31,338 --> 00:14:33,806
and do what he had done
so many times before
292
00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:35,608
in the mountains.
293
00:14:43,150 --> 00:14:49,056
[Helmy Beckey] Fred was born
in Germany, 1923.
294
00:14:50,223 --> 00:14:53,260
Our parents came to the USA
295
00:14:53,293 --> 00:14:56,663
with my brother in 1924,
296
00:14:56,696 --> 00:15:01,568
a good 10 years before
Adolf Hitler got into power.
297
00:15:01,601 --> 00:15:04,504
As kids, we were
together all the time.
298
00:15:04,537 --> 00:15:06,173
That's my mother.
299
00:15:06,206 --> 00:15:08,108
and that's me
in the middle, Helmy.
300
00:15:08,141 --> 00:15:09,476
And there's Fred,
301
00:15:09,509 --> 00:15:13,713
known at that time
as Wolfgang or Wolf.
302
00:15:13,746 --> 00:15:15,615
The neighborhood kids
kidded him around.
303
00:15:15,648 --> 00:15:18,785
they laughed at him
because of his name, Wolf.
304
00:15:18,818 --> 00:15:22,189
And then he changed
his name to Fred,
305
00:15:22,222 --> 00:15:26,693
because he didn't appreciate
being laughed at.
306
00:15:26,726 --> 00:15:28,361
He went into the Boys Scouts,
307
00:15:28,395 --> 00:15:30,530
and they went hiking
and climbing.
308
00:15:30,563 --> 00:15:33,300
[Fred] We did some small peaks
in the Olympics.
309
00:15:33,333 --> 00:15:35,735
I liked it, I had a good time,
I enjoyed it.
310
00:15:35,768 --> 00:15:38,238
I felt it was a lot more fun
than doing any team sports
311
00:15:38,271 --> 00:15:39,472
and I kind of appealed to me.
312
00:15:39,506 --> 00:15:41,141
It was kind of fun.
313
00:15:41,174 --> 00:15:45,378
And I think just one thing
led to another.
314
00:15:49,016 --> 00:15:51,551
[Wolf] There's a glacial
boulder in Seattle,
315
00:15:51,584 --> 00:15:55,022
it has about six
or seven climbing routes,
316
00:15:55,055 --> 00:15:58,525
and I started a little climbing
class for the older boys.
317
00:15:58,558 --> 00:16:00,127
[music playing]
318
00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,495
It was there that Fred and I
struck up our friendship.
319
00:16:02,529 --> 00:16:07,234
By 1938, we were beginning
to do climbs
320
00:16:07,267 --> 00:16:09,269
in the Cascades.
321
00:16:09,302 --> 00:16:12,572
[Fred] I met some people
my own age who were
taking the course,
322
00:16:12,605 --> 00:16:15,575
and we went on trips
of our own.
323
00:16:31,958 --> 00:16:34,094
[Lowell Skoog] You started to
see a new kind of
mountaineering
324
00:16:34,127 --> 00:16:35,328
in the Northwest.
325
00:16:35,362 --> 00:16:38,198
Maybe three or four climbers
going out on
326
00:16:38,231 --> 00:16:41,101
much more adventurous,
remote trips
327
00:16:41,134 --> 00:16:43,370
than their predecessors
had done,
328
00:16:43,403 --> 00:16:46,239
and really starting to explore
329
00:16:46,273 --> 00:16:49,109
all throughout the Northwest
and in the Cascades,
330
00:16:49,142 --> 00:16:52,312
where Fred really devoted
lot of his energy.
331
00:16:56,349 --> 00:16:59,119
[Jim Donini] The only real
Alpine mountains, lower 48,
332
00:16:59,152 --> 00:17:00,420
are in the Pacific Northwest.
333
00:17:00,453 --> 00:17:02,822
So they had this playground,
like a mini Himalaya,
334
00:17:02,855 --> 00:17:04,291
right in their backyard.
335
00:17:04,324 --> 00:17:06,559
When Fred started
way back when,
336
00:17:06,593 --> 00:17:07,760
a lot of those
beautiful peaks
337
00:17:07,794 --> 00:17:10,497
never had anybody
on their summits.
338
00:17:12,732 --> 00:17:14,601
[Fred] The first...
first ascent,
339
00:17:14,634 --> 00:17:16,436
we went to Mt. Despair.
340
00:17:18,071 --> 00:17:19,806
Probably, today's climbers
341
00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:24,377
or even the most skilled ones
don't have a real deep feeling
342
00:17:24,411 --> 00:17:28,047
of what it's like to try a route
that nobody's ever been on.
343
00:17:31,351 --> 00:17:33,320
Fred was talking
about his climbing
344
00:17:33,353 --> 00:17:35,122
and talking,
talking, talking...
345
00:17:35,155 --> 00:17:39,292
and he dragged me along,
you know. [laughs]
346
00:17:39,326 --> 00:17:43,430
1940, here's some pictures
of the first ascent
347
00:17:43,463 --> 00:17:46,433
we made of Forbidden Peak.
348
00:17:46,466 --> 00:17:49,802
That was my first-first ascent.
349
00:17:49,836 --> 00:17:51,504
Scary... [laughs]
350
00:17:51,538 --> 00:17:53,406
Frightening.
351
00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:54,807
[Dave] What did
your parents think
352
00:17:54,841 --> 00:17:57,710
about you
and Fred climbing?
353
00:17:57,744 --> 00:18:00,813
[Helmy] I don't think
they knew how...
354
00:18:00,847 --> 00:18:04,050
dangerous things got sometimes,
355
00:18:04,083 --> 00:18:06,153
or how scary it was.
356
00:18:06,186 --> 00:18:08,455
I think they understood
that there was some danger
out there,
357
00:18:08,488 --> 00:18:10,557
but there wasn't much
that they could do about it,
358
00:18:10,590 --> 00:18:12,792
except forbid us to go,
359
00:18:12,825 --> 00:18:15,195
and that wouldn't
have worked either.
360
00:18:15,228 --> 00:18:17,630
[Fred] Yeah, I probably am
pretty independent, yeah.
361
00:18:17,664 --> 00:18:20,467
I don't think many kids
362
00:18:20,500 --> 00:18:22,535
17 and 19 would take off
for Mount Waddington
363
00:18:22,569 --> 00:18:24,971
when they're still
in high school.
364
00:18:25,004 --> 00:18:26,739
Uh-uh. Uh-uh
365
00:18:29,509 --> 00:18:32,044
[Colin] That second ascent
of Mt. Waddington
366
00:18:32,078 --> 00:18:33,446
which Fred and Helmy did
367
00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,316
when they were
19 and 17 years old,
368
00:18:36,349 --> 00:18:38,618
that's a hard route today.
It's probably been climbed
369
00:18:38,651 --> 00:18:42,355
less than 10 times total.
370
00:18:42,389 --> 00:18:46,893
[Nick Clinch]
Waddington was a huge challenge
for North American mountaineers.
371
00:18:46,926 --> 00:18:48,595
The best Sierra Club climbers
went up there and tried it,
372
00:18:48,628 --> 00:18:50,330
and then it was
finally done by Fritz Wiessner
373
00:18:50,363 --> 00:18:52,199
who was considered
the leading climber
374
00:18:52,232 --> 00:18:53,466
in the United States.
375
00:18:53,500 --> 00:18:54,801
[Barry] It's
mind-blowing to think
376
00:18:54,834 --> 00:18:57,370
that these two
teenage boys from Seattle
377
00:18:57,404 --> 00:18:59,606
spent a month and a half
378
00:18:59,639 --> 00:19:03,142
in the absolute wilderness
of British Columbia.
379
00:19:03,176 --> 00:19:05,077
[Fred] I still
can't even remember
380
00:19:05,111 --> 00:19:06,313
how we put that together.
381
00:19:06,346 --> 00:19:08,515
We must have somewhere
taken a bus
382
00:19:08,548 --> 00:19:10,417
out to a big grocery store,
383
00:19:10,450 --> 00:19:13,085
and bought all
our groceries for six weeks.
384
00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:14,687
That's a lot of groceries.
385
00:19:14,721 --> 00:19:17,023
[music playing]
386
00:19:17,056 --> 00:19:19,759
[Fred] We made a menu up,
and then we repeated it.
387
00:19:19,792 --> 00:19:22,094
I had it all figured
out, little squares.
388
00:19:22,128 --> 00:19:23,496
packed it up in cloth bags.
389
00:19:23,530 --> 00:19:25,031
So I got a cloth bag,
390
00:19:25,064 --> 00:19:27,600
you know there's everything
you need for three days.
391
00:19:31,137 --> 00:19:33,240
We would never have gotten
that trip off the ground
392
00:19:33,273 --> 00:19:36,108
if it hadn't been
for Don Mundy and his wife.
393
00:19:36,142 --> 00:19:38,645
They set us up with a guy
who had a fishing boat
394
00:19:38,678 --> 00:19:41,214
and he took us
to the head of Knight Inlet,
395
00:19:41,248 --> 00:19:43,350
dropped us off. Adios.
396
00:19:43,383 --> 00:19:47,554
We spent, maybe, two weeks
relaying back and forth loads.
397
00:19:47,587 --> 00:19:49,756
[Conrad] This is
ferocious bushwhacking
398
00:19:49,789 --> 00:19:52,392
through coastal
temperate forest
399
00:19:52,425 --> 00:19:55,595
with downfall the size
of telephone poles.
400
00:19:55,628 --> 00:19:57,530
[Peter Croft] They've actually
called Waddington
401
00:19:57,564 --> 00:19:59,232
the mystery mountain
402
00:19:59,266 --> 00:20:03,135
because for a long time
it was a blank spot on the map.
403
00:20:03,169 --> 00:20:05,272
If it had gone horribly wrong,
404
00:20:05,305 --> 00:20:06,773
it's hard to say if
they'd even ever be found.
405
00:20:06,806 --> 00:20:09,108
[Fred] I once fell
into a crevasse.
406
00:20:09,141 --> 00:20:11,077
My brother essentially
grabbed me by the collar
407
00:20:11,110 --> 00:20:12,812
and pulled me out.
408
00:20:12,845 --> 00:20:14,547
And that could have been
the end of the trip,
409
00:20:14,581 --> 00:20:17,049
the end of more than the trip.
410
00:20:31,398 --> 00:20:34,367
[Helmy] At the very, very top
Fred did the leading, you know.
411
00:20:34,401 --> 00:20:37,704
Right in where
it's really hairy.
412
00:20:37,737 --> 00:20:40,239
Scared, frightened.
413
00:20:40,273 --> 00:20:43,410
I don't know about Fred.
He never mentioned it to me.
414
00:20:43,443 --> 00:20:46,446
I was, "You just look down,"
you know.
415
00:20:46,479 --> 00:20:48,648
You just don't.
416
00:20:48,681 --> 00:20:52,218
[Fred] Spent the night
essentially on the summit,
a few feet below.
417
00:20:52,251 --> 00:20:55,355
Must have been shivering,
all we had were sweaters.
418
00:20:55,388 --> 00:21:00,660
[Helmy] I had my 17th birthday
on top of Waddington.
419
00:21:00,693 --> 00:21:04,397
"Hope we live
through the night."
420
00:21:04,431 --> 00:21:07,534
We didn't sleep, we just...
421
00:21:07,567 --> 00:21:09,469
sweated it out, you know?
422
00:21:09,502 --> 00:21:11,604
Coming down was more dangerous
than going up
423
00:21:11,638 --> 00:21:14,674
because we were coming
down in the late afternoon,
424
00:21:14,707 --> 00:21:17,310
and by then, snow and ice
on the ledges had loosened up,
425
00:21:17,344 --> 00:21:18,411
rocks were coming down.
426
00:21:18,445 --> 00:21:21,348
My brother
got hit on the knee.
427
00:21:21,381 --> 00:21:24,417
[Helmy] God, that hurt like
holy hell, I'll tell you.
428
00:21:24,451 --> 00:21:27,620
Thank God I didn't get hit
on the head.
429
00:21:34,461 --> 00:21:36,529
[Barry] This is the second
ascent of what was
430
00:21:36,563 --> 00:21:39,265
at that time the hardest
Alpine climb in North America,
431
00:21:39,298 --> 00:21:41,701
and two teenage boys
walk up, do that,
432
00:21:41,734 --> 00:21:44,136
and the whole world shifts.
433
00:21:44,170 --> 00:21:46,806
It sucks the feet out
from under all the men
434
00:21:46,839 --> 00:21:48,908
because men are
trying to do this thing.
435
00:21:54,581 --> 00:21:56,749
[Fred] We were a little bit
surprised ourselves
436
00:21:56,783 --> 00:21:58,385
that we managed to pull it off.
437
00:21:58,418 --> 00:22:01,087
We got our pictures in
the Seattle newspaper, that big.
438
00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:02,655
Unless you rob a bank,
439
00:22:02,689 --> 00:22:05,825
it's kinda hard to get
your picture in the paper.
440
00:22:05,858 --> 00:22:09,028
[Alex] During the early years,
they were inseparable.
441
00:22:09,061 --> 00:22:12,432
It was during the epic
Waddington expedition
442
00:22:12,465 --> 00:22:17,169
that Helmy sustained
a rock fall on his knee.
443
00:22:17,203 --> 00:22:19,271
and injured it badly.
444
00:22:19,305 --> 00:22:23,643
Ever since then,
Fred and Helmy drifted apart.
445
00:22:23,676 --> 00:22:26,413
Helmy ended up going to Europe
446
00:22:26,446 --> 00:22:29,115
and he became
a successful opera singer.
447
00:22:29,148 --> 00:22:33,653
But once Helmy
stopped climbing with Fred,
448
00:22:33,686 --> 00:22:39,492
Fred no longer took any
interest in Helmy's life.
449
00:22:39,526 --> 00:22:43,195
They rarely saw each other.
450
00:22:43,229 --> 00:22:47,066
[Helmy] Our relationship
deteriorated
451
00:22:47,099 --> 00:22:49,135
because he continued to climb,
452
00:22:49,168 --> 00:22:52,238
and I did not climb anymore.
453
00:22:54,306 --> 00:22:57,410
Forty-two,
the war was on then.
454
00:22:57,444 --> 00:22:58,678
Fred had to go in the army.
455
00:22:58,711 --> 00:23:01,581
He was in
the mountain troops.
456
00:23:01,614 --> 00:23:05,117
He was instructing climbers
and skiers.
457
00:23:05,151 --> 00:23:07,920
He didn't have
to go to Europe and fight.
458
00:23:07,954 --> 00:23:09,221
[Todd] What did you do
in the army?
459
00:23:09,255 --> 00:23:10,623
-[Fred] Very little.
-[Todd laughs]
460
00:23:10,657 --> 00:23:12,825
I was in
the mountain training corps,
461
00:23:12,859 --> 00:23:14,360
taught snowshoeing.
462
00:23:14,393 --> 00:23:16,696
I don't know
what there is to teach but...
463
00:23:16,729 --> 00:23:18,731
you know, you spend half the
time freezing your butt off.
464
00:23:18,765 --> 00:23:21,768
I spent more time
on the railroad than
I did anywhere else,
465
00:23:21,801 --> 00:23:23,736
just going from place to place.
466
00:23:33,846 --> 00:23:37,149
[Bob] He was discharged before
the division went overseas.
467
00:23:37,183 --> 00:23:39,486
I don't know whether
it was a medical or what...
468
00:23:39,519 --> 00:23:41,320
[Dave] He never talked to you
about that?
469
00:23:41,353 --> 00:23:43,189
Never talked about it.
470
00:23:43,222 --> 00:23:46,859
[Steve Gunn]
* Night climb. Window
471
00:23:46,893 --> 00:23:50,530
* Down the water,
ground below *
472
00:23:50,563 --> 00:23:54,366
* Whatchya doing,
where you going *
473
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,570
* Where you end up
when the morning comes? *
474
00:24:05,812 --> 00:24:09,148
[Fred] I think the next,
I'll have to go through
my cobwebs in my
475
00:24:09,181 --> 00:24:10,683
little peanut sized brain,
476
00:24:10,717 --> 00:24:13,119
the next biggest thing I did
was to get together
477
00:24:13,152 --> 00:24:14,854
with Cliff Schmidtke
and Bob Craig,
478
00:24:14,887 --> 00:24:18,124
and went to Kate's Needle
and Devil's Thumb.
479
00:24:18,157 --> 00:24:22,394
[Bob] I think Fred
had read somewhere
in the Sierra Club Journal
480
00:24:22,428 --> 00:24:25,464
about this great mountain.
481
00:24:25,498 --> 00:24:27,567
I certainly didn't know
about Devil's Thumb.
482
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:31,103
But Fred was an encyclopedia
of available mountains
483
00:24:31,137 --> 00:24:33,272
that hadn't been climbed.
484
00:24:36,075 --> 00:24:37,577
I was just out of the navy.
485
00:24:37,610 --> 00:24:40,312
And Fred called me,
"Everything is all set.
486
00:24:40,346 --> 00:24:42,715
we got lots of food
up on the glacier.
487
00:24:42,749 --> 00:24:44,784
Come up to Wrangell,
Alaska.
488
00:24:44,817 --> 00:24:47,053
And I'll meet you
and we'll go up to
Stikine River,
489
00:24:47,086 --> 00:24:49,221
and make this climb."
490
00:24:49,255 --> 00:24:52,692
Typical Fred enthusiasm
and not very much more
detail than that.
491
00:24:52,725 --> 00:24:54,426
[Fred] He and Schmidtke said
492
00:24:54,460 --> 00:24:57,463
they had agreed to come up
in about a week the next boat.
493
00:24:58,531 --> 00:25:00,967
Several parties had
tried Kate's Needle,
494
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,102
But nobody has tried
Devil's Thumb.
495
00:25:03,135 --> 00:25:07,339
Waiting out the weather,
we eventually climbed
Kate's Needle.
496
00:25:07,373 --> 00:25:09,008
[Bob] We made three attempts
497
00:25:09,041 --> 00:25:11,644
on Devil's Thumb,
and had to retreat twice,
498
00:25:11,678 --> 00:25:15,948
and on the third attempt,
we got to the summit.
499
00:25:17,249 --> 00:25:20,252
And we were running out of food
down at our camp.
500
00:25:20,286 --> 00:25:23,355
We're cooking some of the last
remaining food we had,
501
00:25:23,389 --> 00:25:27,059
and Fred handed me this bag,
which I thought were beans.
502
00:25:27,093 --> 00:25:30,597
I poured it into the pan,
and we melted some snow and
503
00:25:30,630 --> 00:25:32,599
I suddenly looked at him,
504
00:25:32,632 --> 00:25:35,401
I said,
"Fred these beans
505
00:25:35,434 --> 00:25:38,137
don't have anything
in them except maggots.
506
00:25:38,170 --> 00:25:39,706
Where did this come from?"
507
00:25:39,739 --> 00:25:44,010
He said, "Well, Helmy and I
had it on Waddington." [laughs]
508
00:25:44,043 --> 00:25:50,516
So, we ate this stew
of beans and maggots.
509
00:25:50,549 --> 00:25:53,185
We were pretty hungry
at that point.
510
00:25:55,588 --> 00:25:58,290
[music playing]
511
00:26:38,097 --> 00:26:41,701
[Sybil Goman]
Fred was lively and addictive,
and very outgoing.
512
00:26:41,734 --> 00:26:43,736
There's some sort
of magnetism there.
513
00:26:43,770 --> 00:26:45,471
[Alex] He burned through women
514
00:26:45,504 --> 00:26:49,308
like a gypsy
went through horses.
515
00:26:49,341 --> 00:26:52,111
[Yvon] He has a real soft place
516
00:26:52,144 --> 00:26:54,213
in his heart for tall,
dirty blondes.
517
00:26:54,246 --> 00:26:55,782
[Bob] There's
a certain kind of girl
518
00:26:55,815 --> 00:26:59,185
that frequented
roller skating rinks,
519
00:26:59,218 --> 00:27:01,053
Roller Dames,
520
00:27:01,087 --> 00:27:03,723
Rink Rats.
521
00:27:03,756 --> 00:27:07,393
[Jim] I know guys
that wouldn't introduce
him to their women
522
00:27:07,426 --> 00:27:10,429
or let him
stay in their homes.
523
00:27:10,462 --> 00:27:12,164
[Don] Beware of Beckey:
524
00:27:12,198 --> 00:27:14,200
he'll steal your women,
he'll steal your climbs.
525
00:27:15,034 --> 00:27:18,270
-[Dave] Is that true, you think?
-[Alice Liska] Oh, yeah.
526
00:27:18,304 --> 00:27:20,472
[Jim] He's had
a lot of girlfriends.
527
00:27:20,506 --> 00:27:23,375
And he does it with
the same tenacious quality
528
00:27:23,409 --> 00:27:25,444
that he does his climbing.
529
00:27:29,115 --> 00:27:31,751
[Alex] He met this very
attractive woman
530
00:27:31,784 --> 00:27:34,253
by the name of Vasiliki,
531
00:27:34,286 --> 00:27:35,755
skiing at Stevens Pass.
532
00:27:35,788 --> 00:27:38,390
And they hit it off.
533
00:27:38,424 --> 00:27:40,159
[Fred] Vasiliki was her name.
534
00:27:40,192 --> 00:27:41,360
She actually
called herself Betty.
535
00:27:41,393 --> 00:27:44,296
She came from
a Greek background.
536
00:27:46,332 --> 00:27:50,837
[Alex] Fred named
a series of rock spires,
537
00:27:50,870 --> 00:27:56,709
not only after her, but also
after her favorite drinks.
538
00:27:56,743 --> 00:27:58,177
[Vasiliki]
It's an honor, I guess.
539
00:27:58,210 --> 00:28:00,146
He put me on the map.
What can I say?
540
00:28:00,179 --> 00:28:01,513
That's wonderful.
541
00:28:01,547 --> 00:28:06,385
This has been over 50 years now
that people have said,
542
00:28:06,418 --> 00:28:08,721
"Are you the Vasiliki?" "Yes."
543
00:28:08,755 --> 00:28:10,489
"Well, I've climbed you."
544
00:28:10,522 --> 00:28:12,291
And I say, "Oh, OK."
545
00:28:12,324 --> 00:28:15,261
[Timothy] When I asked him
about that, his face
was startled.
546
00:28:15,294 --> 00:28:17,696
and it was like
I caught him in something.
547
00:28:17,730 --> 00:28:19,398
He goes,
"How do you know about her?"
548
00:28:19,431 --> 00:28:23,135
She was the one,
the one great love of his life.
549
00:28:23,169 --> 00:28:24,636
It turns out she marries
550
00:28:24,670 --> 00:28:27,039
one of the most famous people
in the Northwest,
551
00:28:27,073 --> 00:28:29,675
Bill Dwyer,
a federal judge.
552
00:28:29,708 --> 00:28:32,544
Vasiliki chose the judge
instead of the dirtbag climber.
553
00:28:32,578 --> 00:28:35,014
But, I guess
you can't blame her.
554
00:28:35,047 --> 00:28:37,449
Maybe it's a good thing
that she turned him down
555
00:28:37,483 --> 00:28:39,551
because Fred would have
actually gone for it
556
00:28:39,585 --> 00:28:42,088
and not kept climbing
cutting-edge routes
557
00:28:42,121 --> 00:28:43,790
for another 50 years.
558
00:28:43,823 --> 00:28:45,792
[Vasiliki] He was a very
interesting man to me
559
00:28:45,825 --> 00:28:49,028
not because he was
a mountain man,
560
00:28:49,061 --> 00:28:51,397
but because he was so well read
561
00:28:51,430 --> 00:28:54,600
and he used to give me
old books of poetry,
562
00:28:54,633 --> 00:28:58,337
he was a different
sort of creature.
563
00:28:58,370 --> 00:29:00,472
He moved more than a gypsy,
I think.
564
00:29:00,506 --> 00:29:03,742
He was just gone,
but he's come back to write.
565
00:29:03,776 --> 00:29:07,513
I liked that sense of freedom
to go.
566
00:29:07,546 --> 00:29:09,348
He was not free
from his passion,
567
00:29:09,381 --> 00:29:12,084
but he was free
from everyday things
568
00:29:12,118 --> 00:29:15,387
that the rest of the people
are involved in.
569
00:29:15,421 --> 00:29:20,459
And he just was driven
to this way of life.
570
00:29:22,294 --> 00:29:23,762
[Todd] Do you think
you'll ever get married?
571
00:29:23,796 --> 00:29:25,164
[Fred] I think I...
yeah, sometime I should.
572
00:29:25,197 --> 00:29:26,799
I should try it out. Yeah.
573
00:29:26,833 --> 00:29:29,101
-[Todd] What would be
the perfect--
-[Fred] I don't know.
574
00:29:29,135 --> 00:29:32,171
[music playing]
575
00:29:33,873 --> 00:29:35,674
I am the daughter of Scottie,
576
00:29:35,707 --> 00:29:39,245
who was a girlfriend of Fred's
for several years.
577
00:29:39,278 --> 00:29:41,647
Probably around '49 to '52.
578
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,784
In 1950, they went
on a trip to Europe together.
579
00:29:45,818 --> 00:29:51,223
My mother said
she was gonna go skiing
and ran off to France.
580
00:29:54,326 --> 00:29:55,461
And then at some point,
581
00:29:55,494 --> 00:29:58,730
Fred came back
and my mom stayed on.
582
00:29:58,764 --> 00:30:02,234
When they broke up,
my mom and Fred went
to the court
583
00:30:02,268 --> 00:30:04,603
to separate
their personal items,
584
00:30:04,636 --> 00:30:07,606
So who knows, you know,
did they elope?
585
00:30:07,639 --> 00:30:11,543
This is probably
the most significant
relationship in her life
586
00:30:11,577 --> 00:30:13,512
before she met my dad.
587
00:30:22,388 --> 00:30:26,325
Even years later after
my mom was married to my dad,
588
00:30:26,358 --> 00:30:27,559
Fred would call sometimes
589
00:30:27,593 --> 00:30:30,596
and try to get her
to run off with him.
590
00:30:39,538 --> 00:30:42,174
[Eric] Yeah, he always had
women in his life.
591
00:30:42,208 --> 00:30:45,377
Rarely had the same one
for a very long time.
592
00:30:45,411 --> 00:30:48,480
Sybil was one of
the exceptions.
593
00:30:48,514 --> 00:30:52,251
[Sybil] He invited me to go on
lots of climbs and just hang
around basecamp,
594
00:30:52,284 --> 00:30:53,719
which, with Fred,
a weeklong trip
595
00:30:53,752 --> 00:30:55,787
would usually morph
into three months.
596
00:30:55,821 --> 00:30:58,557
Now some things that people
don't know about Fred
597
00:30:58,590 --> 00:31:01,994
is he likes opera,
he likes libraries.
598
00:31:02,028 --> 00:31:08,367
Fred did have some tenderness
and romanticness in him.
599
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,636
Everybody knows
Fred has a strong personality
600
00:31:10,669 --> 00:31:15,274
and consequently we had
a lot of fireworks
and a lot of sparks.
601
00:31:15,307 --> 00:31:18,610
We just, kind of, drifted apart
and back together, and apart.
602
00:31:18,644 --> 00:31:21,480
I think what he wanted
was a satisfying playmate.
603
00:31:21,513 --> 00:31:23,282
[Alex] A good number of years,
604
00:31:23,315 --> 00:31:25,051
he was living in my townhouse.
605
00:31:25,084 --> 00:31:28,454
Quite often he would bring
lady friends over,
606
00:31:28,487 --> 00:31:32,524
and I could hear Fred talking
607
00:31:32,558 --> 00:31:36,362
about the most personal issues
in his life,
608
00:31:36,395 --> 00:31:38,130
which he would never
609
00:31:38,164 --> 00:31:41,667
think of doing
with his best friends.
610
00:31:41,700 --> 00:31:46,572
Here was this very secretive
and reclusive legend
611
00:31:46,605 --> 00:31:49,708
who was opening
up his innermost feelings
612
00:31:49,741 --> 00:31:51,210
to these women
613
00:31:51,243 --> 00:31:53,512
that he's only gonna see
for a few days,
614
00:31:53,545 --> 00:31:56,415
I wish some of those women
would have had tape recorder
615
00:31:56,448 --> 00:31:57,716
and just recorded it
616
00:31:57,749 --> 00:32:00,152
because it would have made
interesting reading.
617
00:32:13,465 --> 00:32:15,134
[beep]
618
00:32:29,381 --> 00:32:32,118
You guys go ahead,
if you want to.
619
00:32:44,196 --> 00:32:46,365
I gotta get some water.
620
00:32:46,398 --> 00:32:50,036
I don't why
you're taking movies,
I'm just climbing like shit.
621
00:32:56,308 --> 00:32:59,811
[Ed Cooper] All
climbers know about his
climbing accomplishments,
622
00:32:59,845 --> 00:33:04,450
and he's probably made
more first ascents
in North America
623
00:33:04,483 --> 00:33:07,586
than any other
climber ever will.
624
00:33:07,619 --> 00:33:09,621
But there's another
side to Fred
625
00:33:09,655 --> 00:33:12,258
that I think
is very interesting,
626
00:33:12,291 --> 00:33:17,063
and that is
that he is a scholar.
627
00:33:17,096 --> 00:33:20,066
He must have spent
thousands of hours
628
00:33:20,099 --> 00:33:22,068
in libraries researching,
629
00:33:22,101 --> 00:33:23,769
even a college professor
630
00:33:23,802 --> 00:33:28,774
could hardly get out
that amount of work
in a lifetime.
631
00:33:28,807 --> 00:33:31,243
[Layton] Well, every time
somebody opens up a guidebook
632
00:33:31,277 --> 00:33:33,445
in an area
where Beckey's climbed,
633
00:33:33,479 --> 00:33:35,981
they're gonna be following
his footsteps, whether they like
it or not.
634
00:33:36,815 --> 00:33:38,750
[Ed Viesturs] Beckey's
Cascade Alpine Guides,
635
00:33:38,784 --> 00:33:40,219
that was like our Bible.
636
00:33:40,252 --> 00:33:42,521
Every week we'd
pick out something,
637
00:33:42,554 --> 00:33:44,390
where we wanted to go,
what we wanted to climb,
638
00:33:44,423 --> 00:33:46,158
and we'd have
Beckey's book with us
639
00:33:46,192 --> 00:33:47,693
and we'd memorize
what he said,
640
00:33:47,726 --> 00:33:49,728
you know,
very detailed information
641
00:33:49,761 --> 00:33:51,630
about not only
how to get there,
642
00:33:51,663 --> 00:33:54,533
what moves to make,
what equipment to bring,
643
00:33:54,566 --> 00:33:58,204
how long it would take,
the attention to detail
was amazing,
644
00:33:58,237 --> 00:34:00,606
and the fact that he did
most of the climbs
645
00:34:00,639 --> 00:34:02,608
that he wrote about
is even more amazing.
646
00:34:02,641 --> 00:34:06,044
[Jim] The guy knows more
about the mountains
of North America
647
00:34:06,078 --> 00:34:07,346
than anyone that's ever lived.
648
00:34:07,379 --> 00:34:09,215
You can't go climbing
with Fred Beckey
649
00:34:09,248 --> 00:34:11,683
without Fred having
a piece of paper
650
00:34:11,717 --> 00:34:13,252
shoved into his pocket
651
00:34:13,285 --> 00:34:15,187
and some pens taped
around his neck
652
00:34:15,221 --> 00:34:16,622
on, like,
a piece of string.
653
00:34:16,655 --> 00:34:18,957
Sometimes, the most
inopportune times,
654
00:34:18,990 --> 00:34:20,892
you hear him shout,
"Hold on a second!"
655
00:34:20,926 --> 00:34:22,694
And you look down and he's in
the middle of a pitch,
656
00:34:22,728 --> 00:34:26,265
like, scribbling notes
about some obscure section
657
00:34:26,298 --> 00:34:28,534
of, like, an obscure pitch.
658
00:34:28,567 --> 00:34:29,768
[Fred] Kind of a big ledge.
659
00:34:29,801 --> 00:34:33,071
Trees going right.
What are these? Mahoganies?
660
00:34:33,105 --> 00:34:35,174
-We got three bolts up there?
-[Todd] Yep, three bolts.
661
00:34:35,207 --> 00:34:36,608
[Corey] He's like
a mad scientist.
662
00:34:36,642 --> 00:34:38,410
He doesn't know
what he's wearing.
663
00:34:38,444 --> 00:34:40,579
He doesn't care if there's
stains on his clothes.
664
00:34:40,612 --> 00:34:43,782
Fred has one focus, which is
climbing and documenting
665
00:34:43,815 --> 00:34:45,484
climbing through his topos.
666
00:34:45,517 --> 00:34:47,619
[Fred]
Went out here, to kind of,
like a little ramp.
667
00:34:47,653 --> 00:34:49,221
-Yep.
-There's a block and you step.
668
00:34:49,255 --> 00:34:51,157
-Yup.
-I still remember that.
669
00:34:51,190 --> 00:34:52,791
-I stuck here
and you went up there.
-[Todd] Yep.
670
00:34:52,824 --> 00:34:54,593
-OK.
-[Todd] Either one is, bomber.
671
00:34:54,626 --> 00:34:56,094
OK. Either one
and 155-foot pitch.
672
00:34:56,128 --> 00:34:58,664
[Corey] And he has all of
those notes cataloged
673
00:34:58,697 --> 00:35:00,266
in the Fred Beckey way,
674
00:35:00,299 --> 00:35:03,068
shoved into closets
and shoe-boxes
675
00:35:03,101 --> 00:35:05,737
and FedEx envelopes
in his house.
676
00:35:05,771 --> 00:35:08,307
[Fred] I got about 90 topos
at home of different routes.
677
00:35:08,340 --> 00:35:09,941
And I got 'em all
glued together
678
00:35:09,975 --> 00:35:12,544
so I can carry 'em around
and show 'em to people.
679
00:35:12,578 --> 00:35:16,182
And I got it 'em all organized
by state, or area, you know.
680
00:35:16,215 --> 00:35:17,516
Whatever.
681
00:35:17,549 --> 00:35:19,017
[Corey] The amount
of data that, you know,
682
00:35:19,050 --> 00:35:21,052
it's almost like Fred Beckey,
the super computer.
683
00:35:21,086 --> 00:35:23,422
If there was an encyclopedia
of climbing,
684
00:35:23,455 --> 00:35:26,525
it's, really,
it's inside of his head.
685
00:35:26,558 --> 00:35:28,427
OK, go up this crack,
686
00:35:28,460 --> 00:35:30,296
about 20 feet, you'll see it.
687
00:35:30,329 --> 00:35:32,931
And cut out to the right.
It's very obvious.
688
00:35:32,964 --> 00:35:34,600
You look up there,
you'll see a giant horn,
689
00:35:34,633 --> 00:35:37,403
looks like a dog head.
You know.
690
00:35:37,436 --> 00:35:41,707
Cut the right,
you'll see the gully,
you can't miss it.
691
00:35:41,740 --> 00:35:43,509
You'll have fun.
692
00:35:43,542 --> 00:35:46,612
[Dave] So did you ever study
writing techniques?
Or did you--
693
00:35:46,645 --> 00:35:48,280
[Fred] No, believe it or not,
I never did.
694
00:35:48,314 --> 00:35:51,783
-[Dave] Really?
-[Fred] Never took
a fucking course.
695
00:35:51,817 --> 00:35:56,288
I think taking a writing
course would have just
fucked me up totally.
696
00:36:04,563 --> 00:36:07,466
[Timothy]
He chained himself to a desk
at the Oregon Historical Society
697
00:36:07,499 --> 00:36:09,368
trying to produce
this greater book
698
00:36:09,401 --> 00:36:11,069
about the history
of the Cascades.
699
00:36:13,339 --> 00:36:14,773
[Fred] I was all over--
700
00:36:14,806 --> 00:36:17,042
National Archives,
you name it.
701
00:36:17,075 --> 00:36:20,212
Practically every research
library on the East Coast.
702
00:36:20,246 --> 00:36:22,348
I should've had a girlfriend,
hanging around with me
703
00:36:22,381 --> 00:36:24,383
to keep me company
doing all of this stuff.
704
00:36:24,416 --> 00:36:27,819
[Fred] Did Range of Glaciers
do okay?
705
00:36:27,853 --> 00:36:30,155
[Fred] Not money-wise,
not for me.
706
00:36:30,188 --> 00:36:33,225
The money has never been
very good.
707
00:36:33,259 --> 00:36:35,361
It should've been.
708
00:36:35,394 --> 00:36:38,163
I blame... I don't know
who to blame.
709
00:36:38,196 --> 00:36:39,965
The public,
710
00:36:39,998 --> 00:36:41,199
the Internet
711
00:36:41,233 --> 00:36:43,001
The books that are
really selling
712
00:36:43,034 --> 00:36:44,169
are these self-help books.
713
00:36:44,202 --> 00:36:45,504
Dr. Phil...
714
00:36:45,537 --> 00:36:47,273
I am OK, you're OK,
715
00:36:47,306 --> 00:36:50,041
you're not OK, I am OK,
you're an idiot.
716
00:36:50,075 --> 00:36:52,478
You know,
how to improve yourself.
717
00:36:52,511 --> 00:36:56,014
How to increase
your sensibilities,
718
00:36:56,047 --> 00:36:58,484
how to make love,
how to make this,
719
00:36:58,517 --> 00:37:00,018
how to do that.
720
00:37:00,051 --> 00:37:04,856
There's whole shelves of 'em
in Seattle, I looked at,
721
00:37:04,890 --> 00:37:07,459
a whole eight feet high,
that wide.
722
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:10,629
Self-help psychology...
723
00:37:10,662 --> 00:37:12,764
How to improve this...
how to improve...
724
00:37:12,798 --> 00:37:14,400
Jesus Christ!
725
00:37:14,433 --> 00:37:17,168
There must be a lot of people
that are insecure.
726
00:37:17,202 --> 00:37:19,338
There must be.
It's not my kinda thing.
727
00:37:19,371 --> 00:37:20,606
You know, not at all.
728
00:37:20,639 --> 00:37:24,209
But, I mean, I'm not
knocking it, great.
729
00:37:24,242 --> 00:37:26,111
Good for Dr. Phil.
730
00:37:26,144 --> 00:37:29,781
He's probably making $10 million
a year on that stuff, but...
731
00:37:38,757 --> 00:37:41,293
[Fred] I'm trying to
put together a bit of a hybrid,
732
00:37:41,327 --> 00:37:45,564
to kinda, portray the mountain
or the route, access,
733
00:37:45,597 --> 00:37:47,899
route description, summary,
734
00:37:47,933 --> 00:37:50,302
picture, map, topo.
735
00:37:50,336 --> 00:37:53,505
All my friends say
it will go over.
736
00:37:53,539 --> 00:37:57,242
But they're my friends, so I'm
not sure I trust them, you know?
737
00:38:01,413 --> 00:38:05,384
Originally, I had
in mind, the name
738
00:38:05,417 --> 00:38:07,085
100 Classic Climbs,
739
00:38:07,118 --> 00:38:09,321
That was the first idea
and somewhere
740
00:38:09,355 --> 00:38:11,222
the last couple of years,
I went bonkers
741
00:38:11,256 --> 00:38:12,658
and forgot
all about the numbers
742
00:38:12,691 --> 00:38:14,560
and just kept writing
and writing,
743
00:38:14,593 --> 00:38:19,264
and the last time,
I have a list of the climbs,
744
00:38:19,297 --> 00:38:21,032
I counted 137.
745
00:38:21,066 --> 00:38:22,701
Can you believe it?
746
00:38:22,734 --> 00:38:25,170
There was four climbs
when we started with him
747
00:38:25,203 --> 00:38:27,038
that he still hadn't been
able to do,
748
00:38:27,072 --> 00:38:29,040
but he wanted to put in anyway,
'cause they're such classics.
749
00:38:29,074 --> 00:38:34,713
[Fred] I feel very strongly
that I want to have done
each of these climbs
750
00:38:34,746 --> 00:38:37,215
or made a good
solid attempt on it.
751
00:38:37,248 --> 00:38:39,250
Tentatively,
I've included them.
752
00:38:39,284 --> 00:38:42,354
In fact, that's one reason
I can't really finish this thing
753
00:38:42,388 --> 00:38:45,824
until the fall, as far as
totally finishing it.
754
00:38:45,857 --> 00:38:47,426
Just as an explanation,
755
00:38:47,459 --> 00:38:49,995
and part of this
is my idiosyncrasies
756
00:38:50,028 --> 00:38:52,598
involved in it too,
I admit that.
757
00:38:58,336 --> 00:39:00,238
[Fred] I'd like to do
Assiniboine
758
00:39:00,271 --> 00:39:01,573
It's not a hard climb,
but it's interesting,
759
00:39:01,607 --> 00:39:04,543
and kind of a big,
high mountain.
760
00:39:04,576 --> 00:39:06,912
[Don] With a character
like Beckey,
761
00:39:06,945 --> 00:39:09,147
going back
becomes almost a routine,
762
00:39:09,180 --> 00:39:10,682
it almost becomes expected.
763
00:39:10,716 --> 00:39:12,317
Well, if I miss it today,
764
00:39:12,350 --> 00:39:14,853
I'll go back tomorrow,
or next year,
765
00:39:14,886 --> 00:39:16,354
[beep]
766
00:39:16,388 --> 00:39:19,024
[Fred] I wanted to jump you
into going to Assiniboine.
767
00:39:19,057 --> 00:39:21,159
Its dry now.
Excellent conditions.
768
00:39:21,192 --> 00:39:22,428
The weather is good.
769
00:39:22,461 --> 00:39:23,662
This is the optimum time
to do it.
770
00:39:23,695 --> 00:39:25,597
Let's get going on this.
771
00:39:25,631 --> 00:39:28,233
[Jim] He'd go back,
and he'd go back,
and he'd go back,
772
00:39:28,266 --> 00:39:31,102
and damn it,
eventually he'd get it done.
773
00:39:38,644 --> 00:39:40,646
[beep]
774
00:39:40,679 --> 00:39:43,649
[Fred] We're going up to
Mt. Monarch, near Waddington.
775
00:39:43,682 --> 00:39:45,651
Hell of a mountain. Be a great
place to do some filming.
776
00:39:45,684 --> 00:39:47,352
[beep]
777
00:39:47,385 --> 00:39:50,021
It's the most important trip
of the summer for me.
778
00:39:50,055 --> 00:39:53,358
-I want to be sure
it does not fail.
-[beep]
779
00:39:53,391 --> 00:39:56,227
I realize this is almost
impossible short notice,
780
00:39:56,261 --> 00:39:58,296
but I've done stuff
like that before,
781
00:39:58,329 --> 00:40:02,333
Just jump on an airplane,
"To hell with it all,"
and just get out.
782
00:40:05,003 --> 00:40:07,338
[Barry] A lot of
mountain climbing and alpinism
783
00:40:07,372 --> 00:40:08,674
is mastering
the art of suffering,
784
00:40:08,707 --> 00:40:10,275
and a lot of it is,
785
00:40:10,308 --> 00:40:12,611
torturous, laborious,
physical work.
786
00:40:12,644 --> 00:40:15,647
I mean, it's hard
and it's uncomfortable,
and you're cold,
787
00:40:15,681 --> 00:40:19,451
and you're hungry
and you're wet.
788
00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:22,187
For a guy like Fred,
789
00:40:22,220 --> 00:40:24,556
I am sure
within his first decade,
790
00:40:24,590 --> 00:40:27,959
realized that he was in love
with the process.
791
00:40:33,765 --> 00:40:36,502
[Ed Cooper] Fred really enjoyed
the mountains,
792
00:40:36,535 --> 00:40:41,072
more than just, let's say,
making a first ascent
or something.
793
00:40:41,106 --> 00:40:44,242
He truly loved being out there.
794
00:40:46,578 --> 00:40:50,015
[Don] Fred Beckey is,
in my opinion, a poetic genius.
795
00:40:50,048 --> 00:40:52,751
Where the poetry
is the beauty and wildness
796
00:40:52,784 --> 00:40:57,823
of unchanging nature
and the challenge
of the heights.
797
00:40:59,591 --> 00:41:03,161
[Fred] It's hard to describe,
for me anyway...
798
00:41:03,194 --> 00:41:05,764
You might call it
a sense of awe,
a sense of amazement,
799
00:41:05,797 --> 00:41:09,367
a sense of just
a different view
than you get from the valley.
800
00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:12,270
And it's a very temporal one,
obviously
801
00:41:12,303 --> 00:41:16,374
because you're not gonna
be there very long.
802
00:41:16,407 --> 00:41:19,044
You know, most city sports,
like take football,
803
00:41:19,077 --> 00:41:22,614
you can quit,
and if you're pooped out,
off you go.
804
00:41:22,648 --> 00:41:24,783
But in climbing, you're in
the middle of a wall somewhere,
805
00:41:24,816 --> 00:41:28,386
and the weather's coming in,
you got a lot of commitment.
806
00:41:28,419 --> 00:41:32,691
To me,
there is endless beauty
involved in these things
807
00:41:32,724 --> 00:41:36,995
and depending on the conditions
and the weather and times
808
00:41:37,028 --> 00:41:38,697
it's changeable all the time.
809
00:41:40,566 --> 00:41:44,570
I think there is
a certain satisfaction
that builds up naturally,
810
00:41:44,603 --> 00:41:47,038
it may even compare
to winning a ball game.
811
00:41:47,072 --> 00:41:49,340
There's a good feeling
about it.
812
00:41:49,374 --> 00:41:51,543
Different than going
to work everyday,
you don't feel any better
813
00:41:51,577 --> 00:41:54,112
after the end of the day.
At least I don't.
814
00:41:56,715 --> 00:41:59,384
[Timothy] One of the things
that Beckey is really bad at
815
00:41:59,417 --> 00:42:02,053
and this is to me, a virtue.
816
00:42:02,087 --> 00:42:05,056
He lacks self-promotion.
817
00:42:05,090 --> 00:42:08,459
Other people would have,
not only entire lines of gear
818
00:42:08,493 --> 00:42:12,731
with their name on it,
he would be a household name.
819
00:42:12,764 --> 00:42:16,635
[Alex] He had opportunities
to endorse products
820
00:42:16,668 --> 00:42:20,271
and be on the back page
of every climbing magazine,
821
00:42:20,305 --> 00:42:25,110
he never followed
that opportunity.
822
00:42:25,143 --> 00:42:30,649
Because that would
compromise his real ambition,
and that was climbing.
823
00:42:30,682 --> 00:42:33,484
In other words,
he was not for sale.
824
00:42:35,386 --> 00:42:37,589
[music playing]
825
00:42:50,468 --> 00:42:54,640
In his prime he was the
consummate all-around climber.
826
00:42:54,673 --> 00:43:00,145
He could climb rock
as good as anybody,
if not, better.
827
00:43:00,178 --> 00:43:03,782
[Steve] I've known a lot of
climbers but he was singular
828
00:43:03,815 --> 00:43:07,152
and he had this drive
that was like
829
00:43:07,185 --> 00:43:10,622
the whole universe is coming
down in a spiral at that point.
830
00:43:10,656 --> 00:43:13,158
And that's Fred.
831
00:43:28,573 --> 00:43:32,277
[vintage narrator]
Fred Beckey, climbing
leader of the party. At 30,
832
00:43:32,310 --> 00:43:35,246
one of America's
foremost mountaineers.
833
00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:38,684
[Conrad] A year after the first
ascent of Everest in 1954,
834
00:43:38,717 --> 00:43:40,786
Fred Beckey did the All-Star,
835
00:43:40,819 --> 00:43:44,489
Grand Slam, Super Bowl,
World Series, Stanley Cup,
836
00:43:44,522 --> 00:43:48,126
all wrapped into one season
in the Alaska Range.
837
00:43:48,159 --> 00:43:49,594
First ascent of Mt. Deborah,
838
00:43:49,627 --> 00:43:52,330
first ascent of northwest
buttress of Denali,
839
00:43:52,363 --> 00:43:54,632
pretty challenging routes,
seldomly climbed now
840
00:43:54,666 --> 00:43:57,368
and then the first ascent
of Mt. Hunter.
841
00:43:57,402 --> 00:43:59,037
[vintage narrator]
Seventy miles of pack out
842
00:43:59,070 --> 00:44:01,406
after climbing a mountain,
but they're all smiling.
843
00:44:01,439 --> 00:44:04,009
They've nearly won.
844
00:44:04,042 --> 00:44:06,377
Behind them is the summit of
the north face of Mt. McKinley.
845
00:44:06,411 --> 00:44:09,647
Twenty thousand feet
of Arctic mountain climbed,
846
00:44:09,681 --> 00:44:12,650
a mountain beaten.
847
00:44:12,684 --> 00:44:16,021
[Conrad]
Whenever I think about, "Oh,
how badass am I right now?"
848
00:44:16,054 --> 00:44:19,390
It's like, "I'm soft, I'm
light compared to Fred in '54""
849
00:44:19,424 --> 00:44:22,227
[Interviewer] If you were to be
remembered by a single climb
850
00:44:22,260 --> 00:44:24,362
the most important
or most significant climb
851
00:44:24,395 --> 00:44:26,998
that you've done,
what would it be?
852
00:44:27,032 --> 00:44:28,666
[Fred]
Probably Mount Deborah.
853
00:44:28,700 --> 00:44:31,136
it's the one
that scared us the most.
854
00:44:31,169 --> 00:44:34,005
[Henry Meybohm] I had heard
about Fred Beckey before
855
00:44:34,039 --> 00:44:37,408
and then I had the chance
to climb with Fred Beckey.
856
00:44:37,442 --> 00:44:38,476
Really?
857
00:44:38,509 --> 00:44:39,811
Yeah!
858
00:44:43,114 --> 00:44:46,517
[Henry] When you are in Europe
and you climb in the Alps,
859
00:44:46,551 --> 00:44:50,388
whatever you do has been done
a few hundred times before.
860
00:44:50,421 --> 00:44:53,658
And when I was in Alaska
I heard about
861
00:44:53,691 --> 00:44:56,561
unclimbed mountains.
862
00:44:59,330 --> 00:45:00,966
Huh? Okay, let's try!
863
00:45:00,999 --> 00:45:03,668
[Fred] Heinrich Harrer
had heard that we were up there
864
00:45:03,701 --> 00:45:06,371
climbing on McKinley,
and we just sort of
865
00:45:06,404 --> 00:45:10,175
met up near Fairbanks,
and we just joined forces.
866
00:45:22,353 --> 00:45:24,155
[Layton] First ascents,
you never know.
867
00:45:24,189 --> 00:45:25,523
There are
all these mysteries and,
868
00:45:25,556 --> 00:45:27,692
you know, what's
gonna happen up there?
869
00:45:27,725 --> 00:45:29,627
How difficult is it gonna be?
870
00:45:29,660 --> 00:45:32,030
You know, a lot of unknowns.
871
00:45:44,542 --> 00:45:46,778
[Colin] You don't know exactly
what equipment you'll need
872
00:45:46,812 --> 00:45:49,214
you don't know
where the difficulties will be,
873
00:45:49,247 --> 00:45:50,581
how hard it will be,
874
00:45:50,615 --> 00:45:52,050
what the descent will be like,
875
00:45:52,083 --> 00:45:57,022
and first ascents
are coveted because of that.
876
00:45:57,055 --> 00:45:59,257
[music playing]
877
00:46:27,618 --> 00:46:30,521
[Jim] To do that in 1954
given the state
878
00:46:30,555 --> 00:46:32,490
of the equipment
that people had then,
879
00:46:32,523 --> 00:46:35,293
given the methods
that you would use to get there
880
00:46:35,326 --> 00:46:37,495
because this is, you know,
remote wilderness,
881
00:46:37,528 --> 00:46:40,731
And the body of knowledge then,
I mean, that's phenomenal.
882
00:47:26,511 --> 00:47:29,614
[Steve Gunn]
* You were lost
883
00:47:29,647 --> 00:47:33,851
* On the road
from a different way *
884
00:47:33,885 --> 00:47:37,322
* Pushed too far
885
00:47:37,355 --> 00:47:39,925
* Miles away
886
00:47:39,958 --> 00:47:42,460
[Alex] In 1963, when
the American Everest expedition
887
00:47:42,493 --> 00:47:45,463
went to the Himalayas,
Fred Beckey
888
00:47:45,496 --> 00:47:49,734
was undoubtedly the foremost
climber in America.
889
00:47:49,767 --> 00:47:51,302
[Jim] And Norman,
890
00:47:51,336 --> 00:47:54,005
when he was choosing
the Everest group,
891
00:47:54,039 --> 00:47:55,573
deliberately passed over Fred
892
00:47:55,606 --> 00:47:58,776
on the theory that Fred
didn't play well with others.
893
00:47:58,809 --> 00:48:03,548
[Norman Dyhrenfurth]
In '63 he applied.
I said, "Fred...
894
00:48:03,581 --> 00:48:05,083
no."
895
00:48:05,116 --> 00:48:07,618
[Tom Hornbein]
It was felt that Fred
896
00:48:07,652 --> 00:48:10,088
was not as much
of a team player,
897
00:48:10,121 --> 00:48:12,557
and I sensed
that some of that came
898
00:48:12,590 --> 00:48:18,696
from what happened
on that Lhotse expedition.
899
00:48:18,729 --> 00:48:23,601
[Norman] In 1955, I finally got
the permission for Lhotse,
the fourth highest mountain
900
00:48:23,634 --> 00:48:25,503
right next to Everest.
901
00:48:25,536 --> 00:48:27,572
I had...
902
00:48:27,605 --> 00:48:30,041
two Swiss, one doctor,
903
00:48:30,075 --> 00:48:32,177
and I had three Americans
904
00:48:32,210 --> 00:48:34,645
and Fred Beckey
was one of them.
905
00:48:34,679 --> 00:48:39,350
I knew his reputation,
and I'd read in
the American Alpine Journal
906
00:48:39,384 --> 00:48:42,053
and I knew that he was
a good climber, yes.
907
00:48:42,087 --> 00:48:44,155
But I also knew that...
908
00:48:44,189 --> 00:48:47,625
he had never been invited
on an expedition.
909
00:48:47,658 --> 00:48:50,495
[Ed Viesturs]
There's some compromises
that you have to accept
910
00:48:50,528 --> 00:48:53,098
when you go on a Himalayan
expedition with a big team.
911
00:48:53,131 --> 00:48:56,367
You gotta accept
that I might not get
a chance to go to the top
912
00:48:56,401 --> 00:48:59,470
I've got to be a team player,
I've got to contribute.
913
00:49:01,006 --> 00:49:02,540
He didn't...
914
00:49:02,573 --> 00:49:05,010
hit it off too well
with the others,
915
00:49:05,043 --> 00:49:07,045
there were Austrians and Swiss.
916
00:49:07,078 --> 00:49:10,148
The Europeans called him
the "prolete,"
917
00:49:10,181 --> 00:49:12,417
which means proletarian.
[chuckles]
918
00:49:12,450 --> 00:49:15,386
He was a likable guy,
he was a good climber.
919
00:49:15,420 --> 00:49:16,721
He meant well...
920
00:49:16,754 --> 00:49:19,224
but he didn't always
do the right thing.
921
00:49:19,257 --> 00:49:23,995
And he left our doctor
at our high camp.
922
00:49:24,029 --> 00:49:27,132
[Fred] I was in a tent with
Bruno Spirig, he was a doctor,
923
00:49:27,165 --> 00:49:28,333
he was a Swiss climber.
924
00:49:28,366 --> 00:49:31,202
We were camped at
roughly 23,000 feet.
925
00:49:31,236 --> 00:49:33,704
Wind picked up,
it was really a bad storm,
926
00:49:33,738 --> 00:49:36,374
the wind just tore
that tent apart.
927
00:49:36,407 --> 00:49:40,078
And Spirig started feeling bad.
928
00:49:40,111 --> 00:49:42,080
Some of the party were camped
929
00:49:42,113 --> 00:49:45,383
I'd say about
1,500 vertical feet below us,
930
00:49:45,416 --> 00:49:46,517
and...
931
00:49:46,551 --> 00:49:50,388
there was a choice,
what was I gonna do?
932
00:49:50,421 --> 00:49:53,658
[Norman]
He left him alone
and came down to Advance Base
933
00:49:53,691 --> 00:49:58,496
and everybody was aghast
and said, "Why did you
leave him alone?"
934
00:49:58,529 --> 00:50:02,067
He says, "Well" He didn't even
have a sleeping bag.
935
00:50:02,100 --> 00:50:04,535
Sure, I could have stayed there,
but what could I do for him?
936
00:50:04,569 --> 00:50:06,237
We had no radio communication,
937
00:50:06,271 --> 00:50:08,706
I felt the best thing to do
was to go down to get help.
938
00:50:08,739 --> 00:50:10,575
Help might've
come up that day
939
00:50:10,608 --> 00:50:13,144
or the next day,
but who knows?
940
00:50:13,178 --> 00:50:14,679
I felt it was more urgent,
941
00:50:14,712 --> 00:50:16,914
and the best policy
was to go down to get help
942
00:50:16,947 --> 00:50:19,217
and then come back,
and I came back up with them.
943
00:50:19,250 --> 00:50:23,154
[Norman]
The next morning, I went up
with my friend Angobar
944
00:50:23,188 --> 00:50:26,057
and Fred Beckey,
and the three of us went up
945
00:50:26,091 --> 00:50:28,359
and we got him down,
the doctor.
946
00:50:28,393 --> 00:50:30,461
But ever since
they couldn't figure out
947
00:50:30,495 --> 00:50:33,631
why he didn't stay with him
or bring him down?
948
00:50:36,234 --> 00:50:39,137
After this thing,
things changed.
949
00:50:46,111 --> 00:50:49,480
[Nick Clinch]
It's a huge difference
between second guessing somebody
950
00:50:49,514 --> 00:50:52,183
and being there
951
00:50:52,217 --> 00:50:54,552
when you have got
to make that decision.
952
00:50:54,585 --> 00:50:58,256
You have got to do this,
and these are the factors.
953
00:51:24,149 --> 00:51:26,617
[Jim] The first time
I heard about Fred was,
954
00:51:26,651 --> 00:51:28,085
I was just a young kid.
955
00:51:28,119 --> 00:51:30,655
He was a little
different but, you know,
956
00:51:30,688 --> 00:51:34,225
nature is diverse
and so is humanity.
957
00:51:36,060 --> 00:51:40,231
My life was more, I guess
you would say, structured.
958
00:51:40,265 --> 00:51:42,133
And I would definitely say
959
00:51:42,167 --> 00:51:45,336
that Fred's life
was unstructured.
960
00:51:47,372 --> 00:51:48,773
[Timothy] His contemporaries,
they founded companies,
961
00:51:48,806 --> 00:51:50,708
they were like movie stars
for a while,
962
00:51:50,741 --> 00:51:52,777
they were glamorous.
963
00:51:52,810 --> 00:51:56,046
They were like the astronauts
of mountaineering,
964
00:51:56,080 --> 00:51:58,048
and Beckey was left out.
965
00:51:58,082 --> 00:52:00,951
[Tom] To imagine Fred being
the first American
to climb Everest
966
00:52:00,985 --> 00:52:05,523
and substituting
him for Whittaker
967
00:52:05,556 --> 00:52:07,325
I can't imagine Fred
968
00:52:07,358 --> 00:52:11,229
to be the... the sort of
the public persona
969
00:52:11,262 --> 00:52:13,030
of the expedition.
970
00:52:13,063 --> 00:52:17,435
It's a hell of a responsibility
and I'm glad it was Jim
971
00:52:17,468 --> 00:52:21,206
who I think could manage it
and thrived on it.
972
00:52:21,239 --> 00:52:23,608
[Helmy] Who was Whittaker
other than he climbed Everest?
973
00:52:23,641 --> 00:52:27,345
But these are guys
that get to talk to
the President of the USA,
974
00:52:27,378 --> 00:52:29,647
and are big heroes,
you know,
975
00:52:29,680 --> 00:52:32,250
because they're the first
Americans to climb Mt. Everest.
976
00:52:32,283 --> 00:52:34,585
[Jim] I was never attracted
to any dirtbag style
977
00:52:34,619 --> 00:52:36,787
I wasn't that far
out of the box.
978
00:52:36,821 --> 00:52:38,756
My whole life
wasn't climbing.
979
00:52:38,789 --> 00:52:42,493
It was Fred's
whole life, actually.
980
00:52:42,527 --> 00:52:44,729
I would have liked
to have gone...
981
00:52:44,762 --> 00:52:48,065
I'm sure.
But, since I wasn't invited,
982
00:52:48,098 --> 00:52:50,401
all right, so you weren't.
You know, sorry.
983
00:52:50,435 --> 00:52:52,102
Sorry.
984
00:52:54,739 --> 00:52:56,173
[Timothy] There's these
pivot points in life
985
00:52:56,207 --> 00:52:58,042
where you could go one way
or the other.
986
00:52:58,075 --> 00:52:59,544
Beckey had about 10 of them,
987
00:52:59,577 --> 00:53:03,314
and at every turn, he stayed
in the climber bum,
988
00:53:03,348 --> 00:53:05,716
dirtbag lane,
he never turned off.
989
00:53:05,750 --> 00:53:08,152
He never took
the exit to respectability,
990
00:53:08,185 --> 00:53:11,055
he never took
the exit to an easy life
991
00:53:11,088 --> 00:53:14,492
he never took the exit
to branding Fred Beckey.
992
00:53:14,525 --> 00:53:15,626
Would he have liked to?
993
00:53:15,660 --> 00:53:19,196
I mean, the proof is
in the life.
994
00:53:19,230 --> 00:53:21,098
[Fred] Can't say I've had
any regrets,
995
00:53:21,131 --> 00:53:22,667
at least I haven't
thought about it.
996
00:53:22,700 --> 00:53:25,436
I really don't like to dwell
back on the background.
997
00:53:25,470 --> 00:53:29,106
You did what you did,
forget it. You know,
look forward
998
00:53:29,139 --> 00:53:32,643
to something new.
999
00:53:32,677 --> 00:53:35,646
[Conrad] So, he missed out
on these big expeditions
1000
00:53:35,680 --> 00:53:39,450
and these trips at the time
were what professional climbers
were doing.
1001
00:53:39,484 --> 00:53:41,552
You were either part
of one of these big trips
1002
00:53:41,586 --> 00:53:44,289
or you were out there
forging your own path.
1003
00:53:44,322 --> 00:53:48,092
And Fred was
forging his own path.
1004
00:53:48,125 --> 00:53:53,398
[Alex] While the Everest
expedition spent a whole
season climbing one peak
1005
00:53:53,431 --> 00:53:56,501
and only a handful
made it to the top,
1006
00:53:56,534 --> 00:54:00,104
Fred spent the same amount
of time
1007
00:54:00,137 --> 00:54:05,510
doing dozens of first ascents
all over North America.
1008
00:54:05,543 --> 00:54:08,178
[Timothy] You could take,
in isolation,
1009
00:54:08,212 --> 00:54:10,315
probably a dozen Beckey peaks.
1010
00:54:10,348 --> 00:54:13,384
Any of those dozen
would make a career.
1011
00:54:13,418 --> 00:54:16,621
But then, expand that
by a factor of ten,
1012
00:54:16,654 --> 00:54:19,490
and Beckey was just
knocking them off
one after the other.
1013
00:54:19,524 --> 00:54:22,727
It was like,
tell me a place
that's unclimbable,
1014
00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:25,630
and I'll be there on Saturday.
1015
00:54:25,663 --> 00:54:28,198
He was astonishing people.
1016
00:54:30,100 --> 00:54:31,436
[Ed Cooper] In those
early days,
1017
00:54:31,469 --> 00:54:35,506
Fred seemed to be climbing
almost all the time.
1018
00:54:35,540 --> 00:54:38,543
In fact, many of us wondered
where he got all the money
1019
00:54:38,576 --> 00:54:42,413
because he never seemed
to have a job or work.
1020
00:54:42,447 --> 00:54:47,418
[Don] No one really knew
much about how he made
his living
1021
00:54:47,452 --> 00:54:48,719
or what he did.
1022
00:54:48,753 --> 00:54:50,254
[Yvon] He had no money,
I mean, he was working,
1023
00:54:50,721 --> 00:54:54,525
I think as a paper salesman
in those days...
1024
00:54:54,559 --> 00:54:56,461
[Eric]
When I first met him,
he sold insurance
1025
00:54:56,494 --> 00:54:59,530
and he usually had
a company car...
1026
00:54:59,564 --> 00:55:00,598
[Steve] He didn't work at all.
1027
00:55:00,631 --> 00:55:03,100
I don't know quite
how he did it.
1028
00:55:05,736 --> 00:55:07,338
Then the big rumor...
1029
00:55:07,372 --> 00:55:10,508
came along, there was this
plane crash on Slesse,
1030
00:55:10,541 --> 00:55:14,479
and the rumor was that there
was all this gold aboard.
1031
00:55:14,512 --> 00:55:18,649
Fred was trying to get people
to go into Slesse with him.
1032
00:55:18,683 --> 00:55:21,386
Some of us began to think,
well, you know,
1033
00:55:21,419 --> 00:55:24,389
maybe he actually got in there
and got hold of that money.
1034
00:55:24,422 --> 00:55:27,124
And that's why he was able to,
you know,
1035
00:55:27,157 --> 00:55:30,628
spend all his time climbing.
1036
00:55:30,661 --> 00:55:35,299
[Alex] He put away money,
and we never will find out
1037
00:55:35,332 --> 00:55:38,302
how much, but he put it
away in stocks...
1038
00:55:38,335 --> 00:55:40,705
[Fred] How much do I have
on the market?
1039
00:55:43,107 --> 00:55:45,610
That's all?
1040
00:55:45,643 --> 00:55:48,546
Well, I can't buy
anything with that.
1041
00:55:48,579 --> 00:55:50,515
OK, great, Thanks.
1042
00:55:50,548 --> 00:55:52,983
How about this
macaroni and cheese?
1043
00:55:53,017 --> 00:55:56,621
[Dave] What do you say
when someone asks you
what do you do for a living?
1044
00:55:56,654 --> 00:55:58,322
[Fred] It depends who it is.
1045
00:55:58,355 --> 00:56:00,925
If I don't want to
talk to that person,
I just tell 'em, "Adios."
1046
00:56:00,958 --> 00:56:03,561
None of their fucking business!
1047
00:56:03,594 --> 00:56:05,696
[Timothy] When I got to know
him, he was sort of twitchy
1048
00:56:05,730 --> 00:56:09,634
whenever he was at sea level.
He doesn't do well
1049
00:56:09,667 --> 00:56:11,769
when he's not in thin air.
1050
00:56:11,802 --> 00:56:13,538
Yeah, I wish
they'd make the law,
1051
00:56:13,571 --> 00:56:16,240
"Car first. Pedestrians,
fuck 'em."
1052
00:56:16,273 --> 00:56:20,611
Like China,
Bangkok or Europe.
1053
00:56:20,645 --> 00:56:22,680
Here, the fuckin' people
walk out across street
1054
00:56:22,713 --> 00:56:24,314
and don't even look!
1055
00:56:24,348 --> 00:56:25,716
[Timothy] It's like he was
in prison or something
1056
00:56:25,750 --> 00:56:27,184
when he was in the city.
1057
00:56:27,217 --> 00:56:29,053
The mountains
are the only thing
1058
00:56:29,086 --> 00:56:30,821
that made him comfortable.
1059
00:56:33,591 --> 00:56:36,360
-[beep]
-[Fred] Hey, this is Beckey.
Can you rent a car?
1060
00:56:36,393 --> 00:56:38,328
But we've got to
get out of here.
1061
00:56:38,362 --> 00:56:40,130
The weather might
come in on Sunday,
1062
00:56:40,164 --> 00:56:41,999
and it'll fuck
the whole damn trip up.
1063
00:56:42,032 --> 00:56:44,001
-[beep]
-Beckey again!
1064
00:56:44,034 --> 00:56:45,536
I called you
over and over.
1065
00:56:45,570 --> 00:56:48,072
The whole trip is not going
to work unless we get going.
1066
00:56:48,105 --> 00:56:49,273
[beep]
1067
00:56:49,306 --> 00:56:51,341
Hey, this is a crisis.
This is Fred.
1068
00:56:51,375 --> 00:56:55,480
You have got to be here
on the 12th, on Saturday!
1069
00:56:55,513 --> 00:56:56,681
That was our agreement!
1070
00:56:56,714 --> 00:56:59,684
You cannot be here
as late as Monday!
1071
00:56:59,717 --> 00:57:03,153
We are losing
the whole weekend.
1072
00:57:03,187 --> 00:57:05,289
[Rick Ridgeway] He called me
up couple weeks ago
1073
00:57:05,322 --> 00:57:07,424
to check in on how the book
was coming along,
1074
00:57:07,458 --> 00:57:09,960
and I said, "Well,
how are you coming
along on the climbs?"
1075
00:57:09,994 --> 00:57:12,262
He said, "Oh, I got
weathered off last year,
but I'm getting all geared up,
1076
00:57:12,296 --> 00:57:16,467
we'll get it done.
We'll get it done
before press time."
1077
00:57:16,501 --> 00:57:18,469
[Fred]
Don't take movies of me, I look
kind of ugly this morning.
1078
00:57:18,503 --> 00:57:20,905
[Jeff Wenger]
Ah, you look great.
1079
00:57:20,938 --> 00:57:23,340
-[Jeff] Hey!
-[Fred] Anybody want agua?
1080
00:57:23,373 --> 00:57:25,576
-[Jeff] Sure,
I'll have a little.
-[Fred] Yeah, it's free.
1081
00:57:25,610 --> 00:57:29,346
-[Jeff] How many times
have you been up here?
-[Fred] Too many.
1082
00:57:29,379 --> 00:57:32,049
Just, things just haven't
clicked.
1083
00:57:32,082 --> 00:57:34,585
Sometimes my fault,
1084
00:57:34,619 --> 00:57:36,420
sometimes the weather.
1085
00:57:42,392 --> 00:57:44,194
OK.
1086
00:57:45,530 --> 00:57:49,567
[breathing heavily]
1087
00:57:59,544 --> 00:58:01,378
Good lead.
1088
00:58:04,248 --> 00:58:06,183
I'm not doing very well.
1089
00:58:07,417 --> 00:58:09,119
Shitty.
1090
00:58:09,153 --> 00:58:11,455
[Todd] I do see Fred
get really defeated
1091
00:58:11,488 --> 00:58:15,660
by not physically
being able to do it,
because mentally he still
1092
00:58:15,693 --> 00:58:18,162
thinks of being able
to climb this stuff.
1093
00:58:18,195 --> 00:58:21,198
He still wants
to climb Lucky Streaks,
and believes he can.
1094
00:58:21,231 --> 00:58:24,034
Hope I climb
better than this tomorrow.
1095
00:58:24,068 --> 00:58:25,502
Fuck.
1096
00:58:27,605 --> 00:58:30,775
I didn't set any
speed records on that, man.
1097
00:58:30,808 --> 00:58:32,242
Kind of fun, though.
1098
00:58:32,276 --> 00:58:34,779
Hope I didn't embarrass
you guys too much.
1099
00:58:34,812 --> 00:58:36,346
[Jeff] You did great, man.
1100
00:58:36,380 --> 00:58:38,515
I don't know,
I feel a little clumsy.
1101
00:58:42,620 --> 00:58:46,390
[Todd] Very quickly
after the defeat
and the self doubt
1102
00:58:46,423 --> 00:58:48,325
he's real quick
to just turn right back around
1103
00:58:48,358 --> 00:58:54,231
and somehow just erase
all that from his brain
and start fresh
1104
00:58:54,264 --> 00:58:56,066
that he wants to climb
Lucky Streaks again.
1105
00:58:56,100 --> 00:58:58,368
Ah, maybe I'll go back
next year, we'll see.
1106
00:58:58,402 --> 00:59:01,606
If I do, I think I'm just
gonna go up and climb
1107
00:59:01,639 --> 00:59:04,975
three pitches
and just bail out.
Fuck it.
1108
00:59:05,009 --> 00:59:07,011
[Jim] One thing
about alpine climbing--
1109
00:59:07,044 --> 00:59:11,081
if you can't handle
rejection or failure,
1110
00:59:11,115 --> 00:59:12,516
don't even go there.
1111
00:59:12,549 --> 00:59:13,684
[music playing]
1112
00:59:13,718 --> 00:59:15,620
[Jim] We were in Bishop,
California.
1113
00:59:15,653 --> 00:59:17,221
It was a Saturday night,
1114
00:59:17,254 --> 00:59:19,156
and we all went to
a country western bar,
1115
00:59:19,189 --> 00:59:20,524
and there were lot of women.
1116
00:59:20,557 --> 00:59:22,126
Fred's there,
and there's this table
1117
00:59:22,159 --> 00:59:25,630
with about nine attractive
women in their, maybe thirties.
1118
00:59:25,663 --> 00:59:27,965
He'd go over, and he'd
tap one on the shoulder,
1119
00:59:27,998 --> 00:59:29,266
and she'd look up at him,
1120
00:59:29,299 --> 00:59:30,768
you know, he's
35 years older and...
1121
00:59:30,801 --> 00:59:33,137
"Hey, uh, hey, would you like
to dance?"
1122
00:59:33,170 --> 00:59:35,105
And, "No."
1123
00:59:35,139 --> 00:59:37,574
And then, "Ok." You know,
he'd go to the next one,
1124
00:59:38,809 --> 00:59:40,778
"Hey, how about you,
would you like to dance?"
1125
00:59:40,811 --> 00:59:42,279
"I don't think so."
1126
00:59:42,312 --> 00:59:43,714
But he went right
around the table to,
1127
00:59:43,748 --> 00:59:45,315
about the fifth or sixth one,
1128
00:59:45,349 --> 00:59:47,184
and the most attractive even.
1129
00:59:47,217 --> 00:59:48,452
And she said, "Sure,
I'll dance."
1130
00:59:48,485 --> 00:59:50,254
And they went up,
and they disappeared,
1131
00:59:50,287 --> 00:59:53,758
and we never saw him again
for three days. [chuckles]
1132
00:59:53,791 --> 00:59:55,459
Persistence pays off.
1133
00:59:55,492 --> 00:59:57,027
[Fred] Something like that?
1134
00:59:57,061 --> 00:59:58,262
-Yeah. It's good.
-[Annie Musselman] Yeah.
1135
00:59:58,295 --> 00:59:59,329
[camera shutter clicks]
1136
00:59:59,363 --> 01:00:02,099
You want me to smile
or grouch or...
1137
01:00:02,132 --> 01:00:05,069
[woman laughing]
1138
01:00:05,102 --> 01:00:07,337
[laughing] You're great.
1139
01:00:07,371 --> 01:00:11,175
-[Fred] You're tall,
what are you, 5'8"? 5'9"? 5'8".
-[Annie] 5'8", yeah, and a half.
1140
01:00:11,208 --> 01:00:13,510
[Fred] You haven't done
any rock climbing at all?
1141
01:00:13,543 --> 01:00:16,280
-[Fred] It's all right.
-[Annie] Kinda scary.
1142
01:00:16,313 --> 01:00:18,082
-[Fred] Yeah, sorta.
-[Annie] You don't think?
1143
01:00:18,115 --> 01:00:20,050
-[Fred] It is scary.
-[Annie] Yeah.
1144
01:00:20,084 --> 01:00:21,518
[Fred] But lots of of other
things are scary.
1145
01:00:21,551 --> 01:00:23,620
[Annie] Yeah, that's true.
1146
01:00:25,422 --> 01:00:27,324
[Corey] Fred Beckey
in his late 80s
1147
01:00:27,357 --> 01:00:30,327
is more motivated
for expeditions
1148
01:00:30,360 --> 01:00:33,597
and has more ideas
for what he would like to climb
1149
01:00:33,630 --> 01:00:35,365
than any other climber,
1150
01:00:35,399 --> 01:00:37,501
and it's because
he's thinking about this stuff
1151
01:00:37,534 --> 01:00:41,405
24/7 for 80-plus years.
1152
01:00:41,438 --> 01:00:44,574
[Yvon] Still now,
he's not staying in motels,
1153
01:00:44,608 --> 01:00:46,677
he's sleeping
on the side of the road
1154
01:00:46,711 --> 01:00:48,612
and hasn't changed at all.
1155
01:00:48,645 --> 01:00:51,348
[Fred] OK.
1156
01:00:51,381 --> 01:00:52,750
I guess we're out of here.
1157
01:00:52,783 --> 01:00:56,253
I probably won't get back
till July 12, 14th, maybe.
1158
01:00:56,286 --> 01:00:58,622
-[Dave] Mm-hmm.
-I'm not sure, you know.
1159
01:01:05,162 --> 01:01:06,596
[Barry] One way you knew
you made
1160
01:01:06,630 --> 01:01:09,233
the North American
climbing landscape
1161
01:01:09,266 --> 01:01:11,368
was you'd get your first
Fred Beckey phone calls...
1162
01:01:11,401 --> 01:01:13,203
[beep]
1163
01:01:13,237 --> 01:01:15,339
[Fred] Fred Beckey,
let's get together on a climb.
1164
01:01:15,372 --> 01:01:17,407
Actually I'm taking off,
I hope today.
1165
01:01:17,441 --> 01:01:19,609
I'm trying to get something
together to go to Canada...
1166
01:01:19,643 --> 01:01:21,078
Yeah, I'm hot to
go on this thing
1167
01:01:21,111 --> 01:01:22,346
as soon as
we can get mobilized.
1168
01:01:22,379 --> 01:01:24,281
[Don] In a way,
you look forward
1169
01:01:24,314 --> 01:01:26,150
to communications with Fred,
1170
01:01:26,183 --> 01:01:28,218
and in a way you looked
a little bit with dread
1171
01:01:28,252 --> 01:01:30,420
at the next time
he's going to give you a call.
1172
01:01:30,454 --> 01:01:34,391
Right now, I don't know
what I'm doing except tomorrow.
1173
01:01:34,424 --> 01:01:36,727
I have no idea.
1174
01:01:36,761 --> 01:01:38,662
Are you in Alaska?
1175
01:01:38,695 --> 01:01:41,065
OK, you just got back?
1176
01:01:41,098 --> 01:01:43,567
I've been trying to get hold
of you, as you probably know.
1177
01:01:43,600 --> 01:01:47,537
[Steve] He was persuasive,
yeah. He'd get you the phone.
1178
01:01:47,571 --> 01:01:50,607
He'd analyze the weather--
the "weddah," as he called it.
1179
01:01:50,640 --> 01:01:52,977
[Fred] Called the weather
man, it's supposed to be good.
1180
01:01:53,010 --> 01:01:54,478
What do you think
of this awful summer weather?
1181
01:01:54,511 --> 01:01:56,046
I was trying
to call Canada today
1182
01:01:56,080 --> 01:01:58,482
and I may call some ranger
up there like the ice fields
1183
01:01:58,515 --> 01:02:00,951
and get an idea
what is really happening.
1184
01:02:00,985 --> 01:02:03,687
[Jack Tackle] How many
thousands of people
have gotten a call
1185
01:02:03,720 --> 01:02:06,256
in the middle of the night,
you know, "What's the weather
doing there?"
1186
01:02:06,290 --> 01:02:08,392
"Well, Fred, it's fucking dark
out, I don't know.
1187
01:02:08,425 --> 01:02:11,061
[Fred] I think conditions here
are pretty darn good right now.
1188
01:02:11,095 --> 01:02:12,362
The weather's excellent.
1189
01:02:12,396 --> 01:02:13,597
Actually got room
for another guy.
1190
01:02:13,630 --> 01:02:15,299
Three would be perfect.
1191
01:02:15,332 --> 01:02:16,633
[Alex] He would do his best
1192
01:02:16,666 --> 01:02:19,103
to convince a guy
to go climbing.
1193
01:02:19,136 --> 01:02:20,771
[Fred] You're pushing
your luck sometimes,
1194
01:02:20,805 --> 01:02:23,640
like you might
get high blood pressure
by just working too hard.
1195
01:02:23,673 --> 01:02:25,943
[Alex] He'd hound you
until you caved in.
1196
01:02:25,976 --> 01:02:28,212
[Erik Harz] He will not
rest until you call him back.
1197
01:02:28,245 --> 01:02:29,513
There's no blowing off Fred.
1198
01:02:29,546 --> 01:02:30,848
[Fred] Shit!
1199
01:02:30,881 --> 01:02:32,116
[Erik] Especially if
he knows where you live,
1200
01:02:32,149 --> 01:02:34,018
like, you don't know,
he could just,
1201
01:02:34,051 --> 01:02:36,353
-like, show up at your house.
-[Fred] I'm Fred Beckey,
remember me.
1202
01:02:36,386 --> 01:02:38,022
Hey, we're right
in front of your house!
1203
01:02:38,055 --> 01:02:40,390
Fucking system, I got
to do something about this.
1204
01:02:40,424 --> 01:02:41,691
I'm on your street,
1205
01:02:41,725 --> 01:02:44,261
but I don't know
where your place is.
Gonna stop by.
1206
01:02:44,294 --> 01:02:46,030
Well, are you the one
with the fence?
1207
01:02:46,063 --> 01:02:49,033
[Todd] If you've ever seen
Fred's filing system
1208
01:02:49,066 --> 01:02:51,068
it's a series
of different cards
1209
01:02:51,101 --> 01:02:53,203
rubber banded together,
in different areas.
1210
01:02:53,237 --> 01:02:55,272
Phone numbers scratched out,
1211
01:02:55,305 --> 01:02:56,773
more current phone numbers,
addresses,
1212
01:02:56,807 --> 01:02:58,542
what days a person has off.
1213
01:02:58,575 --> 01:03:00,344
I've seen him fill
this out on the phone.
1214
01:03:00,377 --> 01:03:01,846
"So, what days
are you off again?"
1215
01:03:01,879 --> 01:03:04,014
And, "Oh, Thursdays
and Fridays,
1216
01:03:04,048 --> 01:03:05,682
I can climb with this guy."
1217
01:03:05,715 --> 01:03:08,352
He thinks nothing of making
that late night phone call.
1218
01:03:08,385 --> 01:03:10,354
He just pulls in and just would
throw his sleeping bag
1219
01:03:10,387 --> 01:03:12,522
down in our driveway
and crash out.
1220
01:03:12,556 --> 01:03:14,591
I remember having
kids walk past
1221
01:03:14,624 --> 01:03:17,061
in the morning going to school.
One of the kids said,
1222
01:03:17,094 --> 01:03:19,396
"Why do you make your grandpa
sleep in the driveway?"
1223
01:03:23,100 --> 01:03:24,401
[Alex] In the early '60s,
1224
01:03:24,434 --> 01:03:27,504
Shiprock only had
one route on it.
1225
01:03:27,537 --> 01:03:29,773
So, any other ascent
1226
01:03:29,806 --> 01:03:34,278
would result in a first ascent,
and that was Fred's forte.
1227
01:03:34,311 --> 01:03:38,115
So he tried to recruit
Eric Bjornstad and me
1228
01:03:38,148 --> 01:03:39,483
to do the climb with him,
1229
01:03:39,516 --> 01:03:43,553
and Eric agreed
to go with them and I didn't.
1230
01:03:46,223 --> 01:03:48,425
[Eric] When we went to Shiprock
in the early '60s,
1231
01:03:48,458 --> 01:03:51,128
the lady that I was
going with at the time
1232
01:03:51,161 --> 01:03:54,731
had tattoos over
about 80% of her body.
1233
01:03:54,764 --> 01:03:56,800
And Fred just hated her.
1234
01:03:58,702 --> 01:04:01,338
[Fred] I really don't even
know why he brought her.
1235
01:04:01,371 --> 01:04:03,040
She was not a climber.
1236
01:04:03,073 --> 01:04:05,642
What was she gonna do
there all that time?
1237
01:04:05,675 --> 01:04:08,778
You know, I think
it was a really bad choice.
1238
01:04:08,812 --> 01:04:12,216
[Eric] I spent 20 days on the
Southwest Buttress of Shiprock
1239
01:04:12,249 --> 01:04:14,284
with Fred and this lady,
1240
01:04:14,318 --> 01:04:16,420
and finally had a falling out
with Fred.
1241
01:04:16,453 --> 01:04:19,056
[Alex] When Eric decided
to quit,
1242
01:04:19,089 --> 01:04:20,390
Fred just couldn't handle it.
1243
01:04:20,424 --> 01:04:22,726
And of course
they were out there
1244
01:04:22,759 --> 01:04:24,428
in Fred's Thunderbird.
1245
01:04:24,461 --> 01:04:26,997
Fred wouldn't even take Eric
to the bus station,
1246
01:04:27,031 --> 01:04:31,068
so, Eric and his girlfriend
had to walk across the desert.
1247
01:04:31,101 --> 01:04:33,270
[Eric] We hiked back
out to the highway,
1248
01:04:33,303 --> 01:04:34,471
which was several miles,
1249
01:04:34,504 --> 01:04:37,274
and then hitchhiked
back to Seattle,
1250
01:04:37,307 --> 01:04:38,742
and Fred would dog us
1251
01:04:38,775 --> 01:04:42,012
he would follow us in the car
staying within view...
1252
01:04:42,046 --> 01:04:43,280
and then as we'd get let off,
1253
01:04:43,313 --> 01:04:46,516
he would drive by slowly.
[chuckles]
1254
01:04:46,550 --> 01:04:50,354
And he did that
all the way into Oregon.
1255
01:04:50,387 --> 01:04:51,721
He then got on the phone,
1256
01:04:51,755 --> 01:04:54,458
you know, every few hours
and would call me
1257
01:04:54,491 --> 01:04:57,127
at my office, and so when the
phone would ring,
1258
01:04:57,161 --> 01:04:58,528
the boss would answer the phone
1259
01:04:58,562 --> 01:05:00,397
and it'd be long distance
1260
01:05:00,430 --> 01:05:05,302
and it'd be a long discourse
of how great the climb is,
1261
01:05:05,335 --> 01:05:07,337
and how good the conditions are.
1262
01:05:07,371 --> 01:05:08,772
"Oh, yeah, Eric,
1263
01:05:08,805 --> 01:05:10,507
you know, lost interest,
you know,
1264
01:05:10,540 --> 01:05:13,110
there was no big problem."
Which was all a lie.
1265
01:05:13,143 --> 01:05:15,379
My boss started
getting angry with me
1266
01:05:15,412 --> 01:05:17,514
because, you know,
I was getting paid by the hour.
1267
01:05:17,547 --> 01:05:20,284
I figured, hey,
I've got a raise coming,
1268
01:05:20,317 --> 01:05:22,319
So, I kind of
1269
01:05:22,352 --> 01:05:23,487
asked my boss for the raise,
1270
01:05:23,520 --> 01:05:25,255
and when he didn't
give me the raise,
1271
01:05:25,289 --> 01:05:28,158
it was a good excuse
to quit and join Fred.
1272
01:05:28,192 --> 01:05:29,359
[Fred] When Eric
and I were there,
1273
01:05:29,393 --> 01:05:31,628
it was too windy,
too cold.
1274
01:05:31,661 --> 01:05:34,431
And when Alex came,
everything changed.
1275
01:05:34,464 --> 01:05:36,266
It got too warm.
1276
01:05:36,300 --> 01:05:39,269
[Alex] We were within 200 feet
of the summit
1277
01:05:39,303 --> 01:05:43,373
when Fred decided
that we couldn't go any further
1278
01:05:43,407 --> 01:05:46,610
because we only maybe had
a cup of water left
1279
01:05:46,643 --> 01:05:49,213
in our last bottle.
1280
01:05:49,246 --> 01:05:52,416
He was adamant
about going down,
1281
01:05:52,449 --> 01:05:54,584
and I was adamant
about going up.
1282
01:05:54,618 --> 01:05:59,023
And Fred, I think, almost
had a nervous breakdown.
1283
01:05:59,056 --> 01:06:02,359
Eventually I felt exhausted
just arguing with him
1284
01:06:02,392 --> 01:06:03,660
and I said,
"OK, let's go down,
1285
01:06:03,693 --> 01:06:06,130
but I'm not coming
back up again."
1286
01:06:06,163 --> 01:06:07,697
And he said, "That's fine."
1287
01:06:07,731 --> 01:06:11,068
[Fred] Luckily I'd been
in touch with Harvey Carter,
1288
01:06:11,101 --> 01:06:12,669
who I'd climbed with before.
1289
01:06:12,702 --> 01:06:15,339
[Eric] Harvey came out
and met Fred at Shiprock,
1290
01:06:15,372 --> 01:06:18,208
and within half a day
they reached the summit.
1291
01:06:18,242 --> 01:06:19,476
So, the first ascent
of the southwest buttress
1292
01:06:19,509 --> 01:06:22,279
was Fred Beckey
and Harvey Carter.
1293
01:06:22,312 --> 01:06:24,248
But Alex had spent
a whole week on the climb
1294
01:06:24,281 --> 01:06:27,584
and I'd spent 20 days
on the climb.
1295
01:06:35,659 --> 01:06:38,362
[Don] We have
an important announcement.
1296
01:06:38,395 --> 01:06:41,198
We're standing
on the summit of Mt. Seattle.
1297
01:06:52,209 --> 01:06:56,480
[Don] The culture of that time
was one of personal pride.
1298
01:06:56,513 --> 01:06:59,283
If you were a climber,
you kind of felt
1299
01:06:59,316 --> 01:07:02,286
that you were
a little bit special.
1300
01:07:02,319 --> 01:07:04,688
[Eric] It was very appealing
to do something
1301
01:07:04,721 --> 01:07:06,590
that few other people could do.
1302
01:07:06,623 --> 01:07:10,394
And back in the 60s it was
pretty esoteric, you know.
1303
01:07:10,427 --> 01:07:13,597
Why people climb now
I think is totally different.
1304
01:07:13,630 --> 01:07:16,066
[Peter] Some people talk about
the sport of mountaineering,
1305
01:07:16,100 --> 01:07:18,502
or the sport of climbing,
and for me it's just,
1306
01:07:18,535 --> 01:07:21,571
what sport is
so much about is rules.
1307
01:07:21,605 --> 01:07:23,607
You have to follow the rules,
1308
01:07:23,640 --> 01:07:26,576
I think what defines being up
in the mountains and climbing,
1309
01:07:26,610 --> 01:07:29,613
is that there is no rules.
1310
01:07:29,646 --> 01:07:33,750
[Ed Cooper] It was a fierce
competition in those days.
1311
01:07:33,783 --> 01:07:35,252
We didn't really
get along well.
1312
01:07:35,285 --> 01:07:37,387
I had my ideas
of what I wanted to do,
1313
01:07:37,421 --> 01:07:40,157
and he had his ideas
of what he wanted to do.
1314
01:07:40,190 --> 01:07:42,392
The first ascents
were the thing.
1315
01:07:42,426 --> 01:07:44,027
[Fred] Cooper might
have been one that...
1316
01:07:44,060 --> 01:07:45,395
he was interested,
maybe sometimes interested
1317
01:07:45,429 --> 01:07:47,564
in the same climbs I was,
1318
01:07:47,597 --> 01:07:49,032
and that's fine!
1319
01:07:49,065 --> 01:07:51,301
You know,
there was some competition.
1320
01:07:51,335 --> 01:07:54,238
But sometimes
I joined him on climbs, too.
1321
01:07:54,271 --> 01:07:57,341
[Ed Cooper] It became
a little bit of a game.
1322
01:07:57,374 --> 01:08:00,710
He wouldn't tell his partners
where they were going,
1323
01:08:00,744 --> 01:08:03,313
in case the weather turned bad
and they never got there,
1324
01:08:03,347 --> 01:08:05,249
then he wouldn't tip 'em off
1325
01:08:05,282 --> 01:08:07,717
about this first ascent
that he wants to do.
1326
01:08:11,821 --> 01:08:14,391
[Alex] Fred was only
focused on climbing,
1327
01:08:14,424 --> 01:08:18,562
and his partners had to be
dedicated the same way.
1328
01:08:18,595 --> 01:08:21,765
And he never felt sorry for you
1329
01:08:21,798 --> 01:08:24,534
if your climbing ended
up in a divorce.
1330
01:08:24,568 --> 01:08:27,704
[Dave] He's had to leave
a few burning bridges behind,
1331
01:08:27,737 --> 01:08:31,341
in order to live the life
that he's wanted to live.
1332
01:08:31,375 --> 01:08:34,378
[Eric] He went through
dozens and dozens of climbers.
1333
01:08:34,411 --> 01:08:36,746
He would have
falling-outs with them,
1334
01:08:36,780 --> 01:08:38,848
and he was a difficult
person to be around,
1335
01:08:38,882 --> 01:08:40,517
but I got along well with him
1336
01:08:40,550 --> 01:08:42,352
because I admired Fred
for his climbing ability
1337
01:08:42,386 --> 01:08:44,621
and just overlooked
the other faults
1338
01:08:44,654 --> 01:08:46,290
that he might have had.
1339
01:08:46,323 --> 01:08:49,493
[Nick] Now, climbers are
a pretty single-minded bunch.
1340
01:08:49,526 --> 01:08:52,529
But he's more single-minded
than the single-minded bunch.
1341
01:08:52,562 --> 01:08:55,532
People thought I was a fanatic,
they thought my friends
were fanatics,
1342
01:08:55,565 --> 01:08:58,502
and that's nothing,
nothing compared to Fred!
1343
01:08:58,535 --> 01:09:02,005
[Ed] He would kind of
talk almost constantly.
1344
01:09:02,038 --> 01:09:04,441
[Yvon] Fred will wear you down.
[chuckles]
1345
01:09:04,474 --> 01:09:07,644
He'll repeat the same thing
over and over again,
1346
01:09:07,677 --> 01:09:10,180
and that can drive you nuts.
1347
01:09:10,214 --> 01:09:12,349
[Alex] There were three
subjects that he would
talk about.
1348
01:09:12,382 --> 01:09:17,086
Of course, the first one
is mountains. The other,
of course, weather.
1349
01:09:17,120 --> 01:09:19,423
And the other subject
was women--
1350
01:09:19,456 --> 01:09:22,426
women he'd dated,
women that he wanted to date.
1351
01:09:22,459 --> 01:09:24,994
Women he should have dated.
1352
01:09:25,028 --> 01:09:28,031
Those were the three subjects
that you were stuck with
1353
01:09:28,064 --> 01:09:31,335
when you were
in a tent with Fred.
1354
01:09:31,368 --> 01:09:33,203
[Dave] You think
people considered you
1355
01:09:33,237 --> 01:09:35,205
sort of
a renegade climber?
1356
01:09:35,239 --> 01:09:37,507
They probably think
I'm pretty independent.
1357
01:09:39,209 --> 01:09:41,611
That's all right,
I don't care what they think.
1358
01:09:41,645 --> 01:09:43,380
I could care less.
1359
01:09:46,416 --> 01:09:49,118
[Timothy] There was a school
of thought that he was unsafe,
1360
01:09:49,152 --> 01:09:53,423
that what comes with being
a spectacular pioneer
1361
01:09:53,457 --> 01:09:55,392
is recklessness.
1362
01:09:55,425 --> 01:09:57,661
People died climbing with him.
1363
01:09:57,694 --> 01:10:01,197
[Dave] Have you lost
a lot of friends
in the mountains?
1364
01:10:01,231 --> 01:10:06,703
[Fred] A few, yeah.
Dick Berge on Mt. Baring.
1365
01:10:06,736 --> 01:10:08,338
That was a bad one.
1366
01:10:08,372 --> 01:10:12,476
And we lost Charles Shiverick
in an accident
1367
01:10:12,509 --> 01:10:15,745
on Mt. Serra
in the Mt. Waddington area...
1368
01:10:15,779 --> 01:10:18,181
or Waddington Range.
1369
01:10:18,214 --> 01:10:19,416
Very unfortunate.
1370
01:10:19,449 --> 01:10:22,085
I feel very, very,
very bad about it.
1371
01:10:22,118 --> 01:10:25,755
Many climbers have lost
some of their best friends
climbing.
1372
01:10:25,789 --> 01:10:28,325
it's not for everybody.
1373
01:10:28,358 --> 01:10:30,193
It definitely is not.
1374
01:10:30,226 --> 01:10:32,095
[Timothy] There is
an element of luck
1375
01:10:32,128 --> 01:10:35,465
involved
in these risky sports.
1376
01:10:35,499 --> 01:10:37,534
They never pinned the blame
specifically on him
1377
01:10:37,567 --> 01:10:39,068
for these deaths.
1378
01:10:39,102 --> 01:10:41,371
It was more like,
he lived and they didn't.
1379
01:10:41,405 --> 01:10:43,440
They took the fatal wrong step.
1380
01:10:43,473 --> 01:10:46,242
But, there was enough there
for the gossips
1381
01:10:46,276 --> 01:10:49,613
that he developed
a bad reputation.
1382
01:10:50,780 --> 01:10:52,782
[Fred] If risk appealed to me,
1383
01:10:52,816 --> 01:10:59,155
I'd go out in the jungle
and you know, hang around the
lions.
1384
01:10:59,188 --> 01:11:01,057
[Ed Cooper] He was,
to my knowledge,
1385
01:11:01,090 --> 01:11:04,694
never injured seriously
in an accident.
1386
01:11:04,728 --> 01:11:06,330
That's quite a feat
1387
01:11:06,363 --> 01:11:09,065
with all the climbing
that he has done.
1388
01:11:09,098 --> 01:11:10,867
[Layton] You were guaranteed
1389
01:11:10,900 --> 01:11:12,001
going back in the mountains
with Fred,
1390
01:11:12,035 --> 01:11:13,670
you weren't gonna get lost
at least.
1391
01:11:13,703 --> 01:11:16,272
He knew exactly
where he was all the time.
1392
01:11:16,306 --> 01:11:18,675
He'd spent enough years
in the mountains to know
1393
01:11:18,708 --> 01:11:22,011
that if you were gonna
continue doing this sort
of thing and survive,
1394
01:11:22,045 --> 01:11:24,247
well, you gotta be careful.
1395
01:11:24,280 --> 01:11:27,116
[Yvon]
The reason I'm alive today
is probably because of Fred
1396
01:11:27,150 --> 01:11:30,520
and the things I learned
alpine climbing with him.
1397
01:11:30,554 --> 01:11:34,524
There were probably 250
serious climbers in America.
1398
01:11:34,558 --> 01:11:36,726
I didn't know who Fred was
when I first met him,
1399
01:11:36,760 --> 01:11:39,162
but then I started
realizing that
1400
01:11:39,195 --> 01:11:41,731
he's one of the few guys
1401
01:11:41,765 --> 01:11:46,102
that actually searched out
hard alpine climbs.
1402
01:11:49,138 --> 01:11:52,075
[vintage narrator] Beautiful
Mt. Edith Cavell in Canada.
1403
01:11:52,108 --> 01:11:53,443
Many have wanted to scale
1404
01:11:53,477 --> 01:11:55,412
the North Face
of this mountain,
1405
01:11:55,445 --> 01:11:59,649
but no one has
ever dared it before.
1406
01:11:59,683 --> 01:12:03,152
[Yvon] When we tried to sign
out with the park warden,
1407
01:12:03,186 --> 01:12:05,722
he wouldn't sign us out,
he said, "It's suicide."
1408
01:12:05,755 --> 01:12:08,257
And so we said, "OK, we're
gonna go do it anyway."
1409
01:12:09,626 --> 01:12:13,630
[vintage narrator]
7:00 a.m., the men set out,
1410
01:12:13,663 --> 01:12:16,099
to risk their lives,
1411
01:12:16,132 --> 01:12:18,167
and there it is.
1412
01:12:20,570 --> 01:12:25,308
Are they worried?
You doggone right, they are!
1413
01:12:25,341 --> 01:12:28,745
But the goal is greater
than fear.
1414
01:12:28,778 --> 01:12:32,315
[Barry] It's an
interesting combination
where you have Yvon,
1415
01:12:32,348 --> 01:12:34,317
the young Yosemite specialist,
1416
01:12:34,350 --> 01:12:36,620
apprentice to the master
mountain climber.
1417
01:12:36,653 --> 01:12:40,490
[vintage narrator]
Not many of us can endure
such a prolonged struggle.
1418
01:12:40,524 --> 01:12:44,961
But Yvon and Fred and Dan
keep their goal in mind.
1419
01:12:44,994 --> 01:12:48,131
[Fred] We knew we could
climb the peak as far
as the difficulty goes.
1420
01:12:48,164 --> 01:12:52,569
The danger is rock fall
and possible avalanches.
1421
01:12:52,602 --> 01:12:55,304
We had a bad lightning storm
that pretty much frightened us.
1422
01:12:55,338 --> 01:12:59,208
So, that night we bivouacked
500 feet below the summit.
1423
01:13:09,118 --> 01:13:12,155
[vintage narrator]
Suddenly, the struggle is over.
1424
01:13:12,188 --> 01:13:14,257
And they become the first men
in history
1425
01:13:14,290 --> 01:13:16,960
to climb the dangerous
North Face
1426
01:13:16,993 --> 01:13:19,629
of the summit
of Mt. Edith Cavell.
1427
01:13:19,663 --> 01:13:21,565
There'll be time to
congratulate themselves later,
1428
01:13:21,598 --> 01:13:24,000
when they return
to the everyday world
1429
01:13:24,033 --> 01:13:25,669
where congratulations matter.
1430
01:13:25,702 --> 01:13:27,370
[Yvon] We got back down,
1431
01:13:27,403 --> 01:13:29,673
and there was a note on our car
from the warden that said,
1432
01:13:29,706 --> 01:13:31,608
"Good work, boys."
1433
01:13:35,512 --> 01:13:37,280
[Fred] After we climbed
Edith Cavell,
1434
01:13:37,313 --> 01:13:39,215
Chouinard and I went
to the Bugaboos
1435
01:13:39,248 --> 01:13:41,618
and that's when
we had our eyes set
1436
01:13:41,651 --> 01:13:42,986
on the South Tower of Howser.
1437
01:13:43,019 --> 01:13:44,521
That's the ultimate
in climbing,
1438
01:13:44,554 --> 01:13:47,724
is to do a first descent
on a beautiful line.
1439
01:13:54,430 --> 01:13:56,165
[Conrad] Fred's
a climber's climber.
1440
01:13:56,199 --> 01:14:00,036
He chose to do good routes
that were challenging,
1441
01:14:00,069 --> 01:14:02,038
that were aesthetically
beautiful.
1442
01:14:02,071 --> 01:14:07,010
[Jim] He has an artist's eye
for the lines.
1443
01:14:07,043 --> 01:14:09,546
[Corey] What Fred has given
back to climbing
1444
01:14:09,579 --> 01:14:11,447
is thousands of routes.
1445
01:14:11,481 --> 01:14:13,316
[Jim] There's probably
no human being on the planet
1446
01:14:13,349 --> 01:14:15,384
that has more routes
named after him.
1447
01:14:15,418 --> 01:14:18,221
The Beckey this,
the Beckey that,
the Beckey Direct,
1448
01:14:18,254 --> 01:14:19,589
the Beckey... [laughs]
1449
01:14:19,623 --> 01:14:23,292
[Steve Gunn]
* Hey mister shadow wreck
1450
01:14:25,962 --> 01:14:29,265
* Cruel and dusted mind
1451
01:14:29,298 --> 01:14:31,568
[Jim] He was
a very good researcher,
1452
01:14:31,601 --> 01:14:33,202
which gave rise whether or not
1453
01:14:33,236 --> 01:14:35,539
this mythological notebook
actually exists.
1454
01:14:35,572 --> 01:14:39,108
[Todd] You've always heard
about this black book
that Fred Beckey has.
1455
01:14:39,142 --> 01:14:41,077
[Dave] Of all
the unclimbed peaks
1456
01:14:41,110 --> 01:14:42,612
that he still wanted to do.
1457
01:14:42,646 --> 01:14:44,614
[Peter] It's become legendary
in American climbing.
1458
01:14:44,648 --> 01:14:48,451
People whisper that somebody
found the black book.
1459
01:14:48,484 --> 01:14:49,553
[Todd] The black book...
1460
01:14:49,586 --> 01:14:50,754
[Fred] There's no black book.
1461
01:14:50,787 --> 01:14:53,222
That was in the haul bag
until Tehipite Dome.
1462
01:14:53,256 --> 01:14:54,223
No.
1463
01:14:54,257 --> 01:14:55,725
I don't know
of any black book.
1464
01:14:55,759 --> 01:14:57,426
I would never have put
a black book...
1465
01:14:57,460 --> 01:15:00,229
Why would I put a black book
in a haul bag?
1466
01:15:00,263 --> 01:15:02,431
I mean, it doesn't make sense.
People make up stories.
1467
01:15:02,465 --> 01:15:04,133
I've never had a black book.
1468
01:15:04,167 --> 01:15:06,135
[Alex] He didn't need
a black book.
1469
01:15:06,169 --> 01:15:10,607
He remembered every mountain
that he ever saw pictures of,
1470
01:15:10,640 --> 01:15:13,109
or climbed,
1471
01:15:13,142 --> 01:15:15,745
or from the summit looking over
to the next range.
1472
01:15:15,779 --> 01:15:17,446
He knew what
he wanted to climb,
1473
01:15:17,480 --> 01:15:21,184
and he remembered
those details.
1474
01:15:25,288 --> 01:15:26,723
[beep]
1475
01:15:26,756 --> 01:15:29,292
[Fred] Hey, listen.
I'm planning on heading down
1476
01:15:29,325 --> 01:15:31,227
for Russell and Whitney
in a few days.
1477
01:15:31,260 --> 01:15:34,497
But we wanted one more climber,
we need somebody,
1478
01:15:34,530 --> 01:15:36,432
but so far we've had no luck.
1479
01:15:36,465 --> 01:15:38,401
I've called about 35 people,
1480
01:15:38,434 --> 01:15:40,604
this is the only way
I can do it this year.
1481
01:15:40,637 --> 01:15:42,572
It's the only way.
1482
01:15:54,517 --> 01:15:56,319
[Yvon] The fact that he still
has these high standards
1483
01:15:56,352 --> 01:15:58,487
of routes that he wants to do,
1484
01:15:58,521 --> 01:16:02,258
and he's really, we all know
he's really not capable of
doing 'em.
1485
01:16:02,291 --> 01:16:07,363
I don't think it's ego,
I think he's just an idealist.
1486
01:16:12,035 --> 01:16:13,637
Fred loves the mountains.
1487
01:16:13,670 --> 01:16:16,139
And he still wants
that lifestyle
1488
01:16:16,172 --> 01:16:18,074
of having
his car full of gear,
1489
01:16:18,107 --> 01:16:19,676
just in case.
1490
01:16:22,646 --> 01:16:24,147
He's a climber.
1491
01:16:24,180 --> 01:16:28,251
He's not gonna give up
till his last breath.
1492
01:16:28,284 --> 01:16:32,021
[Jim] You know, you damn well
wouldn't want your kid,
1493
01:16:32,055 --> 01:16:33,156
to grow up to be Fred Beckey
1494
01:16:33,189 --> 01:16:35,725
because of
this exclusive focus,
1495
01:16:35,759 --> 01:16:39,562
this unnatural focus.
1496
01:16:39,595 --> 01:16:41,497
[Timothy]
Other people have moved on.
1497
01:16:41,530 --> 01:16:43,532
They had normal lives,
they had families,
1498
01:16:43,566 --> 01:16:46,502
they had wives,
they have grandkids now.
1499
01:16:46,535 --> 01:16:49,438
They have their place
in history. Fred never did.
1500
01:16:49,472 --> 01:16:52,709
In some cases,
he may be a sad lonely man
1501
01:16:52,742 --> 01:16:54,177
who doesn't have anything.
1502
01:16:54,210 --> 01:16:56,445
But I think he also
appreciates the fact
1503
01:16:56,479 --> 01:16:59,515
that he can still
do what most of us can't.
1504
01:17:05,121 --> 01:17:08,257
[Dave] There's almost
this morbid
1505
01:17:08,291 --> 01:17:11,961
fear of being the one
who's with Fred when he goes.
1506
01:17:11,995 --> 01:17:13,863
Am I gonna be the one
who's known
1507
01:17:13,897 --> 01:17:15,598
as the guy
who killed Fred Beckey?
1508
01:17:15,631 --> 01:17:19,102
-[Dave] I can grab
your pack, Fred.
-[Fred] Ah, that's OK, buddy.
1509
01:17:19,135 --> 01:17:20,569
I feel guilty.
1510
01:17:20,603 --> 01:17:22,672
[Dave] Hey, Fred!
1511
01:17:22,706 --> 01:17:25,975
-[Fred] I got a guilt trip.
-[Dave] No, the main thing is
that you get up high.
1512
01:17:26,009 --> 01:17:29,378
-It doesn't matter
how you get there.
-Yeah, it does.
1513
01:17:38,187 --> 01:17:40,223
[Yvon] When I see him,
I think, "Gosh,
1514
01:17:40,256 --> 01:17:43,492
he's so much smaller
than I remember."
1515
01:17:43,526 --> 01:17:47,163
I remember him being
so much taller and straight.
1516
01:17:47,196 --> 01:17:50,599
Now he's getting... you know...
1517
01:17:50,633 --> 01:17:53,169
Like all of us,
he's getting there.
1518
01:18:03,212 --> 01:18:04,647
[Dave] What do you think?
1519
01:18:04,680 --> 01:18:07,116
[Fred] I don't know, man.
1520
01:18:07,150 --> 01:18:09,385
Don't take movies of me, shit.
1521
01:18:11,154 --> 01:18:13,056
I used to just run up here.
1522
01:18:13,089 --> 01:18:15,091
Maybe not run but...
1523
01:18:23,232 --> 01:18:25,969
You better save your battery.
1524
01:18:26,002 --> 01:18:28,704
I'm aware that you're trying
to make a movie,
1525
01:18:28,738 --> 01:18:31,440
you want to get
some climbing footage?
1526
01:18:31,474 --> 01:18:34,210
You want to get a movie about
climbing, not backpacking.
1527
01:18:34,243 --> 01:18:37,080
Me walking uphill,
crossing creeks.
1528
01:18:37,113 --> 01:18:40,183
I mean, OK, but how much
of that is valuable?
1529
01:18:40,216 --> 01:18:41,684
I don't know.
1530
01:18:51,027 --> 01:18:53,496
[Dave] How you feeling, Fred?
1531
01:18:53,529 --> 01:18:55,431
I don't know.
1532
01:18:55,464 --> 01:18:58,367
I just...
1533
01:18:58,401 --> 01:19:00,669
Let me lay on my ass here
for a minute.
1534
01:19:00,703 --> 01:19:02,505
Fucking lungs.
1535
01:19:02,538 --> 01:19:04,107
I mean, fuck,
1536
01:19:04,140 --> 01:19:07,443
I can't believe it's taken
three days to get here.
1537
01:19:07,476 --> 01:19:11,514
I don't think I can
cut the climb, I got
no fuckin' energy.
1538
01:19:13,016 --> 01:19:15,351
We're goin' so fuckin' slow,
I'm embarrassed.
1539
01:19:15,384 --> 01:19:18,487
It's ridiculous.
1540
01:19:18,521 --> 01:19:21,190
I don't know
what the fuck is wrong.
1541
01:19:24,227 --> 01:19:27,163
Yeah, maybe we just
ought to might bail.
I don't know.
1542
01:19:27,196 --> 01:19:30,066
I just don't know
how I'm gonna feel.
1543
01:19:35,338 --> 01:19:40,243
I hate to do it.
It pisses me off.
1544
01:19:42,211 --> 01:19:45,348
-[Dave] Should we get going?
-Yeah.
1545
01:19:45,381 --> 01:19:48,084
It's probably the smartest move.
1546
01:19:48,117 --> 01:19:49,953
I never deliberate this much.
1547
01:19:49,986 --> 01:19:52,588
Either I'm gonna do something
or I don't do it.
1548
01:20:06,535 --> 01:20:09,205
[Steve] Well, I think today,
Fred, with his age,
1549
01:20:09,238 --> 01:20:11,107
that he keeps going,
and he's kind of living
1550
01:20:11,140 --> 01:20:15,511
on memories and living
on a dream,
1551
01:20:15,544 --> 01:20:17,213
that he can still do it.
1552
01:20:17,246 --> 01:20:19,415
I say more power to him.
1553
01:20:19,448 --> 01:20:23,252
You know, if he does fall off
a steep trail or something,
1554
01:20:23,286 --> 01:20:26,189
I don't think he'd have
it any other way.
1555
01:20:36,232 --> 01:20:39,435
It's hard to tell,
was he just driven
1556
01:20:39,468 --> 01:20:42,605
because through what he did
would become immortal in a way?
1557
01:20:42,638 --> 01:20:44,173
Which it will.
1558
01:20:52,648 --> 01:20:59,622
[people chattering]
1559
01:20:59,655 --> 01:21:01,690
Come on, be more like Beckey.
1560
01:21:09,165 --> 01:21:10,599
-Take care. Yeah.
-[man] Good to meet you.
1561
01:21:10,633 --> 01:21:12,568
-Don't lose the books.
-I won't, don't worry!
1562
01:21:12,601 --> 01:21:14,437
In recent years,
1563
01:21:14,470 --> 01:21:16,739
there have been a number of
people who have recognized him
1564
01:21:16,772 --> 01:21:20,176
for what he is,
the last of a dying breed
1565
01:21:20,209 --> 01:21:23,112
of wilderness explorers.
1566
01:21:31,487 --> 01:21:33,456
[cheering & applause]
1567
01:21:40,629 --> 01:21:42,198
[people laughing]
1568
01:21:56,679 --> 01:22:01,150
I was perfectly OK,
until about three years ago.
1569
01:22:01,184 --> 01:22:05,188
Up in the Canadian Rockies,
I started feeling funny.
1570
01:22:05,221 --> 01:22:07,690
Don't know what it is.
1571
01:22:07,723 --> 01:22:09,458
I'm probably lucky to be alive.
1572
01:22:09,492 --> 01:22:13,262
And I've got a whole rack
of medicines
1573
01:22:13,296 --> 01:22:18,101
that the doctor wishes I would
take, but I don't do it.
1574
01:22:18,134 --> 01:22:22,238
Everything from A to Z,
which probably- vitamins,
vitamin C,
1575
01:22:22,271 --> 01:22:25,341
which would probably help.
I probably should do it.
1576
01:22:25,374 --> 01:22:27,176
You want any candy?
1577
01:22:29,545 --> 01:22:32,048
Definitely get some donuts,
I like donuts.
1578
01:22:32,081 --> 01:22:33,282
Trying to gain some weight.
1579
01:22:33,316 --> 01:22:35,351
The best donuts are
the Canadian ones,
1580
01:22:35,384 --> 01:22:36,986
but they don't have 'em here.
1581
01:22:37,020 --> 01:22:39,055
Favorite kind of donuts
are jelly donuts,
1582
01:22:39,088 --> 01:22:43,292
some kind of raspberry or jelly
or something,
1583
01:22:43,326 --> 01:22:46,629
or those donuts that have
cream puff inside of 'em.
1584
01:22:46,662 --> 01:22:49,298
They're pretty good.
1585
01:22:49,332 --> 01:22:52,068
We're here
in Canyonlands National Park,
1586
01:22:52,101 --> 01:22:55,404
near the sight of Moses.
1587
01:22:55,438 --> 01:23:00,609
This is the first time
I've been back since 1972.
1588
01:23:00,643 --> 01:23:03,979
I welcome the chance to climb
in a different environment
1589
01:23:04,013 --> 01:23:07,083
and the Utah desert
is about as different,
1590
01:23:07,116 --> 01:23:08,284
from my background.
1591
01:23:08,317 --> 01:23:10,153
I thought
it was very beautiful.
1592
01:23:10,186 --> 01:23:11,720
And unusual, I-
1593
01:23:11,754 --> 01:23:15,258
it took me a while
to get used to the rock.
1594
01:23:24,767 --> 01:23:27,170
I used to come out here
for climbing practice.
1595
01:23:27,203 --> 01:23:31,507
I think I was one of
the earliest people
to climb on the rock.
1596
01:23:34,677 --> 01:23:36,545
[Conrad] Fred is sort of
alone here in the States,
1597
01:23:36,579 --> 01:23:40,349
and who's his family?
Who's his support network?
1598
01:23:40,383 --> 01:23:43,552
You need to have community
to stay healthy.
1599
01:23:43,586 --> 01:23:46,089
Fred's family is
the climbing community.
1600
01:23:46,122 --> 01:23:47,256
[beep]
1601
01:23:47,290 --> 01:23:50,025
Right now,
I have a driving problem--
1602
01:23:50,059 --> 01:23:52,561
the drivers license people
don't think I'm a good driver.
1603
01:23:52,595 --> 01:23:55,564
Maybe I'm not,
but I think I am but whatever.
1604
01:23:55,598 --> 01:23:57,533
It's difficult because
1605
01:23:57,566 --> 01:24:00,103
I'd like to get somebody to go
skiing with this weekend,
1606
01:24:00,136 --> 01:24:01,437
and I'm not even sure
who I have.
1607
01:24:01,470 --> 01:24:04,273
I may not be able
to find anyone.
1608
01:24:04,307 --> 01:24:07,643
Are we going ski touring
tomorrow on Blewett Pass...
1609
01:24:07,676 --> 01:24:11,747
Can you please call me back?
I hope this works out.
1610
01:24:11,780 --> 01:24:14,016
But do call me,
I'm waiting
1611
01:24:14,049 --> 01:24:16,719
and would like
to hear from you.
Bye Bye
1612
01:24:23,392 --> 01:24:26,462
You wanna go down by the beach?
1613
01:24:26,495 --> 01:24:30,133
My brother was two and a half
years younger than I was.
1614
01:24:30,166 --> 01:24:33,369
He did everything I did.
One time,
1615
01:24:33,402 --> 01:24:36,105
my brother and I found
a couple of logs,
1616
01:24:36,139 --> 01:24:38,006
and we nailed boards together
1617
01:24:38,040 --> 01:24:40,609
and we made kind of
a makeshift raft,
1618
01:24:40,643 --> 01:24:43,512
and then went and paddled
across over to Vashon Island.
1619
01:24:43,546 --> 01:24:48,484
[Helmy] We went a hell of
a long ways out.
1620
01:24:48,517 --> 01:24:53,956
freighters and ocean liners
would come along.
1621
01:24:53,989 --> 01:24:55,291
[Fred] One ship did come by.
1622
01:24:55,324 --> 01:24:58,594
This ship created
waves and wakes.
1623
01:24:58,627 --> 01:25:03,166
I was worried that it
might shake the raft apart.
1624
01:25:03,199 --> 01:25:05,968
It's about three miles
over to Vashon Island.
1625
01:25:06,001 --> 01:25:07,403
We stayed on the island
maybe a night.
1626
01:25:07,436 --> 01:25:10,005
We abandoned
the raft over there.
1627
01:25:10,038 --> 01:25:11,307
We took the ferry boat back.
1628
01:25:11,340 --> 01:25:14,343
I think maybe
we were pushing the limits.
1629
01:25:14,377 --> 01:25:17,079
I think we were
pushing our luck.
1630
01:25:17,112 --> 01:25:20,616
I sure wouldn't dream
of doing it today.
1631
01:25:20,649 --> 01:25:22,017
[Helmy] I don't talk to Fred,
you know,
1632
01:25:22,050 --> 01:25:25,053
'cause he's always
too hard to reach.
1633
01:25:25,087 --> 01:25:26,955
[Dave] Have you
talked to Helmy?
1634
01:25:26,989 --> 01:25:28,191
[Fred] I made a trip there,
1635
01:25:28,224 --> 01:25:30,058
we had some
communication problems.
1636
01:25:30,092 --> 01:25:33,095
He's having
a tough time hearing.
1637
01:25:33,128 --> 01:25:35,498
[Helmy] He came to visit,
you know, over here,
1638
01:25:35,531 --> 01:25:36,965
but not to see me,
1639
01:25:36,999 --> 01:25:39,302
but to go into the Dolomites.
1640
01:25:41,036 --> 01:25:42,738
He changed his lifestyle.
1641
01:25:42,771 --> 01:25:45,641
He's just totally interested
and immersed in music,
1642
01:25:45,674 --> 01:25:51,247
which is OK,
but I think he overdoes it.
1643
01:25:53,349 --> 01:25:56,485
[Helmy] I'm proud of him.
He's a real hero.
1644
01:25:56,519 --> 01:25:58,721
And he's the most modest
1645
01:25:58,754 --> 01:26:02,157
damn person in the world,
you know?
1646
01:26:02,191 --> 01:26:03,659
There must be
a lot of people
1647
01:26:03,692 --> 01:26:06,895
that are just plain
resentful or jealous...
1648
01:26:06,929 --> 01:26:09,398
'cause Fred is different,
you know?
1649
01:26:09,432 --> 01:26:11,133
[Fred]
Wanna pick up a duck?
1650
01:26:11,166 --> 01:26:13,502
[Dave laughs]
1651
01:26:13,536 --> 01:26:18,341
They either hate the guy
or fear him, or love him.
1652
01:26:21,109 --> 01:26:23,246
[Fred] I don't know
if I'm contributing.
1653
01:26:23,279 --> 01:26:25,113
I'm not sure I am.
1654
01:26:25,147 --> 01:26:27,283
I hope I'm contributing
a little bit
1655
01:26:27,316 --> 01:26:29,318
to mountaineering education,
1656
01:26:29,352 --> 01:26:32,255
people's knowledge
of the mountains.
1657
01:26:33,689 --> 01:26:35,057
I think the dirtbag thing,
1658
01:26:35,090 --> 01:26:37,159
I don't know
where it really started.
1659
01:26:37,192 --> 01:26:39,562
I don't feel
that I've been a dirtbag.
1660
01:26:39,595 --> 01:26:43,131
I've always had a car.
1661
01:26:43,165 --> 01:26:45,133
And I've always had a purpose.
1662
01:26:45,167 --> 01:26:47,202
The first ascents I've done,
1663
01:26:47,236 --> 01:26:49,438
going to Kate's Needle
and Devil's Thumb,
1664
01:26:49,472 --> 01:26:52,708
Mount Hunter, Mount Deborah
in Alaska. The Waddington trip
1665
01:26:52,741 --> 01:26:56,111
I don't think you could call
that dirtbagging.
1666
01:26:59,782 --> 01:27:02,951
[Dave] So, do you feel
like you did everything
you wanted to do?
1667
01:27:02,985 --> 01:27:04,353
[Fred] Never, no.
1668
01:27:04,387 --> 01:27:07,122
I just scratched the surface.
1669
01:27:07,155 --> 01:27:10,626
Obviously, with climbing,
it's endless.
1670
01:27:10,659 --> 01:27:12,361
You know, you can make
a hit list
1671
01:27:12,395 --> 01:27:15,331
of things that you want
to climb or places to visit.
1672
01:27:15,364 --> 01:27:17,966
I'd love to go to Majorca,
the islands in Greece,
1673
01:27:18,000 --> 01:27:19,335
I haven't even been to
Thailand.
1674
01:27:19,368 --> 01:27:21,270
And even in North America,
1675
01:27:21,304 --> 01:27:23,739
there are mountains
in Colorado, Wyoming,
1676
01:27:23,772 --> 01:27:27,310
Montana that I haven't even
climbed, Mexico,
1677
01:27:27,343 --> 01:27:30,379
all of South America,
I've never done anything there.
1678
01:27:30,413 --> 01:27:31,614
You can't do all these things.
1679
01:27:31,647 --> 01:27:33,316
But I don't regret
having done it,
1680
01:27:33,349 --> 01:27:35,684
it may be better to look
forward to it,
1681
01:27:35,718 --> 01:27:38,387
maybe I'll get there
sometime.
1682
01:27:38,421 --> 01:27:41,290
I'd like to unwind
and get younger,
1683
01:27:41,324 --> 01:27:43,892
but I guess nobody's
figured that out yet.
1684
01:27:43,926 --> 01:27:47,496
[Dave] You have any single
one thing you value
most in life,
1685
01:27:47,530 --> 01:27:50,165
-[Dave] that you value
the very most?
-[Fred] Stay alive.
1686
01:27:50,198 --> 01:27:52,067
[Todd laughs]
1687
01:27:54,770 --> 01:27:57,072
That's important.
1688
01:28:03,612 --> 01:28:06,582
[Timothy] When we study
individuals who break
the mold,
1689
01:28:06,615 --> 01:28:10,319
we should not just study
artists and scientists
1690
01:28:10,353 --> 01:28:12,988
and authors and architects.
1691
01:28:13,021 --> 01:28:16,058
We should include Fred Beckey
among them.
1692
01:28:16,091 --> 01:28:17,660
Beckey was
trained classically,
1693
01:28:17,693 --> 01:28:20,529
but then he just
smashed the model.
1694
01:28:20,563 --> 01:28:24,066
Sometimes it just calls
for a single-minded bastard.
1695
01:28:26,068 --> 01:28:29,572
[Alex] So many of us grow up
and are stuck in dead end jobs
1696
01:28:29,605 --> 01:28:31,273
and can't get out of 'em.
1697
01:28:31,306 --> 01:28:35,210
You see this person
who has pursued his passion
1698
01:28:35,243 --> 01:28:36,745
and has pursued
it passionately.
1699
01:28:36,779 --> 01:28:38,747
And we all know instinctively,
1700
01:28:38,781 --> 01:28:40,383
that's what I should have done
1701
01:28:40,416 --> 01:28:43,051
from the time
I was 18 years old.
1702
01:28:44,687 --> 01:28:48,591
[Fred] You know, I could
say to heck with it
and go play golf.
1703
01:28:48,624 --> 01:28:50,158
Take up cards.
1704
01:28:50,192 --> 01:28:52,194
Sit around the picnic table.
1705
01:28:52,227 --> 01:28:55,698
It's a lot more fun,
a lot easier.
1706
01:28:55,731 --> 01:28:58,467
But I guess I have
a certain amount of motivation
1707
01:28:58,501 --> 01:29:00,736
or drive to go out
and do these things.
1708
01:29:00,769 --> 01:29:03,038
Why, I can't explain it.
1709
01:29:03,071 --> 01:29:05,574
I'd rather do something
than do nothing.
1710
01:29:05,608 --> 01:29:06,975
Put it that way.
1711
01:29:07,009 --> 01:29:09,712
-[wind blowing]
-[panting]
1712
01:29:12,214 --> 01:29:14,249
[Jeff screams] Come on,
Fred, get up there!
1713
01:29:16,184 --> 01:29:17,653
-[Dave] Yeah, do it!
-Yes!
1714
01:29:17,686 --> 01:29:21,289
Yeah! Woo! Yeah, buddy!
1715
01:29:22,290 --> 01:29:24,192
Nice, Fred!
1716
01:29:27,229 --> 01:29:29,197
[Fred] Lots of fun.
1717
01:29:29,231 --> 01:29:31,467
[Vasiliki] What I believe
about most people
1718
01:29:31,500 --> 01:29:34,903
is as they get older,
they don't necessarily
get any wiser.
1719
01:29:34,937 --> 01:29:36,405
In fact, rarely.
1720
01:29:36,439 --> 01:29:39,408
They just become more so
what they've always been.
1721
01:29:39,442 --> 01:29:43,078
And I think, probably,
with Fred, it's the same thing.
1722
01:29:43,111 --> 01:29:45,380
He is...
1723
01:29:45,414 --> 01:29:47,149
...etched in stone.
1724
01:30:03,499 --> 01:30:06,101
[music playing]
1725
01:30:44,640 --> 01:30:47,943
[Steve Gunn]
* There's a constant motion
1726
01:30:47,976 --> 01:30:52,981
* Makes you feel
like the ocean *
1727
01:30:53,015 --> 01:30:56,885
* Hey there nature driver man
1728
01:30:56,919 --> 01:31:00,288
* You are a welcome guest
1729
01:31:01,690 --> 01:31:05,093
* Man with that wicked eye
1730
01:31:05,127 --> 01:31:08,631
* Will lead you to your rest
1731
01:31:09,632 --> 01:31:12,400
* Moving through the seasons
1732
01:31:12,434 --> 01:31:16,772
* And I'm hoping for the best
1733
01:31:16,805 --> 01:31:19,407
I remember once climbing
at Cal Dome with Fred Beckey,
1734
01:31:19,441 --> 01:31:23,478
and there was this swarm of
bees up ahead on the trail.
1735
01:31:23,512 --> 01:31:25,013
So we all shouted to Fred,
1736
01:31:25,047 --> 01:31:27,215
"Hey, Fred, you know,
there's bees up there!"
1737
01:31:27,249 --> 01:31:30,919
You know,
Fred couldn't hear shit,
"What?"
1738
01:31:30,953 --> 01:31:32,821
And he walked
right through the bees,
1739
01:31:32,855 --> 01:31:34,422
and, you know,
one or two must have stung him,
1740
01:31:34,456 --> 01:31:36,592
and he kind of
just like slapped himself
1741
01:31:36,625 --> 01:31:38,493
and grunted
and just kept on walking.
1742
01:31:38,527 --> 01:31:40,462
And all the other guys
were like,
1743
01:31:40,495 --> 01:31:42,731
"Fuck that, we're not gonna
walk through the bees."
1744
01:31:42,765 --> 01:31:44,299
So, they start, like,
1745
01:31:44,332 --> 01:31:46,334
bushwhacking
to cut the switchback,
1746
01:31:46,368 --> 01:31:49,404
and I sort of in my own mind,
I thought,
1747
01:31:49,437 --> 01:31:51,640
"Man, if Fred Beckey's
like eighty-something
years old.
1748
01:31:51,674 --> 01:31:53,375
If that guy
can walk through the bees,
1749
01:31:53,408 --> 01:31:54,743
I'm gonna walk
through the fuckin' bees.
1750
01:31:54,777 --> 01:31:57,746
Like, I'm pretty tough,
it's no big deal."
1751
01:31:57,780 --> 01:32:00,048
So, I start marching
up through the bees,
1752
01:32:00,082 --> 01:32:02,918
and a bee went
right up my shorts
1753
01:32:02,951 --> 01:32:05,153
and just got me
right in the scrotum.
1754
01:32:05,187 --> 01:32:07,122
and I just couldn't...
1755
01:32:07,155 --> 01:32:10,258
There was nothing you could do.
I mean, it's a natural
reaction.
1756
01:32:10,292 --> 01:32:12,695
I ripped my shorts off
and I'm trying to kill the bee,
1757
01:32:12,728 --> 01:32:15,564
and all the guys are
like laughing hysterically,
1758
01:32:15,598 --> 01:32:17,132
like, they just think
it's the funniest thing.
1759
01:32:17,165 --> 01:32:18,634
And it really hurt.
1760
01:32:18,667 --> 01:32:22,037
And Fred's
completely oblivious.
1761
01:32:22,070 --> 01:32:24,506
We get to the base of the crag
about 20 minutes later,
1762
01:32:24,539 --> 01:32:28,410
and I say to Fred, "Did you
get stung by any bees?"
1763
01:32:28,443 --> 01:32:29,745
"What?"
1764
01:32:29,778 --> 01:32:31,880
"Bees, like,
did any bees sting you?"
1765
01:32:31,914 --> 01:32:33,616
"I dunno. Maybe, maybe."
1766
01:32:33,649 --> 01:32:35,751
And looked at his hand
and there was, like,
a stinger
1767
01:32:35,784 --> 01:32:38,020
still in his hand,
and I just thought,
1768
01:32:38,053 --> 01:32:40,155
"Goddamn, like, this guy,
1769
01:32:40,188 --> 01:32:41,690
he is so passionate
1770
01:32:41,724 --> 01:32:43,525
and so freakin' tough.
1771
01:32:43,558 --> 01:32:46,228
And that other stuff,
like pain,
1772
01:32:46,261 --> 01:32:48,463
doesn't affect him,
apparently."
1773
01:32:48,496 --> 01:32:52,067
[Steve Gunn]
* Highway is fully stacked, *
1774
01:32:52,267 --> 01:32:55,070
* think we'll turn around.
1775
01:32:56,071 --> 01:32:59,942
* Go down another road
1776
01:32:59,975 --> 01:33:03,478
* and through a
different town. *
1777
01:33:04,980 --> 01:33:08,050
* Feel the direction like
1778
01:33:08,550 --> 01:33:12,120
* a rock upon the moon.
1779
01:33:13,121 --> 01:33:16,258
* Come on the overpass
1780
01:33:16,291 --> 01:33:19,995
* and hope to get there soon.
1781
01:33:21,196 --> 01:33:24,032
* Hope to get there soon.
1782
01:33:24,066 --> 01:33:25,668
When he said,
"I really wanna climb
1783
01:33:25,701 --> 01:33:27,569
the East Buttress on Whitney."
1784
01:33:27,602 --> 01:33:29,104
I was like, "Well, why not?
1785
01:33:29,137 --> 01:33:30,673
The guy's a legend,
let's go have a good time."
1786
01:33:30,706 --> 01:33:32,607
And as we're going
down there, he's like,
1787
01:33:32,641 --> 01:33:34,476
"I think I've got it this time,
I can climb,
1788
01:33:34,509 --> 01:33:37,279
it's just, I have trouble
sleeping at altitude."
1789
01:33:37,312 --> 01:33:39,414
And being a problem solver,
I'm already thinking,
1790
01:33:39,447 --> 01:33:43,085
"well, how can I help this guy
achieve his dreams?"
1791
01:33:43,118 --> 01:33:45,120
And so, the first day
we hike up,
1792
01:33:45,153 --> 01:33:47,122
and we get to camp that night
and it's cold,
1793
01:33:47,155 --> 01:33:49,992
and he pulls out
this inappropriately
light sleeping bag,
1794
01:33:50,025 --> 01:33:51,626
with a tiny little
Therm-a-Rest.
1795
01:33:51,660 --> 01:33:53,095
Like, the guy's
not gonna sleep.
1796
01:33:53,128 --> 01:33:54,697
I couldn't
sleep in that thing.
1797
01:33:54,730 --> 01:33:57,365
Every so often, if people have
trouble sleeping at altitude,
1798
01:33:57,399 --> 01:33:59,301
you know, a little sleeping
pill kind of helps.
1799
01:33:59,334 --> 01:34:01,870
So, I grind up a little bit
of this
1800
01:34:01,904 --> 01:34:03,571
sleeping tablet into his tea,
and he drinks it,
1801
01:34:03,605 --> 01:34:05,373
and I don't tell him
anything about it.
1802
01:34:05,407 --> 01:34:07,342
We wake up the next morning,
and he's like,
1803
01:34:07,375 --> 01:34:12,114
"Dave, I feel great,
I'm ready to charge!"
1804
01:34:13,448 --> 01:34:16,151
So that night, there was no
appropriate time
1805
01:34:16,184 --> 01:34:17,753
to slip him the mickey.
1806
01:34:17,786 --> 01:34:19,421
So, I said, "Fred,
I've got a confession,
1807
01:34:19,454 --> 01:34:21,656
I put a little sleeping pill
in your tea last night,
1808
01:34:21,690 --> 01:34:23,959
and that's probably
why you slept well,
1809
01:34:23,992 --> 01:34:25,560
we should do it."
And he's like, "What!"
1810
01:34:25,593 --> 01:34:28,363
He was just convinced that,
that's not the thing to do.
1811
01:34:28,396 --> 01:34:31,266
So, he didn't sleep a wink,
woke up miserable,
1812
01:34:31,299 --> 01:34:35,070
and we didn't get a chance
to climb Mt. Whitney that trip.
1813
01:34:35,103 --> 01:34:36,504
Dave Nettle had given me
a great tip,
1814
01:34:36,538 --> 01:34:38,707
Just sneak a little bit of,
like, a sleeping pill
1815
01:34:38,741 --> 01:34:40,375
into Fred's drink,
1816
01:34:40,408 --> 01:34:42,044
Sure enough, gave it to Fred
and watched him get drowsy
1817
01:34:42,077 --> 01:34:43,678
and then, you know, got him
into his sleeping bag
1818
01:34:43,712 --> 01:34:48,516
and, it sounds like I'm drug-
like we drugged the guy, but
1819
01:34:48,550 --> 01:34:50,285
um... well, we kinda did.
1820
01:34:50,318 --> 01:34:53,722
But the point is, he jumped up
that morning, he was refreshed,
1821
01:34:53,756 --> 01:34:56,524
he slept well, put his pack on,
hiked up to the base
1822
01:34:56,558 --> 01:34:58,460
and climbed
the East Face of Mt. Whitney.
1823
01:34:58,493 --> 01:35:00,963
[Steve Gunn]
* There's a constant motion
1824
01:35:00,996 --> 01:35:05,567
* Makes you feel
like the ocean *
1825
01:35:05,600 --> 01:35:09,805
* Hey there nature driver man
1826
01:35:09,838 --> 01:35:13,141
* You are a welcome guest
145207
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