1. Friedrich Wolfgang Beckey, known as Fred Beckey, was an American rock climber, mountaineer and book author, who in seven decades of climbing achieved hundreds of first ascents of some of the tallest peaks and most important routes throughout Alaska, the Canadian Rockies and the Pacific Northwest.
Fred Beckey's brother, Helmut "Helmy" Beckey, was born in Seattle in 1926 and would later become Fred's frequent climbing partner.
At age twelve, Fred Beckey climbed Boulder Peak in the Cascades by himself, after wandering off on a family camping trip.
In 1942, the teenage Fred Beckey brothers snatched a second ascent of Mount Waddington, which was then considered the most difficult climb in North America.
Fred Beckey followed that with many more first ascents of summits in the Olympic and North Cascade ranges.
In 1955 Fred Beckey joined the International Himalayan Expedition to climb the world's fourth-highest peak, Lhotse.
Fred Beckey descended in the blizzard to get help, but was later blamed by his teammates for abandoning his partner, who was rescued by others.
Consequently although Fred Beckey seemed a likely choice as a member for first American Everest Expedition in 1963, he was never invited by his ex-teammates.
Fred Beckey often climbed 40 or 50 different summits a year, and over the decades managed to achieve nearly one thousand first ascents.
Fred Beckey perused the Canadian archives in Ottawa, Ontario; Hudson's Bay Co.
Fred Beckey's life was the subject of a 2017 documentary, directed by David O'Leske and produced by Patagonia, called Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey.
Fred Beckey died of congestive heart failure, in Seattle, on October 30,2017 at the age of 94.
Fred Beckey named Vasiliki Ridge, by Washington Pass, after his one true love.
Fred Beckey was a quintessential dirtbag climber, well captured by a classic portrait of him by Corey Rich from 2004 Patagonia's Fall catalog, where he is trying to hitchhike while holding a sign "Will belay for food".