altitude slickness

Having started my climbing “career” in Washington probably around 15 years ago, I’d read and heard a lot about one Fred Beckey. Articles in outdoor magazines and the Cascade Alpine Guide series were my only real view into who this guy was and what he’d done, but after some time I discovered a more of his work (Challenge of the North Cascades) and really started to recognise what a unique character he is.

Last night Mr. Beckey gave a nice little slideshow here in Portland that I was lucky enough to attend. He spoke for almost two hours about the mountain ranges in North America and just how lucky he was to be able to get up them with various partners and in various conditions. He’s actually a great photographer and has a good eye. The photos of his slides I snuck don’t really communicate that very well (I wasn’t looking at my settings) but you get the idea. After the slideshow he offered to sign books and chat for a bit, so I went down with my older CAG (the brown one) and had him drop his signature on it. I asked him about his China trip next year and he lit up and said they’ve got a financieer now and if I can talk Nike into getting them some shoes I can come along. I smiled and told him, “Well, I work with Converse, so I’ll see what I can do!”. The folks in line behind me chuckled and I thanked him for his time and shook his hand and that was that.

I had run into Fred a few times before back in North Bend. A few years ago I saw him sitting at Denny’s on our way out, and I walked up to him with Ian in my arms to say hello.

“Excuse me, Mr. Beckey?”

“Mr. Beckey?”

…

“Fred?”

He was sitting there with his little notebook reading and eating an omelette or something and didn’t even budge. I didn’t want to make a big scene or anything, so I just smiled and said “Nice to see you…” and kept on going. I really couldn’t belive I’d been snubbed by someone who I’d always considered a bit of a hero or something, so I was practically laughing outloud as we walked out the door. Amy was totally confused so I quickly explained who he was. Right in front of the restaurant was his red subaru parked almost diagonally across the two handicapped spots, with a ton of gear and stuff in the back. I just laughed again and smiled all the way home.

You have to realize, I had pictures of this old man up on my wall in college, and Fred Beckey was my pen name in my freshman english creative writing class. The fact that his backyard was my backyard was just fun – and made for a lot of good reading and armchair mountaineering, as well as actually following in his footsteps.

The other time I met his was in Marten Volken’s climbing shop in downtown North Bend. Fred had come in and was talking about his new AT skis with the crew there in the shop, and it was the first time I’d considered that the reason I was snubbed back at Denny’s was probably because the man is pretty deaf. You really have to talk loudly to get his attention, and this thought was only reinforced at the slideshow. Standing in line watching people try to ask him questions was pretty funny while they tried to get a straight answer from him, and he’d just smile and repeat himself a few times about something close to what they’d ask, but really not quite. It was just nice to know he’s maybe not as cranky as I’d first thought…

All in all, it was a fun evening and a pretty cool chance to meet someone I’ve admired for a long time. For a guy in his 80′s he’s still hustling and that’s pretty inspiring.

It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to get outside, but that’s not to say I haven’t had my mind on things of a vertical nature.

Last week I signed up for an annual membership to the Portland Rock Gym, and have been climbing all the V0′s in sight after work. With all the rain coming down, it’s been nice to get back into that kind of environment and know that I can get back into shape and hopefully improve some of my withered climbing skills. I’ve purposely been climbing the easiest things out there so as to not hurt myself getting back into this, and I’ve dug up some material about training that will help get some structure into my program and show me some results in time for this coming summer.

Tonight Beetle and I went to see Beth Rodden and Tommy Caldwell speak at the Bagdad Theater. We ended up behind them while waiting in line for our pizza, but I didn’t bug them. Some guy came up and had them signing a couple of magazines and a bunch of posters, and you just don’t want to be That Guy. They’re both a lot shorter than I thought they’d be. During their presentation Beth said she’s five-foot-one “on a good day”, and that being that short isn’t necessarily a bad thing in climbing. “It all averages out”, she said, as her smaller size allows her to use holds and moves that would tie the taller of us into knots. They both seemed just like really nice people and very much like someone Amy and I would hang out with. It was just inspiring to see them climb together and support each other so much while pulling off some amazingly superhuman feats. The presentation was first a slideshow from their free climb of the Nose on El Capitan, and then a short film about Tommy’s suffer-fest free climbing both the Nose and Freerider in a day. They answered a bunch of questions and tossed out some gear, and just impressed me as a couple of just really nice, laid-back people.

It was inspiring to see what they could do, and just made me a bit more determined to be able to climb how I know I can and dial up the things in my life that bring me joy. I get distracted too easily and I think I’m just tired of being distracted. I really wish I’d have been able to bring Amy or the Boys… They all would have had a good time and come away just as inspired.

early morning late season dark foggy lost wrong turn backtrack discover trails waterfalls find trailhead head out quick hike nice trail good view high point lots of pictures back around easy day a good saturday morning.

In a desperate move to squeeze out one more trip before The Move, Dean and I had a bit of a late start to knock out the Tooth after work. The weather was perfect, and I was able to slip out of work a bit early without feeling too guilty. With Ames and the kids gone, it was now or not for a very long time, so we picked up our packs and headed up to the Pass. We hit the Snow Lake trail at exactly 4:30, knowing we’d be coming back down in the dark. The question was how much of the trip would be by headlamp…

It took a little over an hour to reach the Source Lake overlook, and from there it was another hour across the talus and ridges coming down from the peaks above us. We picked our way through the rocks, sometimes on a boot track, or following cairns – and sometimes not. In retrospect we should have marked our path a bit more, as following cairns in the dark isn’t always the most effective way of returning to civilization on time. Reaching Pineapple Pass and the base of the climb, we decided we’d go as far as we could without having to rappel in the dark, and hopefully make it back down to the talus in time for the full moon to help us back down. I started up the first pitch and soon reached the first belay station, or at least the last rap station in order to let Dean get some climbing in sooner. The next pitch I ran out the full length of the rope, and quickly brought Dean up again. The sun was setting on the western horizon, silhouetting McClellan’s Butte and causing us to decide to get out. The summit was so close, but we could easily be back any time we wished, so we felt it was better to set up the raps in what daylight was left.

TBC

The Toothache on Vimeo

Dean and I went up early last Saturday morning, starting from the parking lot just a little before sunrise. Time was short for both of us, but by taking one of our shortcuts up the hill we managed to spend a few minutes up top enjoying the view… Lots of birds out, but oddly enough, we were the only ones out hiking that morning, which doesn’t happen very often on Saturdays. Having something as accessible and close as Rattlesnake Ledge will be sorely missed once The Move goes down in a few weeks. That said however, I’m really looking forward to exploring the Columbia River Gorge and the south end of the Cascades. The boys and I picked up a few books at Marmot last week and it looks very promising.