Fred is known to be hard of hearing, but it is very "selective." Guys can talk to him all day and he won't (seem) to pick up a word. As soon as the ladies talk, though, he is all ears!
the man is every where....Zach and I first met Fred in Zion when we were climbing Ashtar Tower...my brother in law had climbed with him, so I sort of knew him from that....but on a cold and windy day in Red Rocks, having Crimson Chrysalis all to ourselves for that reason, we notice this single figure far below hunkering down in the brush watching us for the 2nd half of the climb....when we rapped and walked by him, it was Fred...he was all laid out for a bivy for the night and wanted to know if it was windy up there....not another soul around....the man is all over the place...I did Mount Brussels in Canada, a truly obscure alpine climb, with the grandson of the first assenter...we are reading his grandfather's original notes in camp, and sure enough he mentions running into Beckey (on the way out failing the ascent due to weather) on his way in for a one month seige of the mountain...glad that Beckey had failed to beat him to the first ascent....
Good story Dow. There's another good story about Beckey in Kearny's Northwest Climbs book (chapter on Liberty Crack where basically he was "reserving" FA of routes for himself by hanging ropes on lower pitch(es))
"the man is all over the place"
Yup - seems to be the case. Very impressive for a man his age IMHO!
bolojm - Feb 27, 2008 8:30 am - Hasn't voted
Fred's hearingFred is known to be hard of hearing, but it is very "selective." Guys can talk to him all day and he won't (seem) to pick up a word. As soon as the ladies talk, though, he is all ears!
rpc - Feb 27, 2008 12:14 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Fred's hearing"Guys can talk to him all day and he won't (seem) to pick up a word. As soon as the ladies talk, though, he is all ears! "
gotta respect the man even more :)
thanks for visiting!
Dow Williams - Feb 27, 2008 1:09 pm - Voted 10/10
too strange...the man is every where....Zach and I first met Fred in Zion when we were climbing Ashtar Tower...my brother in law had climbed with him, so I sort of knew him from that....but on a cold and windy day in Red Rocks, having Crimson Chrysalis all to ourselves for that reason, we notice this single figure far below hunkering down in the brush watching us for the 2nd half of the climb....when we rapped and walked by him, it was Fred...he was all laid out for a bivy for the night and wanted to know if it was windy up there....not another soul around....the man is all over the place...I did Mount Brussels in Canada, a truly obscure alpine climb, with the grandson of the first assenter...we are reading his grandfather's original notes in camp, and sure enough he mentions running into Beckey (on the way out failing the ascent due to weather) on his way in for a one month seige of the mountain...glad that Beckey had failed to beat him to the first ascent....
rpc - Feb 27, 2008 5:14 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: too strange...Good story Dow. There's another good story about Beckey in Kearny's Northwest Climbs book (chapter on Liberty Crack where basically he was "reserving" FA of routes for himself by hanging ropes on lower pitch(es))
"the man is all over the place"
Yup - seems to be the case. Very impressive for a man his age IMHO!