At 93, legendary climber Fred Beckey still plotting routes

SEATTLE (AP) — He's notched more first ascents than any other American mountaineer, wrote the definitive guidebooks to a major North American mountain range, and at age 93, Fred Beckey is still plotting routes — though more slowly and buoyed by a cadre of fiercely protective partners.

For years, stories have floated around about the man known as much for his eccentric personality as for his singular obsession with climbing, said Alex Bertulis, 77, a retired Seattle architect who climbed with Beckey for decades.

[...] a documentary feature film in the works, Dirtbag:

Beckey is such a cult figure in North American mountaineering that tickets were snatched up within hours for a slideshow he recently presented in Seattle to help promote the film.

Once lights were dimmed, he clicked through numerous slides, recalling from memory details about rock cracks, overhangs and other features on mountains in the Sierra and Cascades.

In 1942, he and his younger brother Helmut wowed the climbing community with an impressive second ascent of Mount Waddington in British Columbia.

At the recent Beckey event, fans from young climbers to ex-girlfriends — even the adult daughter of an ex-girlfriend who flew in from California to put a face to her mother's stories — lined up to shake his hand or snag a reluctant autograph.

"Once he starts climbing, it's like muscle memory just kicks in, and he's very graceful," said Dave O'Leske, director of "Dirtbag" who spent the past decade filming Beckey.