Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey

The documentary takes up the climber Fred Beckey. Beckey is a name of his own in American climbing. He has been known since the forties. His first big appearance came in the spring of 1940. That year he and his brother Helmy were the first to summit Forbidden Peak. The mountain is in the North Cascades. In the years after he made hundreds of first ascents across North America. His career ran for eighty years. That pursuit took him into a solitary life on the road. He left behind scorned climbing partners and relationships that ended. The director followed him for ten years. Beckey was ninety four while the filming went on. Conrad Anker, Reinhold Messner and Yvon Chouinard speak in Dave O’Leske’s American documentary of 2017, which runs ninety six minutes.