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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

SpIFF 2018: One legend and a closing party

Dan Webster

And, finally, we arrive at the end of the 2018 Spokane International Film Festival. Tonight's program features not only the documentary "Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey," which screens at 7:30, but also the closing-night party at the Montvale Events Center.

The party will begin following the screening (about 9:30 p.m.) Here's my review of tonight's documentary, which I wrote for Spokane Public Radio:

Fred Beckey wasn’t the kind of guy you necessarily would want to have had standing on your doorstep, asking for a favor – a place to crash, say, even if only in your backyard.

But if you were stuck on the side of a mountain, he was someone you’d probably want tethered to the other end of your line.

Why? Because he knew better than most how to get to the summit. Jim Donini, former president of the American Alpine Club, said that Beckey knew “more about the mountains of North American than anyone who has ever lived.”

Donini is one of several people that documentary filmmaker Dave O’Leske interviewed for his film “Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey,” which plays tonight at 7:30 at the Bing Crosby Theater and which closes out the 2018 Spokane International Film Festival.

What O’Leske’s film makes clear is that Beckey, who died in October at the age of 94, never passed up an opportunity to live his life exactly as he wanted.

And the life Beckey wanted was one that allowed him to climb every mountain he could find. Just for the record, he climbed a lot over his seven-decade career, managing to achieve more first ascents than any other American mountaineer.

He also lived an existence that was uncompromising, one that earned him a number of descriptors, from “maverick” to the “dirtbag” of the film’s title, the definition of which is “a person who dedicates her or his entire existence to the pursuit of climbing, making ends meet using creative means. Often found living near major climbing destinations, the dirtbag is a rebel with a cause who finds happiness in nature."

How creative was Beckey at making ends meet? He lived a largely itinerant life, living out of his car for extended periods, scrabbling for what he needed, whether that be food, gas or lodging. In one shot, O’Leske pictures Beckey holding a sign that says, “Will belay for food,” followed by three exclamation points!

Beckey also depended on the support given to him by friends, some of whom he would cut ties with when they would – or could – no longer accompany him. Throughout the film, O’Leske interviews person after person who shares tales of how Beckey – a lively, addictive and magnetic personality – would sacrifice everything, including enduring relationships, in his quest to conquer yet another peak.

Eric Bjornstad, one of Beckey’s many climbing partners, summed the man up this way: “Just a one-track mind, most of the time. If it wasn’t on women, it was on climbing.”

And though largely unknown by the public at large, Beckey – to the end of his life – remained one of those climbers whose legendary status persists among his peers, many of whom have gone on to fame and fortune.

In chronicling Beckey’s life, which took O’Leske a decade to do, he depends on the interviews, archival film footage, the occasional animated sequence and one-on-one sessions with the famously reclusive climber himself.

The result is fascinating study both of a man and the mountain-climbing mania that drove him.