I saw him once in the early 2010s in Vertical World's Redmond location, but I didn't realize it at the time. Just some old guy in a harness feeling the holds in the bouldering area. We kept to ourselves.
Later, one of the employees told a story about how he met Beckey at the counter one time. Beckey had asked if he could climb, and the employee told him the rate for a day pass, not realizing who it was.
"I'm Fred," Beckey volunteered in frustrated amazement.
Fred Beckey really was an absolute legend in the world of mountaineering - he was known worldwide as the original climbing bum, and one of the world's finest alpinists - right up there with the likes of Walter Bonatti.
This is a reprint of an old article. Fred Beckey died in 2017 at the age of 94!
Met him once at a backcountry lodge. I'm not a climber, but was on a long hiking trip and he was staying the night about to approach a climb. We were just like "who's the old guy" (he was mid 80's at the time) and wound up having dinner with him and a bunch of others. I only know a bit about him but it was inspiring seeing someone living like that even into old age.
Later, one of the employees told a story about how he met Beckey at the counter one time. Beckey had asked if he could climb, and the employee told him the rate for a day pass, not realizing who it was.
"I'm Fred," Beckey volunteered in frustrated amazement.
"Fred who?"
"Fred Beckey."
He waved him in to climb for free, of course.