Gary Fredrickson leads three generations and 11 relatives to the top; climb was his 62nd time at peak

Gary Fredrickson is a man of his word.

Especially when he talks about getting to the top of Mount Rainier.

The retired Boeing engineer has summited the most hallowed peak in the Pacific Northwest an astonishing 62 times. So when he went down to Houston 15 years ago following the birth of his grandson, Joe, he hatched a plan to get three generations of Fredricksons to the 14,411-foot peak of Mount Rainier.

“I’m not aware of it being done before,” Fredrickson said about the three-generation climb. “I’m sure it has, but I’m not aware of it. I had been thinking about this for a long time.”

While sitting in the hospital room in Texas, the 66-year-old came up with the idea of leading a climbing party made up of only Fredricksons, and the far-fetched idea came to fruition late last month. A total of 11 relatives, including two brothers, two sons, three nephews, two grandsons and a daughter-in-law summited Mount Rainier on July 22.

“I went to Houston after he was born and I was holding him and I said, ‘Joe, some year I’m going to take you up Mt. Rainier,’” Fredrickson said. “And out of the corner of my eye, I could see his mother stiffen up.”

Fredrickson kept his promise when he talked to his son, Eric, earlier this year.

“I said, ‘Son, it’s about time.’ And without saying anymore everything was set in motion with a plan to get 11 Fredricksons up on top.”

The 11 Fredricksons who made it to the top of Mount Rainier included Gary along with his two brothers, Don, 65, and Glen, 59; two sons, Eric, 45, and Mark, 42; his two grandsons, Ben, 15, and Joe, 15; nephews Bjorn, 25, Mats, 22, and Michael, 26; and his daughter-in-law, Elisabeth, 42.

“The climb went a lot better than I expected,” Fredrickson said. “Everybody made it and that was my dream. With that many people and that many first-timers, you never know how they are going to perform at altitude. Nobody got sick.”

A bulk of the Fredrickson climbers currently live in Washington. The only out-of-towners were Eric and Ben, who came in from Houston, and Don came out of climbing retirement from Iowa.

“It was just a great experience,” Fredrickson said. “It was a textbook climb.”

And Fredrickson knows what a “textbook climb” is supposed to feel like on Mount Rainier. This one took two days with the first night being spent at Camp Muir at the 10,000-foot mark on the mountain.

The Fredrickson climb team started its trek to the summit at about 2 a.m. on the second day and reached the 14,411-foot peak just before noon.

“We had the entire summit to ourselves,” he said. “There was nobody else up there, which is very unusual for this time of year.”

Fredrickson was born and raised in Tacoma and got interested in mountain climbing after graduating from Stadium High School. Gary and his brother, Don, got involved with the Tacoma Mountaineers Branch in the early 1960s and have been all over the world on expeditions, including climbs up Mount McKinley in Alaska, several peaks in Europe, as well as a trek to an 18,000-foot base camp on Mount Everest.

But the allure of Mount Rainier was always something that was special to Fredrickson.

“We could see the mountain from our house in Tacoma,” Fredrickson said. “So there has been a lifetime of passion and a lifetime of interest in the mountain. We would take our kids up there on day hikes. My wife actually climbed it once and she said that was enough.”

In 1970, Fredrickson set a speed record for hiking around Mount Rainier on the Wonderland Trail. He completed the near-100-mile trek in less than 38 hours.

But climbing to the top of Mount Rainier isn’t just a simple hike. It’s actually one of the most technical climbs in North America. It involves climbing on the largest glaciers in the United States, south of Alaska.

Most climbers require two to three days to reach the summit and about 8,000 to 13,000 people attempt the climb each year, about 90 percent via routes from Camp Muir — the same route the Fredrickson party took.

About half of the attempts are successful, with weather and conditioning being the most common reasons for failure.

Fredrickson has no immediate plans to complete his 63rd ascent up Mount Rainier. But that doesn’t mean the 66-year-old won’t lead another Fredrickson family reunion at the mountain’s summit.

He has another grandson who is 8 years old.

“I told him that he has to get tough fast, so he doesn’t have to carry me up,” he said. “He’s a little tiger. There is nothing like having the inspiration of the older brother. He’s going to see pictures and hear him talk.

“If I can keep going, I want to get him up there too,”

And remember, Gary Fredrickson is a man of his word.

Sports editor Casey Olson: 925-5565, sports@fedwaymirror.com