Speaker Series - Dave Mahre, Mountaineer

Although he never attained the legendary status of Fred Beckey, central Washington’s climbing community remembers Dave Mahre as a local icon. In 1955 he accompanied Marcel Schuster, Mike McGuire, and Gene Prater, all from central Washington, on the second ascent of Liberty Ridge, one of the most sought-after ice climbs on the north side of Mt. Rainier. He and three others made the first complete, officially authorized ascent of Willis Wall in 1963. Arguably, this was his finest climb. In 1982, at 54 years old, and again in 1984, he climbed Everest but did not summit. In 1996, at 69, Mahre summited Denali, the tallest mountain in North America at 20,310’.