Alpinist/Rock Climber
What MH are you wearing now?
Extend featherweight tights. Compressor Jacket.
Which season do you enjoy most and why?
Late autumn – you can go mixed climbing in the morning and rock climbing in the afternoon.
Do you have a pet?
Negative – I went through three kittens in three years when I was little. They kept getting hit by cars.
What is your favorite pre-outing “pump-up” music?
Rage Against the Machine…
What are you listening to on your iPod right now?
My iPod, along with 4,000 dollars of gear, was stolen last time I flew through Delhi, and I haven’t replaced it yet.
What’s your favorite meal in the outdoors?
NOLS-style hashbrowns and instant bacon.
Beer or Wine?
Beer. My girlfriend would say I prefer quantity over quality.
One guilty pleasure?
I like Jane Austen movies – they have awesome cinematography and costumes.
How did you first get started with climbing? How old were you?
I became a climber because I got cut from the hockey team in fifth grade.
Who/What is your inspiration?
Weekend warriors who drive six hours from the city every weekend just to climb for a day and a half… THAT is hardcore, in my opinion.
Any advice for folks wanting to become involved in alpine climbing?
Make sure that you love it -- you have to know deep down that there isn’t a single place in the world you’d rather be than waiting in a cold, cramped snow cave, or hanging in your harness in the dead of the night halfway up a wall, or sitting in basecamp in the rain for weeks on end… Make sure that you love it, and love it all, and everything else will take care if itself.
What can you tell today’s youth about life in the outdoors?
Don’t let anyone else define who you are…. find what it is you are truly passionate about and follow your dreams.
Favorite Quote?
“What you think your limits are is probably about half of what you can really do” – Kelly Cordes
Personal Highlights:
Messing around the White Mountains of New Hampshire with my friends – cool summer evenings on Cathedral Ledge, warm autumn days clipping bolts in Evan’s Notch, and especially the annual Swamp Donkey Disco on Cannon Cliff...
Career Highlights:
- First ascents on Peak 5960 and Mount Mahindra, both in the Miyar Valley, India.
- New routes on Cerro Poincinot, Torre Innominata and Desmochada in Patagonia.
- Ascents of the Diamond Arete on Mount Hunter, Snow Patrol on Mount Dickey, and The Cassin Ridge on Denali.
- A dozen El Cap routes.
- Onsights up to 5.12b and M8+.
2008 Recent Activities:
- Climbed the North faces of Fitzroy, Mount Hunter, and Kangtega.
- First ascents on Peak 5960 and Mount Mahindra, both in the Miyar Valley, India.
Bio:
Freddie Wilkinson believes that a climbing adventure is only as good as the stories you bring home. Wilkinson grew up in the flatlands of suburban Connecticut and climbed his first mountain –New Hampshire’s Mount Washington – at age thirteen. By age 20, Wilkinson had climbed Denali via the Cassin Ridge and Nepal’s Cholatse via the West Rib. Since then, he has spent three to four months of every year on expeditions around the globe. In between traveling, Wilkinson earned a degree in history from Dartmouth College and worked as a climbing guide in New England and Alaska. In 2007, Wilkinson established new routes on three different mountains on three different continents: Patagonia’s Cerro Poincinot, The Fin in Alaska, and Mount Mahindra in the Indian Himalaya. That’s pretty good – but Wilkinson still considers himself to be better at telling stories than he is a climbing mountains. He lives in Madison New Hampshire with his girlfriend Janet Bergman in a 12 x 12 cabin with a view of the White Mountains.
Visit
Freddie Wilkinson's Blog at
www.thenamelesscreature.com