Dauphin County Edition
October 2014
Vol. 16 No. 10
Adventures from on High Retired Teacher Has Scaled Some of World’s Tallest Peaks By Lori Van Ingen Avid might be a tame word to describe James “Jim” Beckerich’s love of climbing. Beckerich, who was a high school mathematics teacher for 36 years, as well as a men’s soccer and baseball and co-ed floor hockey coach, enjoyed having his summers free. It gave him the opportunity to follow his passion. Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Everest base camp, Machu Picchu in Peru, Ixta and Orizaba in Mexico, and Cotopaxi in Ecuador—the 67-yearold has conquered them all. And just last year, Beckerich climbed to 19,600 feet at Aconcagua Peak, the highest peak in South America and only second in the world to Mount Everest, before running out of gas, just shy of reaching the summit. But, he said, “there are amazing peaks right here in the United States.” Besides these adventures, for two months every summer, Beckerich takes his Nissan, with his climbing gear and clothes, and drives to the Colorado peaks—where he has climbed 40 of the 14,000-foot peaks—or other peaks around the United States. He also has scaled Mount Whitney and Mount Shasta in California, Mount Rainier in Washington, Mount Hood in Oregon, and Mount Washington in New Hampshire. please see ADVENTURES page 18 Beckerich displays his banner of sponsors at high camp (19,600 feet) of Aconcagua Peak, Argentina.
Inside:
How to Make an Online Memorial page 12
Traveltizers: Up Close with the Upper Class page 22
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