By Tracy Miller
Most people in the Tahoe area know Todd Offenbacher as the entertaining host of the Lake Tahoe based TV station Resort Sport Network (RSN). Spirited, funny and passionate to the core, he embodies the adventure lifestyle. A renowned rock climber who has multiple first ascents under his belt, Todd has traveled to the corners of the earth on climbing expeditions – Pakistan, Peru, Thailand, Europe… the list goes on.
I was riding Chair 10 with him on one of the endless powder days we had in early March when he suddenly pointed out to a big peak looming in the distance. “Imagine what it was like to be the first person to stand on top of there – to be the first person to see that view. That would be so cool.” This led to a series of questions and answers that uncovered a modern day explorer, a man driven by the pursuit of the unknown, the untouched, the first time experience.
Was there a single moment that stands when you knew you were destined to an adventure lifestyle and how’d you get started?
As a kid in Maryland, I was always drawn to history and exploration, and the explorers like Lewis or Clark; guys who got to run around and find stuff. I always thought I had been born around 200 years too late, and that being an early explorer had to be the greatest life ever. I was in Colorado one time climbing Red Rocks; it was the first time I’d climbed and I didn’t know anything. I got to the top and looked around and that was it. I was seeing things I’d never seen before; it was brand new and I was hooked. I started climbing everything in sight. Looking back, I was pretty lucky to survive the first year – little skill, taking huge risks… I was young and motivated, just hard charging, and I took some pretty big falls.
What’s the next big adventure?
In the spring, I’m heading to western China to climb with and shoot a documentary on the legendary climber Fred Beckey. This guy is 84 years old and is still in the game. We’re planning a first ascent of a 6000 meter (19,000 feet) peak in the Sichuan Province of China. Attempting such a climb is a huge accomplishment by any mountaineer’s standards, but to do it when you’re in your 80s? That’s extraordinary. And he is. In Fred Beckey’s eyes, climbing an untouched 6,000 meter peak in a remote area of China is in no way unusual. It is just what he does, what he lives for. They say when an old person dies, a library burns with him. Fred is humble, loves history and is one of the most important figures in North American rock climbing history. More adventures than anyone, more first ascents than anyone. It’s all he’s ever done; he’s committed. For me, it’s like having a really cool grandpa. He has so much to give and is such a good person. I feel so lucky to know him and want to preserve his memory so others can know him too.
If you could leave tomorrow on an all expense paid expedition, where would the plane be heading?
Most of my expeditions have been on big steep vertical slabs of granite; we’d often be climbing walls and there’d be these huge chutes of powder between them. I’d love to go back to some of those places, like Pakistan and Peru, and ski some of that stuff… big, deep and never been skied before. That would be a really cool trip. That’s the great thing about skiing – you get first ascents over and over. Some fresh snow and the same line becomes new again…. pretty incredible when you think about it. That’s the thing about first ascents. It’s like the trip to China. No one’s ever been where we’re going; we’ll put the first footsteps there. The world’s been around for a long time; it’s hard to believe there is anything out there that hasn’t been explored yet.
Given everything you’ve done, there must have been some close calls. What’s your scariest moment?
We were putting the first route up the west face of the Central Howser Tower of the Canadian Bugaboos. We had fixed a couple of pitches and I was jumaring (climbing the rope using an ascending device) up to the point we had stopped climbing. Everything was going along just fine and then all of a sudden I was freefalling. Turns out the sheath on the outside of the climbing rope was cut and the sheath slid 25-30 feet before it bunched up on the jumar and stopped my fall. I seriously thought I was going to die…. I remember thinking how bummed my mom was going to be. Even once the rope caught, because I still didn’t know what had actually happened to the rope, I was scared to death. I thought for sure the rope was cut pretty much all the way through and hanging by a thread. I clipped on a Gri Gri (another ascending device) and proceeded to climb the rope as gently as possible; the whole time thinking that it would give way any second.
It’s a pretty well known fact that you love skiing at Kirkwood. What is it about the place that you like best?
The amount of snow, the terrain, the backcountry terrain it accesses, the friends I have there… it’s all that. I love skiing – powder, spring corn, crud – doesn’t matter. Kirkwood is different all the time but consistently good; some days it’s easy skiing, some days it’s more technical, but it’s always good. I can go up there by myself and always find a friend to take a run or two with. It’s just a great vibe. Who doesn’t love Kirkwood?
And that question stumped us both.
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