Trevor “Fronkey” Rasmussen Reneges on Kickstarter Campaign Leaving Sponsors in the Lurch

In spring and summer 2014 Trevor Rasmussen, known also by his trail name Fronkey, used the crowdfunding resource Kickstarter to finance his thru hike of the Pacific Northwest Trail, and to pay for production of a documentary film detailing his adventures. 130 contributors donated a total of $5,262 to his project.

The original Kickstarter requirement was only $1,700, so Rasmussen used the extra contributions to improve his camera equipment inventory, ostensibly to enhance the production quality of the documentary film. In the summer of 2014 Rasmussen and his dog Tala completed the 1,200 mile journey from Glacier National Park in Montana to the most western point of the United States along the Washington coast.

Rasmussen’s Kickstarter pledge was to have his film available to his supporters in April 2015. That time came and went, with no updates from Rasmussen on the status of the project. Spring 2015 passed. Summer 2015 passed. Still no film, and still no communication from Rasmussen to his backers about the status of the project.

The Kickstarter Support team was contacted in October 2015 to make them aware of the negligence exhibited by Rasmussen with this particular project. The support team reached out to Rasmussen and offered their assistance in nudging the project along, and encouraged him to communicate with his sponsors. That has not happened. Still total silence from Rasmussen.

Inquiries via the Kickstarter comments page have gone unanswered. Inquiries on Facebook have been met from Rasmussen by blocking the accounts of those inquiring. Simply put, Rasmussen has chosen to ignore any communications about his Kickstarter project, and leave those who donated their money in the lurch.

It’s a shame too. It leaves a bad taste in the mouths of those 130 who trusted him. It was a tremendous opportunity to give recognition to the beautiful Pacific Northwest Trail and those pioneers like Ron Strickland and Jon Knechtel who made it happen. For those who believe in the system of crowdfunding by fine organizations like Kickstarter, it has been more of a kick in the teeth. Unfortunately, Rasmussen’s inaction makes people less likely to contribute to worthy Kickstarter campaigns in the future. Once burned, twice shy, and all that.

It’s still not too late for Rasmussen to honor his commitment. If anyone reading this happens to know Trevor Rasmussen, I would encourage you to reach out to him and tell him that there are folks out here that are still interested in his project. Just tell him, better late than never.

 

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5 Comments

  1. Jeff Myers

    any updates to this

    • Jeff… no, not really. There is evidence to suggest that Rasmussen and Tala may not have even made the hike at all, much less produced the promised film. I have reached out to Kickstarter once more since I posted this story in November. Kickstarter tells me they have contacted Rasmussen but that he has ignored them as well. They said that unfortunately there isn’t really anything they can do, other than put him on a list of known scammers to prevent future abuse. The bottom line? “Fronkey” Rasmussen is a fraud who took people’s money for his own use.

  2. Ben Jacobs

    Trevor “Fronkey” Rasmussen continues to block and delete comments about the kickstarter on both Facebook and YouTube. I’ve even posted on Hammock Forum and left him a note. He is supposed to be on two “reality TV” shows so he has money to pay us back and is choosing not to. Naked & Afraid IMDB has him listed and he’s posted about some Nick Cannon thing which might be BS anyway. Never heard of it. And the grand kicker: We think he has some sort of arrest record in Florida.

    • Thanks very much for the update Ben. No surprise. His actions (or lack thereof) will catch up with him eventually. I have all the time in the world to wait.

      • Ben Jacobs

        We actually found a couple of guys from Minnesota (where he lived for time) that think Trevor didn’t do the entire winter hike he go so much press for years ago out there. Sounds like that might have been BS as well.

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