America doffs its hat to one of its greatest modern outdoorsmen: the first among our countrymen to conquer the two highest peaks in the world: Mount Everest in 1963, and K2 in 1978.
Jim Whittaker was born in Washington state on February 10th, 1929. His identical twin brother Lou was born on the same day. Just as they shared a birthday, they would share a life’s passion for mountain climbing.
The brothers Whittaker started doing just that—as soon as they were in the Boy Scouts, and at 16, they climbed Mount Rainier, the highest peak in the Lower 48.
At 34 years old, and a decade after Edmund Hillary and Tenzig Norgay first climbed it, Jim Whittaker became the first American to climb Mount Everest on an expedition funded by National Geographic. He actually made the ascent with a nephew of Norgay, Nawang Gombu. They were the only climbers to summit that season, and just the 10th and 11th men respectively to achieve the feat even though they ran out of oxygen and were carb-loading on JELL-O.
Mr. Whittaker was awarded the Hubbard Medal, recognizing achievements in research, discovery and exploration, by President John F. Kennedy for his achievement.
He followed this up by becoming the first American to summit K2 in 1978, and as the guide in the hugely successful Mount Everest International Peace Climb in 1990.
In it, Jim led climbers from the United States, USSR, and China to the summit. In addition to putting twenty climbers on the brow-line of the world, the expedition hauled off a large amount of trash left on the mountain by previous expeditions.
“We took the three countries that were enemies during the Cold War and demonstrated what could be done through friendship and cooperation,” Mr. Whittaker told National Geographic in 2003.
If his exploits in the Himalayas weren’t enough to enshrine him among mountaineering legends for all time, he was also the first employee of Recreational Equipment Co-op, better known as REI, which at the time operated almost entirely as a mail-order business.
“It was too good to pass up,” Mr. Whittaker recalled in an interview. “What a job. I was the only one in the place. I opened the store, stocked the shelves, talked with customers, rang up sales, cleaned the place, locked up and made the bank deposit.”
As REI expanded, Whittaker oversaw sales, and eventually became president and chief executive in 1971 amidst a boom in popularity for gritty outdoor recreation activities he played a large role in catalyzing. REI inspired numerous outfitter imitators, as mountain climbing and other sports entered a glitzier retail environment.
Today, REI is a multi-billion dollar, international outfitter with exceptional brand recognition.
In 1965, Whittaker guided then-Senator Robert F. Kennedy to the top of Mount Kennedy in the Yukon. As the wilderness tends to do, it made friends out of the two men, and Whittaker helped lead Senator Kennedy’s presidential campaign in Washington in 1968.
He was in the hospital room, the New York Times reports, when Kennedy was pronounced dead after being shot in Los Angeles. Whittaker would go on to be a pallbearer at Kennedy’s funeral.
Jim Whittaker died in his home in Port Townsend, Washington. He is survived by his sons Leif, Bobby, and Joss, as well as his second wife, Dianne Roberts, who photographed her husband’s expedition to K2.
Lou Whittaker, became the most experienced Cascades Range guide in the country, and became a guide on Mount Rainier at just 19. He died in 2024 at the age of 95.
Lou’s sons, Peter and Win, are now incredibly successful climbers and guides on Mount Rainier like their father. Peter has summited Everest thrice, and served as the guide for both the oldest man and the oldest woman to reach the summit of Mt. Vinson in Antarctica.
Jim authored Life on the Edge while Lou wrote Memoirs of a Mountain Guide. Big Jim, and Big Lou, are both Washington mountains named for the famous brothers.
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