Jim Whittaker, who made history in 1963 by becoming the first American to summit Mount Everest, died this week at 97 years old.
A news obituary recounts that upon first seeing the 29,028-foot peak, he expressed a desire to “become its friend.”
A Washington native, Whittaker died Tuesday in Port Townsend, his family announced.
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay famously achieved the first successful ascent a decade prior, in 1953.
Whittaker braved 60 mph winds and temperatures lower than 30 degrees below zero during his ascent.
According to the obituary, the climb to the summit took roughly seven hours from the final high-altitude camp. To make matters worse, the team ran out of bottled oxygen during the ascent.
“It wasn’t sublime or a moment of clarity. I just suddenly thought, we’ve got to get down,” he shared years later.
Here’s five interesting nuggets about the famous mountaineer, Jim Whittaker, affectionately known as “Big Jim” by the climbing community.
He was friends with the Kennedy family
In May 1963, President John F. Kennedy issued a statement to congratulate the climbers upon learning of their remarkable achievement.
Later that summer, the president presented Whittaker and his crew with Hubbard medals, the highest honor given by the National Geographic Society for exploration and discovery.
Just two years later, after Kennedy was assassinated, Whittaker summited a 13,000-foot mountain in Canada that had been renamed Mount Kennedy with the president’s brother, Robert.
When they neared the top, Whittaker told “Bobby” to go first so he could be the first person to stand on the peak named after his brother.
“That’s one where the tears freeze on the parka. We were bawling. That was really emotional,” Whittaker said in the 2019 film “Return to Mount Kennedy.”
After this bonding experience, the Whittaker and Kennedy families remained close and frequently vacationed together.
When Kennedy was killed the same way that his brother was, Whittaker was at his side, both in the hospital and as a pallbearer at his funeral.
He had a twin brother
Jim Whittaker had a twin brother named Lou, who died in 2024.
The two grew up participating in Boy Scouts and climbing together.
According to The Associated Press, as young 16-year-olds, they summited Mount Olympus together, the highest peak in the Olympic Mountains west of Seattle.
Lou skipped the trip to Everest, but he didn’t skip the fame.
He looked so much like Jim that he often played the part at parades and parties, happily taking credit for a mountain he never climbed.
“Only our families and closest friends ever knew the difference,” Lou wrote in his book.
He was the first full-time employee at REI
In 1955, Whittaker became the first full-time employee of Recreational Equipment Inc. He later became president and CEO.
The company greatly benefited from his Everest expedition.
In eight years with the company, he turned REI into a $46 million enterprise. Its membership grew from nearly 250,000 to more than 900,000 during his tenure, according to the company.
It’s now one of the most prominent outdoor retailers in the country.
He also climbed the world’s second-tallest mountain
His first attempt in 1975, which his twin Lou was a part of, was unsuccessful, but a few years later, Whittaker secured a permit to try again.
In 1978, he led the first American ascent of K2, the second-tallest mountain in the world, located on the border of Pakistan and China.
It’s widely regarded as more technically challenging, dangerous and demanding than Everest.
Fellow climbers in the group were impressed by Whittaker’s strength, determination and comprehensive trip planning.
Shortly after K2, he retired from REI.
2 more historic climbs
In 1981, he led 10 handicapped climbers up Mount Rainier.
Whittaker called it one of his proudest moments, according to The Associated Press.
He hiked Rainier more than 100 times throughout his life and dozens of times with his twin brother, Lou.
Former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called Whittaker’s legacy just as impressive as Mount Rainier itself, per AP.
In 1990, Whittaker returned to Everest for the Earth Day 20 International Peace Climb.
Whittaker did not attempt to summit, but displayed masterful leadership across three different languages throughout the trip.
Whittaker and his wife, Dianne Roberts, organized the effort with China and the Soviet Union to promote global friendship and unity.
In addition to summiting the tallest mountain in the world, the group collected and removed over two tons of trash from Everest.
“There is something about Jim that causes people to want to do things for him,” his wife said. “If he even suggests that he wants to do something, people more or less line up to make it happen.”