First American to conquer Everest dies at 97: life of mountaineering with his brother

Jim Whittaker, recognized for being the first American to reach the Monte Everestdied recently at age 97 in Port Townsend, Washington. His career as a mountaineer and promoter of international cooperation leaves concrete contributions in the history of mountaineering and in the culture of the outdoor team in the United States.

Twin brothers, originally from Washington state, Jim and Lou Whittaker began climbing since they were teenagers; the summit of Mount Rainier was one of their first joint landmarks. That early hobby was the first step toward decades of expeditions that would change the public perception of mountaineering in North America.

• 1963 — First American to summit the Monte Everest (National Geographic-sponsored expedition), along Nawang Gombu.
• 1978 — First American to reach the summit K2.
• 1990 — Leader of the International Peace Summit on Everest, which brought together climbers from the USA, the USSR and China.
• 1971 —Assumed the presidency and executive direction of REIan outdoor equipment chain that he helped expand.

In 1963, Whittaker reached the summit of Everest in a season with few successes; He and his partner Nawang Gombu were the only ones who achieved it that year. The expedition was marked by extreme conditions: they faced a shortage of oxygen and resorted to improvised solutions to cope with physical fatigue.

For his feat, President John F. Kennedy awarded him the Hubbard Medala recognition of achievements in exploration and discovery. Years later, Whittaker not only added summits, but also promoted initiatives with political and environmental impact.

In 1990 he led an expedition that symbolized a diplomatic gesture by bringing together participants from countries then faced by the Cold War; In addition to reaching several peaks, the team removed a significant amount of debris left behind by previous expeditions, one of the first collective cleanup actions in the mountain range.

His relationship with REI began when the company operated almost exclusively by mail: Whittaker was its first employee and, he said in interviews, performed a variety of tasks—opening the store, serving customers, making bank deposits—before leading the company toward a larger commercial presence during the 1970s.

Whittaker’s life also touched politics. In 1965, he guided then-Senator Robert F. Kennedy to the top of Mount Kennedy in the Yukon, an experience that strengthened their friendship and led him to collaborate in Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1968. He was at the hospital when the senator’s death was confirmed and was later one of the pallbearers at the funeral.

He is survived by his family: his sons Leif, Bobby and Joss, and his wife Dianne Roberts, who graphically documented the K2 expedition. Lou Whittaker, his twin brother, also left a profound mark as an experienced guide in the Cascade range; Lou passed away in 2024 at age 95.

The Whittaker legacy continues into the next generation: Lou’s sons, Peter and Win, maintain an active presence as guides on Mount Rainier and have participated in global expeditions—Peter, for example, has summited Everest three times and led historic ascents in Antarctica.

In addition to his work as a guide and businessman, Jim wrote about his life in the mountains. His memoirs reflect decades of technical experience and reflections on the relationship between nature and human responsibility towards the environments being explored.

What Whittaker leaves behind is an unusual combination: sporting exploits that opened new pages in high mountain records, efforts for international cooperation during periods of global tension and a role in the professionalization of the outdoor equipment market in the United States. For the mountaineering and conservation communities, his death marks the closing of an era and underlines the importance of the initiatives he promoted.

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