Jim Whittaker, the First American to Summit Everest, Dies at 97

Mountaineer Jim Whittaker, the first American to summit Mount Everest, died on April 7, 2026, at the age of 97. Whittaker reached the top of the world alongside Sherpa Nawang Gombu in 1963 and was one of the defining figures of 20th-century American mountaineering.

Whittaker and his twin brother, Lou, were born and raised in Washington. Both Boy Scouts, the pair expressed a love of the outdoors from a young age, and began climbing on Scout trips into Washington’s Olympic and Cascade ranges. By 16, both were members of Seattle’s Mountaineers Club, according to an encyclopedia of Washington state history.

After graduating from West Seattle High School, Whittaker attended Seattle University to study biology. He minored in philosophy, and also played basketball—he was six feet, five inches, and often known as “Big Jim” for his size. By 1948, Whittaker was volunteering as a rescuer on Mount Rainier. Two years later, in 1950, he and Lou began working as guides on the mountain. They also served on the National Ski Patrol and the Northwest Mountain Rescue and Safety Council.

In 1955, Whittaker became the first full-time employee of the then-fledgling outdoor retailer REI. A decade later, in 1965—two years after his historic Everest climb—he guided Robert F. Kennedy to the summit of the then-unclimbed Mount Kennedy (13,944 feet) in the Canadian Yukon. The two men became fast friends, with Whittaker later being appointed campaign manager during Kennedy’s unsuccessful 1968 presidential run.

Whittaker remained involved with REI while working with Kennedy and became the brand’s president and CEO in 1971. By this point, Lou had co-founded Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. (RMI), which would go on to become one of the world’s leading mountain guide companies.

In 1975 and 1978, Whittaker, along with his second wife, Dianne Roberts, led two American expeditions to K2, the world’s second-highest mountain at 28,250 feet. On the latter trip, four team members—Louis Reichardt, Rick Ridgeway, John Roskelley, and Jim Wickwire—became the first Americans in history to reach the peak’s summit.

In a fall 2025 interview, Roberts spoke highly of her husband, not just as a climber but also as a partner.

“Jim never, ever wavered in his support for me and probably would have thrown anyone off the K2 team who dared to openly challenge my right to climb with the rest of the team,” she told Cascadia Daily. “He is truly a man ahead of his time and generation, and ahead of much of my generation, too—a feminist in the best sense of the word.”

In 1990, Whittaker returned to Everest to lead the Everest International Peace Climb, which brought American, Soviet, and Chinese climbers together for a single ascent and removed over two tons of trash from the mountain’s slopes. A few years later, in 1996, he, Roberts, and their two sons bought a sailboat and spent four years sailing nearly 20,000 miles around the world.

Off the mountain, Whittaker was a dogged environmental advocate. REI historian Will Dunn told Cascadia Daily that Whittaker testified before Congress to help create several wilderness areas in the Pacific Northwest, including North Cascades National Park, Redwood National Park, and the Pasayten Wilderness. Former Washington governor Jay Inslee told the outlet that Whittaker set a gold standard for conservation in the state.

“Anything that I was able to do as governor when it came to protecting orcas and the glaciers and the fish stems from his opening the natural world to Washingtonians,” Inslee said.

In his later life, Whittaker and Roberts moved to Port Townsend, Washington, where they lived at the time of his death. Whittaker is survived by Roberts and five sons: Carl, Scott, and Bobby from his first marriage, and Leif and Joss from his marriage to Roberts. His brother, Lou, died in 2024.

In February 2025, a little over a year before Whittaker’s death, his son Leif posted a tribute to his father on Instagram.

“He spoke about how damn lucky he has been, and how grateful he is for 96 years of incredible life,” Leif Whittaker wrote. “I think the world is lucky for the peace, joy, adventurous spirit, and love of nature he has spread throughout it.”

For more on Whittaker’s incredible life, read Lost on Everest.