On May 1, 1963, at 1 p.m. local time, a 6-foot-5 Seattle outdoorsman — a shoe salesman, essentially, who had moonlighted as a mountain guide — planted an American flag in the snow at the top of the ...

When Jim Whittaker was a rambunctious young boy in Seattle, his mother often ordered him and his twin brother to go outside and play, allowing her some peace. That proved to be excellent career advice ...

The Pacific Northwest’s own Jim Whittaker passed away peacefully at his home in Port Townsend on Tuesday. Elliott Almond from Cascadia Daily News reported the news in an obituary published Wednesday ...

Jim Whittaker stands atop Mount Everest on May 1, 1963, holding an American flag and ice axe after becoming the first American to reach the 29,032-foot summit. He and Sherpa Nawang Gombu spent roughly ...

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 ...

The celebrated mountaineer Jim Whittaker, the first American to summit Mount Everest, has died. He was 97. Whittaker, who also served as the first full-time employee of the outdoor retailer REI and ...

This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. For 20 minutes of his life, Jim Whittaker was on top of the world. He was the first American to summit Mt. Everest ...

See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Jim Whittaker, the pioneering mountaineer who became the first American ...

Jim Whittaker, the famous Washington mountaineer who was the first American to summit Mount Everest and later became the CEO of outdoor retailer REI, died Tuesday at his home in Port Townsend, ...

SEATTLE (AP) — Jim Whittaker, who in 1963 became the first American to reach the top of Mount Everest, has died. He was 97. Whittaker's 1963 ascent to the summit of Mount Everest came 10 years after ...