Lou Whittaker (born February 10, 1929)
is a
mountaineer
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...
,
mountain guide
A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...
, and entrepreneur. He and his twin brother,
Jim Whittaker
James W. Whittaker (born February 10, 1929), also known as Jim Whittaker, is an American mountaineer and mountain guide. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, on May 1, 1963 he became the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest as a ...
, an equally renowned mountaineer and guide, were born and raised in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
.
Besides his worldwide
mountain climbing experience, Whittaker became the most experienced
glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
-travel guide by climbing
Mount Rainier with over 250 summits. He also established
Rainier Mountaineering
RMI Expeditions, also known as Rainier Mountaineering Inc. (RMI), is a mountain guide company based in Ashford, Washington founded in 1969 by Jerry Lynch and Lou Whittaker. It leads mountaineering, ski mountaineering, and ice climbing trips on Mou ...
, developed a group of successful climbing-related businesses at the Rainier Base Camp in
Ashford, adjacent to
Mount Rainier National Park
Mount Rainier National Park is an American national park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. The park was established on March 2, 1899, as the fourth national park in the United States, preservi ...
. There he led the training of several generations of Rainier guides, many of whom continue to guide and climb elsewhere. He also led the first American ascent of the
North Col __NOTOC__
The North Col (; ) refers to the sharp-edged pass carved by glaciers in the ridge connecting Mount Everest and Changtse in Tibet. It forms the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier.
When climbers attempt to climb Everest via the North ridge ...
of
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...
in 1984.
Lou Whittaker's page
on the Rainer Mountaineering site
He has recorded his experiences in ''Lou Whittaker — Memoirs of a Mountain Guide'', written with
Andrea Gabbard.
Big Lou, a mountain in
Chelan County, Washington is named for him.
References
External links
Lou Whittaker: Memoirs of a Mountain Guideat Google Books
1929 births
Alpine guides
American mountain climbers
Mountain climbers from Seattle
American twins
Living people
Twin sportspeople
{{climbing-bio-stub