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 ...

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 Guide
at Google Books 1929 births Alpine guides American mountain climbers Mountain climbers from Seattle American twins Living people Twin sportspeople {{climbing-bio-stub