97-Year Old Mount Everest Climber Dies

Jim Whittaker, an REI exec, has died. The 97-year-old first reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1963. He was one of the first 10 people ever to reach the top of the mountain on the crest of the Great Himalayas of southern Asia.

Following in the footsteps of Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay, who first scaled the peak, he reached the top a decade later. Many Americans try each year, and fewer than 1,000 have reached the top. It's no small feat, and it's dangerous. More than 300 people have lost their lives in an attempt. It's estimated that hundreds of bodies are still on the mountain, entombed in their snowy graves.

He Loved Nature

“You’re in nature, participating in God’s creation ... it’s such a high, such a spiritual thing,” Whittaker said in a 1981 interview.

“I think it’s good to participate in that and to face life,” he added. “When you live on the edge, you can see a little farther.”

Whittaker died this week at his house in Port Townsend, Washington, according to a statement from his family.