RIP, the following from an obit:

Jim Whittaker, a Seattle-born mountaineer who achieved legendary status when he became the first American to summit the world’s tallest peak in 1963, died Tuesday in Port Townsend at the age of 97.

Cascadia Daily News reported Whittaker’s death in an obituary published Wednesday morning.

Whittaker reached the top of Mount Everest on May 1, 1963, alongside Sherpa Nawang Gombu, drawing in part on years of experience climbing on Mount Rainier.

Even beyond his exploits on mountains across the globe, Whittaker’s life is the subject of outdoors folklore: He was the first full-time employee at REI and eventually became its CEO. Together with his twin brother, Lou, who died in 2024, Jim founded Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. The Ashford-based outfitter, today run by the second generation of Whittakers, remains the biggest outfitter that guides clients up Washington’s tallest peak.

Two ravens, those ancient tricksters, were up to no good in the chicken run today and I got them on video. I need to put up the fishline with reflective streamers again to deter large predator birds. Last year’s got blown down over the winter.

#backyardchickens