Jim Whittaker
ActingBorn 1929-02-10 · Seattle, WA, USADied 2026-04-07
Biography
James Warren Whittaker was an American climber and mountain guide. On May 1, 1963, he became the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest as a member of the American Mount Everest Expedition led by Norman Dyhrenfurth, alongside the Sherpa Nawang Gombu, a nephew of Tenzing Norgay. They ran out of oxygen, but managed to reach the summit.
- Upcoming
Big Jim: An American on Everest
Nov 20, 2026 
Return to Mount Kennedy
May 25, 2018
Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey
May 26, 2017Rated 7.8 out of 10
High Tension
Sep 19, 2013Rated 8 out of 10
High and Hallowed: Everest 1963
Sep 19, 2013Rated 10 out of 10
Nawang Gombu - Heart of a Tiger
Feb 22, 2013
Sherpa: The Proving Grounds
Jun 12, 2002
This Is Self Arrest
Jan 01, 1967
Americans on Everest
Sep 10, 1965
Pilgrimage to a Mountain Peak
Jan 01, 1965