By Arwyn Rice
Peninsula Daily News
PORT TOWNSEND — After not having spoken to their Everest-ascending son, Leif Whittaker, for more than a week, Jim Whittaker and Diane Roberts of Port Townsend finally spoke with him Sunday morning.
The elder Whittaker was the first American to reach the Everest summit in 1963. His 27-year-old son, who first scaled the 29,046-foot Himalayan peak in 2010, spent a short time with his climbing expedition team of four at the oxygen-depleted elevation, shortly after 9:30 p.m. Pacific time Friday before descending to base camp.
“He said it was the hardest thing he had ever done — harder than the first time,” Jim said.
“People tend to forget what is painful or difficult,” he noted.
Jim said that his son told him that his group was the last on the mountain Friday.
They waited on the lower south summit for more than an hour while the previous group cleared summit.
He may have been among the last groups to summit this year, as the monsoon season began, ending the window of relatively good weather that allows a spring climbing season.
Talking to his father Sunday, Jim said Leif told him that while on the summit, famed mountaineer Conrad Anker, 49, came up behind the group and did not carry any oxygen, Leif told his father.
“He said Anker was groggy, so they went back down with him,” Jim said.
Anker was a member of the 1999 search team that located the remains of legendary British climber George Mallory.
“If there’s any doubt that it’s real, there’s no doubt that this really happened as you get to this first anniversary date.
Jim said his son told him that his group was the last on the mountain Friday, and waited on the lower south summit for more than an hour while the previous group cleared summit.
He may have been among the last groups to summit this year, as the monsoon season began, ending the window of relatively good weather that allows a spring climbing season.
Talking to his father Sunday, Jim said Leif told him that while on the summit, famed mountaineer Conrad Anker, 49, came up behind the group and did not carry any oxygen, Leif told his father.
“He said Anker was groggy, so they went back down with him,” Jim said.
Anker was a member of the 1999 search team that located the remains of legendary British climber George Mallory, who died in 1924 on Mount Everest.
The group made it back to base camp safely, with Anker, but Leif was unable to contact his family because of a malfunctioning satellite phone.
Leif and his team delayed their ascent after more than 200 climbers attempted the feat in a week, resulting in four deaths May 19, apparently from altitude sickness and exhaustion.
The younger Whittaker spent his teenage years climbing Mount Rainier and other mountains.
Leif was introduced to Everest in 2003, when his parents took him to the base of the mountain.
There are few mountains left for Leif to match his father’s feat of being the first American to climb, but there are other firsts.
“Every time someone climbs a mountain they haven’t climbed before, it’s a first for them,” Jim believes.
It is uncertain when the younger Whittaker will return to Washington, but Leif told his father he hopes to be back before a June 3 memorial service for a mountain-climbing friend at Mount Rainier.
When he does return, he will be welcomed in grand style by his family.
“We told him we have a couple of New York steaks waiting for him in the freezer,” Jim said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
