PORT TOWNSEND — Children at times follow their parents’ footsteps into the family business.
In Leif Whittaker’s case, that path leads to the top of the world.
The 25-year-old is now in Nepal, aiming to climb to the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain on the planet.
It is the same journey taken in 1963 by his father, who was the first American to scale the 29,035-foot Himalayan peak.
“He became a climber on his own,” Jim Whittaker said at his Port Townsend home Friday.
“We encouraged him, but we would have given him the same encouragement if he had decided to be a musician or anything else.”
Climbing runs in the family.
In addition to his 81-year-old father, Leif’s uncle, Lou — his father’s twin — his mother, Dianne Roberts, and Leif’s older brother, Joss, all climb mountains for fun.
“Leif started climbing early and was very good at it,” said his mother.
“We have an active family nature.”
Summit by mid-May?
Because of weather conditions and safety issues, it is impossible to map out an exact schedule for Leif’s climb, but the goal is to reach the summit by the middle of May.
Once there, he plans to spend only a few minutes at the top.
“You don’t want to stay up there very long,” Jim Whittaker said. “Once you get up there, the idea is to get back down.”
Both of Leif’s parents are proud and a little worried at the same time, knowing, like other parents, that all circumstances cannot be predicted.
“In mountain climbing we deal with ‘objective dangers’ which are out of our control,” Whittaker said.
“Leif is aware of all the hazards.
“He knows that achieving the summit is optional but coming back down is mandatory.”
Leif is a 2003 graduate of Port Townsend High School, ’07 grad of Western Washington University (B.A. in creative writing) and works as an outfitter at the Wildernest Outdoor Store in Port Townsend.
His father said that Leif’s childhood on the North Olympic Peninsula gave him an appreciation and respect for nature, as well as opportunities for hiking.
“Growing up in Port Townsend gave both of our kids a lot of freedom at an early age,” his mother added.
“It was a relatively safe place to grow up, compared to a larger city.
“They had a lot of resources, and we were able to give them a lot of responsibilities.”
Jim Whittaker — who was 34 when he climbed Everest, nine years older than his son — said he had more experience and training, but “Leif is a better climber than I was when I went up.”
His son has climbed Mount Rainier, Mount Baker and Mount Olympus, as well as Cotopaxi in Ecuador, Aconcagua in the South American Andes and Vinson Massif in Antarctica.
Much has changed in the 37 years since the elder Whittaker conquered Everest.
“Everyone who climbs Mount Everest today is going up on the backs of those who went before,” he said.
One of the climbers in Whittaker’s 1963 party died when the group attempted to climb a wet ice floe during daytime. “We know now to not climb that section when it is hot,” Whittaker said.
There also have been remarkable technological advances.
Whittaker recalled that his expedition used runners down to the base camp to communicate with the outside world.
His son has satellite phones and computers for the same purpose, with more immediacy.
A portable phone is an important safety feature, and technology also allows Leif to capture the experience in unprecedented ways, through digital photography and video.
He carries a Macbook Air, an ultralight laptop that will give him access to e-mail and allow him to send and receive messages.
The technology is not without limits.
Extra batteries are required, including a solar charger.
Batteries, when exposed to the cold, lose their charge at a faster rate than when they are warmer.
Leif’s blog, Whittaker Writes, is in progress, viewable at http://tinyurl.com/yjlpkrm.
In his latest post last Wednesday, Leif said he was in Namche Bazaar at 11,500 feet and planned to move Thursday “up the Khumbu Valley to Deboche and away from normal communications.”
Leif said it would be the last blog he would post directly.
He will now send his dispatches as e-mails, which will then be posted to the blog.
He also referred the curious to videos and photographs that soon will be on the First Ascent blog, http://blog.firstascent.com.
That blog tells of the entire party planning to climb Mount Everest.
The group includes adventure filmmaker Michael Brown and First Ascent guide Dave Hahn, who is attempting his 12th Everest summit, more than any non-Sherpa in history.
Also on the team are Seth Waterfall and Chad Peele.
They will guide four others, including Wendy Booker, who hopes to become the first person with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis to climb the highest peaks on seven continents, known as the Seven Summits.
In his blog, Leif wrote about the nausea (from food poisoning or a stomach bug) he felt on the first day of climbing, describing how he leaned over a granite wall and vomited.
He then referred to his father’s Everest journal, which he had brought along for inspiration and luck.
From Leif’s blog:
“I find a passage that strikes a chord.
“This from March 3, 1963:
“‘Had a hell of a nite last nite. Woke up sick at 10:30 and threw up all over the tent. What a mess.
“Then got sick in a pot about five more times during the nite — dry heaves at the last.'”
“Knowing that my father went through a similar experience as me and that he was still able to climb the mountain, and climb it handily, is a comforting thought.”
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PDN Jefferson County reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
