PORT ANGELES — Leif Whittaker, the Port Townsend man who stood on top of the world a year ago, will share his experience of climbing Mount Everest on Tuesday in Port Angeles.
The presentation is set for 7 p.m. at the Peninsula College Little Theater, 1235 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
Tickets cost $20 and are available at Necessities & Temptations in downtown Port Angeles and North by Northwest Surf Shop at Lincoln and Ninth streets in uptown Port Angeles.
They’re also available at Brian’s Sporting Goods and More in Sequim.
Space permitting, tickets will be sold at the door for $25. Proceeds will benefit the Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Education Fund.
“I hope to see a full house,” said Whittaker, 26.
There will be stories, photographs and video from an expedition that culminated with a May 25 push to the summit of the 29,029-foot Himalayan peak.
The slide show presentation will be followed by a short question-and-answer session.
Whittaker will also discuss ascents he has made on the highest peaks in Antarctica and South America, Mount Vinson and Aconcagua.
“I’m going to be talking mainly about the experience of Mount Everest,” he added.
Whittaker’s father, Jim, was the first American to summit the world’s tallest peak in 1963.
With that DNA and growing up on the Olympic Peninsula, Leif Whittaker developed a passion for the outdoors and became a successful mountaineer in his own right.
Leif Whittaker writes a blog for First Ascent, a leading mountaineering company, and continues to climb.
“Since getting back from Everest, I’ve been doing a lot of public speaking, a lot of writing and doing adventures just around the Northwest,” Whittaker said.
Whittaker recently spent eight days in the Olympic Mountains with his girlfriend, brother and other friends.
They were trying to climb Mount Anderson and ski down but didn’t reach the 7,321-foot summit because of high avalanche danger.
For his next big climb, Whittaker is eyeing the summit of Denali — also known as Mount McKinley — in Alaska. At 20,320 feet, Denali is the highest point in North America.
After that, Whittaker would like to travel to Africa and climb 19,341-foot Mount Kilimanjaro.
“I would like to climb those mountains, not because they’re the highest in each continent, but because they are beautiful mountains,” Whittaker said.
As for his immediate plans, Whittaker said: “I’ll be here for a few more months and live one trip to the next and see what comes up.”
Whittaker has made speaking engagements in Port Townsend, Bellingham, Alaska and the Seattle area over the past year.
Tuesday’s presentation will be his first in Port Angeles.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
