“Big Jim” Whittaker was a legendary Pacific Northwest mountaineer who became the first American to summit Mount Everest on May 1, 1963. This short documentary explores his “brotherhood of the rope” with his twin brother, Lou, as well as Nawang Gombu Sherpa, his Everest climbing partner and lifelong friend. Featuring rarely seen 16mm footage from the 1963 Everest Expedition, archival images from the Whittaker family collection, and interviews filmed in Jim’s late 80s, the film is both an intimate portrait of an extraordinary life and a celebration of the adventurous spirit that helped define a generation of climbers.
Jim has been making award winning documentaries for over twenty years, combining a lifetime in the wilderness with a formal education in storytelling to craft films about natural history, science and mountain sports. Currently based in Portland, Oregon, Jim began his career in Michigan and Colorado, traveling for projects around theglobe.
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