Chessler Books
Rock Climbing - Mountaineering - Exploration
New - Used - Collectible - Signed
Chessler Books Accepts PAYPAL Chessler Books Accepts VISA Chessler Books Accepts MASTERCARD Chessler Books Accepts DISCOVER CARD Chessler Books Accepts AMERICAN EXPRESS
All Orders Shipped via United States Postal Service   Chessler Books Ships Via USPS
Author:
Title:
Keyword:
Item #:
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M Mc N O P Q
R S T U V W X Y Z
Item #: BK1680-9363
A LIFE ON THE EDGE: MEMOIRS OF EVEREST AND BEYOND 1999 1st ed New Hardcover DJ SIGNED by Jim Whittaker 3 Copies Available
By Whittaker, Jim
Price: $50.00

List Price: $90.00
You Save $40.00 (44%)



Add to wish list


Detailed Product Description

Seattle, 1999, 1st edition. 272 pp, many color and b/w photos. New hardcover with dust jacket.

SIGNED on the half title by Jim Whittaker.


The complete autobiography of the first American to climb Mt Everest, CEO of REI, leader of the first American expedition to summit K2

  • Jim Whittaker is the first North American to summit Everest and the tenth person overall.
  • This is a story of big mountains, big business, and big names-Everest, K2, REI, and the Kennedys

There have been many firsts in Jim Whittaker's life. He was the first American to summit Mount Everest. As the first manager and employee, and ultimately the CEO, of fledgling Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), he guided the company through several years of record-setting growth. He guided Bobby Kennedy up the newly named Mount Kennedy, helping him to become the first person to summit the Canadian peak. He led the historic International Peace Climb, which put climbers from the U.S., Russia, and China on the summit of Everest in the name of world peace.

Jim Whittaker's achievement on Everest and his many successes before and after are the natural outcome of a life driven by a passion for outdoor adventure combined with strong leadership qualities and a commitment to making a difference. This honest, revealing autobiography features all the major events in Whittaker's life: his formative years, spent climbing with his twin brother Lou; the creation of REI and years of work growing the company; his intimate friendship with the Kennedy's and the new world into which he was launched after his success on Everest; his major expeditions on K2 and Everest; a business partnership that resulted in bankruptcy; a failed marriage; a new marriage and a new family; and his new challenges beyond the mountains.

In A Life on the Edge, readers will discover a true hero-someone who tells his story not to boast or preach, but to share his love of the environment and outdoor adventure and to inspire others to seek challenges in their own lives.

There have been many firsts in Jim Whittaker's life. He was the first North American to summit Mount Everest (1963). As the first manager and employee, and ultimately the CEO, of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), he led the company through years of record-setting growth. In 1965 he guided Bobby Kennedy up the newly-named Mount Kennedy, helping him to become the first person to summit the peak. In 1990, he led the historic International Peace Climb, which put climbers from the U.S., Russia, and China on the summit of Everest in the name of world peace.

In 1963, Swiss mountaineer Norman Dyhrenfurth invited the Whittaker brothers to join him on an Everest expedition. Lou was unable to make the trip, but Jim leapt at the chance. In his 1999 autobiography A Life on the Edge he describes how it felt to stand atop Everest: 'I did not feel expansive or sublime. I felt only, as I said later, 'like a frail human being'. People, mostly non-climbers talk about conquering mountains. In my mind, nothing could be farther from the truth. The mountain is so huge and powerful, and the climber so puny, exhausted, and powerless. The mountain is forever. Gombu and I, meanwhile, were dying every second we lingered.'

Summitting Everest changed Jim Whittaker's life. An invitation to the White House led to a friendship with the Kennedy family and in particular with Bobby Kennedy, President Kennedy's younger brother and Attorney-General. Following the president's assassination, Whittaker guided Bobby Kennedy to the top of the Yukon mountain named in the president's memory.

Whittaker went on to lead expeditions to K2, organizing the first American team to summit the mountain in 1978. In 1990 he surmounted physical and bureaucratic hurdles to place a combined U.S-Chinese-Russian team at the summit of Everest as part of the 1990 Mount Everest Earth Day International Peace Climb.

Today Jim Whittaker spends his time lecturing, writing and, when time allows, sailing with his wife Dianne Roberts, and their two teenage sons. Life, Whittaker says, is still full of adventure: 'I think a life well lived is also inseparable from being able and willing to learn continuously. A climber who doesn't learn, almost with every foothold and handhold, is unlikely to be around long enough to have a life well lived. Learning is what happens when you risk a journey beyond what you know and are comfortable with, to something you don't know and aren't comfortable with. A lot of people my age act like they've seen it all and have nothing much else to learn. But I'm still a learner.


Other Items You Might Like

  • Similar Items Available
  • Items From This Author
  • Items From This Category
A LIFE ON THE EDGE: MEMOIRS OF EVEREST AND BEYOND New Hardcover DJ INSCRIBED by Jim Whittaker
By: Whittaker, Jim
Price $50.00 ~ Regular $66.95, You Save $16.95 (25%)
- Item # BK1680B-943
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
A LIFE ON THE EDGE: MEMOIRS OF EVEREST AND BEYOND 1999 1st ed New Hardcover DJ SIGNED by Jim Whittaker and Jim Wickwire 2 Copies Available
By: Whittaker, Jim
Price $85.00 ~ Regular $99.00, You Save $14.00 (14%)
- Item # BK1680C-9482
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
A LIFE ON THE EDGE: MEMOIRS OF EVEREST AND BEYOND Jim Whittaker 1999 1st ed Hardcover DJ Fine 3 Copies Available [Not Signed]
By: Whittaker, Jim
Price $19.95 ~ Regular $26.95, You Save $7.00 (26%)
- Item # BK1680E-9573
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
EVEREST THE WEST RIDGE 1965 1st ed Large Format Hardcover Dust Jacket Fine SIGNED by Tom Hornbein and James Whittaker
By: Hornbein, Thomas F.
Price $450.00
- Item # OP327C-9622
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
AMERICANS ON EVEREST: THE OFFICIAL ACCOUNT James Ramsey Ullman 1964 True 1st ed Hardcover DJ Near Fine
By: Ullman, James Ramsey
Price $39.99 ~ Regular $49.95, You Save $9.96 (20%)
- Item # OP389B-935
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
AMERICANS ON EVEREST: THE OFFICIAL ACCOUNT James Ramsey Ullman 1964 BOMC ed Hardcover DJ/No DJ Near Fine Multiple Copies Available
By: Ullman, James Ramsey
Price $4.99 ~ Regular $10.00, You Save $5.01 (50%)
- Item # OP389C-3465
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
MY OLD MAN AND THE MOUNTAIN: A MEMOIR Leif Whittaker 2016 1st ed New Hardcover SIGNED by Leif Whittaker 2 Copies Available
By: Whittakker, Leif
Price $19.95 ~ Regular $29.95, You Save $10.00 (33%)
- Item # BK4364-9432
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
SUMMIT MAGAZINE BACK ISSUES 1960-1969 See This List
By: Summit Magazine
Price $10.00
- Item # JR154J-936
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ALPINE JOURNAL 100s OF INDIVIDUAL ISSUES LISTED HERE! PAPERBACK, WRAPPERS or HARDCOVER ISSUES 1863-1986
By: Alpine Club UK
Price $10.00
- Item # JR207B
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
MAZAMA BULLETIN INDIVIDUAL BACK ISSUES 1905 - 1975 New issues recently added
By: Mazama Bulletin
Price $5.00
- Item # JR225-127
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
A LIFE ON THE EDGE: MEMOIRS OF EVEREST AND BEYOND New Hardcover DJ INSCRIBED by Jim Whittaker
By: Whittaker, Jim
Price $50.00 ~ Regular $66.95, You Save $16.95 (25%)
- Item # BK1680B-943
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
A LIFE ON THE EDGE: MEMOIRS OF EVEREST AND BEYOND 1999 1st ed New Hardcover DJ SIGNED by Jim Whittaker and Jim Wickwire 2 Copies Available
By: Whittaker, Jim
Price $85.00 ~ Regular $99.00, You Save $14.00 (14%)
- Item # BK1680C-9482
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
A LIFE ON THE EDGE: MEMOIRS OF EVEREST AND BEYOND Jim Whittaker 1999 1st ed Hardcover DJ Fine 3 Copies Available [Not Signed]
By: Whittaker, Jim
Price $19.95 ~ Regular $26.95, You Save $7.00 (26%)
- Item # BK1680E-9573
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
MIRRORS IN THE CLIFFS: A HUNDRED MOUNTAINEERING ARTICLES Jim Perrin 1983 1st UK ed Hardcover DJ Fine
By: Perrin, Jim
Price $9.99 ~ Regular $35.00, You Save $25.01 (71%)
- Item # OP1178A-941
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
TREKKING IN NEPAL: A TRAVELER'S GUIDE Stephen Bezruchka 1991 6th ed Softcover Near Fine 2 Copies Available
By: Bezruchka, Stephen
Price $4.99 ~ Regular $16.95, You Save $11.96 (71%)
- Item # GB321-9612
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
DARK SUMMIT: THE TRUE STORY OF EVEREST'S MOST CONTROVERSIAL SEASON Neil Heil 2008 1st ed Paperback Fine
By: Heil, Neil
Price $5.99 ~ Regular $26.00, You Save $20.01 (77%)
- Item # BK2302A-934
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
NO SHORTCUTS TO THE TOP: CLIMBING THE WORLD'S 14 HIGHEST PEAKS Ed Viesturs, David Roberts 2007 Softcover Near Fine
By: Viesturs, Ed and David Roberts
Price $9.99 ~ Regular $13.95, You Save $3.96 (28%)
- Item # BK2105A-940
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ERIC SHIPTON: EVEREST AND BEYOND Peter Steele 1998 1st US ed Hardcover DJ Fine Multiple Copies Available
By: Steele, Peter
Price $7.95 ~ Regular $24.95, You Save $17.00 (68%)
- Item # BK1477-95311
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE ASCENT OF EVEREST John Hunt 1953 1st UK ed Hardcover DJ Fine SIGNED by Alfred Gregory
By: Hunt, John
Price $95.00 ~ Regular $200.00, You Save $105.00 (52%)
- Item # OP001C-935
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
MANASLU 1954-56 FIRST ASCENT Japanese Alpine Club 1958 1st ed Hardcover DJ Near Fine
By: Japanese Alpine Club
Price $349.00 ~ Regular $950.00, You Save $601.00 (63%)
- Item # OP744B-9382
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ROUND KANGCHENJUNGA: A NARRATIVE OF MOUNTAIN TRAVEL AND EXPLORATION Douglas Freshfield 1903 1st UK ed Hardcover Very Good
By: Freshfield, Douglas
Price $750.00
- Item # OP415-965p
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ANNAPURNA FIRST CONQUEST OF AN 8000-METER PEAK [26,493 feet] 5th printing, Hardcover DJ SIGNED AND DATED ''3rd of June 1950'' BY MAURICE HERZOG
By: Herzog, Maurice
Price $250.00 ~ Regular $350.00, You Save $100.00 (29%)
- Item # OP108L-9404
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
HIGH ASIA: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE 7,000 METER PEAKS Jill Neate 1989 1st US ed Hardcover Ex Lib DJ Near Fine
By: Neate, Jill
Price $19.99 ~ Regular $100.00, You Save $80.01 (80%)
- Item # OP233B-188
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart