“Everything I know, everything I believe in, I’ve learned from the mountains.”
––Lou Whittaker
“Being out on the edge, with everything at risk, is where you learn and grow the most.”
–– Jim Whittaker
“When we say this is a way of life, it really is in our blood. My family and I have been guiding and climbing for over a half century and have collaborated with industry leading manufacturers along the way to improve the gear we use. After 65 years of teaming with manufacturers, and tagging a few summits along the way, we decided it was time to build our own gear. Exactly the way we need it to function.”
–– Peter Whittaker
1950s
Lou and Jim begin climbing and guiding on Mt. Rainier

1963
Jim becomes the 1st American to summit Everest in Eddie Bauer expedition down
1964
Jim consults and partners with Vibram soles

1969
Lou buys Rainier Guide Service and forms Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. (RMI)
1970
Lou and RMI partner with JanSport and test products on Rainier

1972
Lou and JanSport create the first freestanding dome tent

1975
Peter begins guiding on Rainier
1978
Jim leads first American ascent of K2, 2nd highest mountain in the world

1984
Lou leads the first American ascent of Everest’s North Face. Peter’s first Everest Expedition

1985
Peter launches Summits Adventure Travel, an international guide service, outfitting and guiding over 250 trips

1990
Peter (PW) partners with Marmot to collaborate on gear and apparel
1992
PW guides oldest man and woman (at the time) up Mt. Vinson, Antarctica

1996
RMI pioneers the use of a shuttle service in Mt. Rainier National Park (MRNP) to reduce parking congestion and environmental impact, which becomes industry standard for concessionaires in MRNP

2000
PW and Buck Knives form a licensing partnership to develop a speciality line
2001
Buck/Whittaker adventure knife series is launched with 24 products. Multiple products win industry awards

2006
PW buys RMI Expeditions from Lou and takes the lead as CEO
’02-’07
PW collaborates, designs, tests, and markets mountain products with Mountain Hardwear, Buck Knives, JanSport, and Timberland. Industry awards are given for the Whittaker/JanSport pack and Buck/Whittaker Approach knife

2009
May, First Ascent is launched as PW and his guide team summit Everest in the product they built
2009
Final test of all products on Everest by PW and his guide team
’10-’11
PW and his guide team collaborate with Eddie Bauer building First Ascent gear
2012
First Ascent annual sales exceed $40 million

2018
MtnLogic changes its name to Bight Gear, adds new styles to complete the alpine kit, and sets a trajectory to hit 100 million vertical feet in testing by the end of the year



































































































































































































1960s
Lou on the summit of Denali, prototyping Eddie Bauer expedition down

1965
Jim guides Bobby Kennedy up Mt. Kennedy in honor of his brother John F. Kennedy (JFK)

1971
Peter’s first summit of Rainier, age 12

1975
Lou and Jim on first American K2 expedition…suns out guns out!


1980
Lou partners with New Balanceand creates the first lightweight trekking boot by putting a Vibram sole on a tennis shoe.
1980s
Lou and Peter guide and operate RMI Expeditions with multiple gear partners including: Helly Hansen, JanSport, New Balance and The North Face


1989
Lou leads first successful American expedition of Kangchenjunga, 3rd highest mountain in the world


1995
PW co-founds Expedition Inspiration with Laura Evans, partners with JanSport and Marmot and leads 17 breast cancer survivors on Aconcagua raising $2.3 million for research and awareness

1998
PW collapses Summits Adventure Travel and launches Whittaker Mountaineering, an outdoor speciality retail store at the base of Rainier
1999
PW partners with Mountain Hardwear who becomes the official sponsor of RMI Expeditions and the primary partner of Whittaker Mountaineering


2002
PW and RMI lead the collaboration of National Park Service stakeholders and concessionaires from 4 national parks to develop the LNT Alpine Principles which is now a model for responsible resource management

2008
PW assembles a select RMI Expeditions guide team to build 50 First Ascent products testing them on Rainier, Cotopaxi, and Aconcagua

2013
PW’s Eddie Bauer contract converts from licensing to consulting
2016
April, PW begins next chapter building mountain gear and launches MtnLogic
2017
Focused on building product and dialing it in, MtnLogic racks up over 40 million vertical feet of product testing and validation on Mt. Rainier

