Jim Whittaker, the first citizen of the United States to reach the top of Mount Everest, died at his home in Port Townsend, Wash.

Whittaker's 1963 ascent to the summit of Mount Everest came 10 years after Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay first scaled the peak.

The lifelong outdoors advocate and former president of retailer REI returned to Everest decades later with his son.

Jim Whittaker, the first citizen of the United States to reach the top of Mount Everest, died at his home in Port Townsend, Wash.