Lou Whittaker (1929-2024) and his identical twin brother Jim are often referred to as "the first family of mountaineering." The twins first started climbing at age 12 and began mountain rescue work in the Washington Cascades in 1948. In 1969, Lou went on to co-found Rainier Mountaineering, Inc., now known as RMI Expeditions, and spent decades guiding thousands of people to the summit of Mount Rainier. Though Lou climbed dozens of giant peaks across the world—including Denali, Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga—his first love was Mount Rainier, which he climbed over 250 times.

This photo shows Lou Whittaker with climbing gear at his Ashford home shortly before leaving for Pakistan on an expedition to summit K2.