Who led the Earth Day 20 International Peace Climb on Mount Everest?

Jim Whittaker led the Earth Day 20 International Peace Climb on Mount Everest.

The expedition took place during Earth Week in 1990, marking the twentieth anniversary of Earth Day. Whittaker, already famous as the first American to reach Everest’s summit in 1963, served as the expedition’s leader. The project was envisioned by Warren Thompson and organized in partnership with the Earth Day 20 Foundation.

The climb carried a strong peace and environmental message. Mountaineers from the United States, the Soviet Union, and China climbed together at a time when cooperation among those countries carried major symbolic importance. The team also removed more than two tons of rubbish left on Everest by earlier expeditions.

The expedition’s name can cause confusion because Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary were the first people to summit Everest, in 1953. They did not lead the 1990 Earth Day climb. Whittaker’s role was specifically connected to the Earth Day 20 International Peace Climb and its multinational environmental mission.