Return to Mount Kennedy (2019) - full transcript

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[slow piano music]

[Interviewer] Introduce
yourself, what's your name?

My name's Bob Whittaker,
I'm 48 years old, a Leo.

[slow piano music]

[Interviewer] How did
you get the name Bob?

I'm named after a good
friend of my father's,

Bobby Kennedy, and he's my
namesake.

[slow piano music]

[Interviewer] Who's your dad?

Who's my dad?
Yeah.

[Bob] Jim Whittaker, first
American



to climb Mt. Everest, Seattle
luminary,

CEO of REI, worked there for
25 years.

Environmentalist, peace
activist.

[slow piano music]

Let's do it.
[slow piano music]

[Interviewer] Bruce,
who is Bob Whittaker?

Who is Bob Whittaker, okay,
pause, dramatic pause here.

[upbeat rock music]

[background noise drowns out
speaker]

[upbeat rock music]

In 1995, if you were walking
the Outback in Australia

and you told somebody
you were from Seattle,

they'd be going, "Oh,
Nirvana, Soundgarden,

"Pearl Jam," maybe Mudhoney.



It's amazing to reflect on
what that culture looked like

at its very inception, and what
it looked like was a handful

of people drinking craft beer,
rocking out

and crowd surfing, and one of
those guys was Bob Whittaker.

I knew of him, just because
of him being a big asshole

at parties and shows and
whatnot.

But I'm driving up to Seattle
one night,

it was at a Mudhoney show,

and I see this car coming up
behind me,

and it's a convertible,

and there's this white corkscrew
hair flying everywhere,

and I'm looking in my rear
view mirror, and I'm going,

like, "Oh, here comes some
hot chick in a convertible."

It pulls up alongside
of me, and I look over,

and it's Bob, and I went, "Ah,
ah,"

and he just takes off.

♪ No time like the present

♪ To get ripped apart

♪ Got this

So now, Mudhoney shows,
everybody would be there,

everybody in town.

[Bruce] Mudhoney was the
loosest band you could ever see.

You never knew what was gonna
happen,

they could fall apart at any
second.

They brought a sense
of, again, irreverence

that became infamous.
[audience cheers]

And Bob Whittaker had
a lot to do with that.

[upbeat drumming]

Hey.
[upbeat drumming]

What's your middle name?

[Matt] Mudhoney was leaving
for a tour, and they're like,

"Yeah, we're gonna
bring this guy Bob along

"with us to help do the driving

" 'cause he doesn't know
how to do anything else."

He was drafted in to be our
roadie,

the joke is, if you asked him
to help carry an amp

he'd be like, "Carry it
yourself, that's not mine."
[laughs]

No, no, no, Bob didn't lift
a finger moving anything.

I gotta go to work.
[overlapping chattering]

[Matt] Hey, man, you gotta
work, Bob,

you get paid for something.
[overlapping chattering]

We'd be playing shows,
and there'd be some kind

of ruckus, and some drunk guy
in a corner doing something

that he shouldn't be doing,
who the hell is that guy?

"That guy, well, that's our
manager,

"you're gonna be paying him
later."

[Interviewer] What's the Bob
show?

Oh, just when things
just start happening,

where he gets a little
drunk, and all of a sudden,

like a chair gets broken,
or a bottle gets broken,

or a window, or--
Thing get lit on fire.

A knife gets thrown.
Darts and apples on heads.

[Bruce] So Bob Whittaker was
the fifth member of Mudhoney.

Even though he wasn't playing
music,

he toured with the band,
he partied with the band,

he represented Seattle,
he represented Mudhoney.

So if you partied with Mudhoney,

you were partying with
Whittaker.

[Matt] Bob!

[upbeat rock music]

The fuck is going on in here?

[upbeat rock music]

We like to party.
[upbeat rock music]

Hey, guy.

[Matt] One of the times
we went down the West Coast

without Bob, everybody at
the shows were like,

"Where's Bob," like Bob
was more popular than us.

Yeah. [laughs]
[slow rock music]

I mean, Bob was a legend,

and still is.
In his own right.

Okay, here we go.

Let's see, Whittaker,
Whittaker. [laughs]

So that's good, this is the
only mountain I've ever climbed,

that's Mount Rainier in
19...let's see,

I don't know, I was 17.

I was pretty exhausted,
we got to the summit,

and I threw up my breakfast,
which was a piece of toast

and a Snickers bar, and then
we went down,

and I was like, "God, this
is really not that fun."

Oh, rough stuff.

We were on tour somewhere,

and we were up in Massachusetts,

and he'd just got off
the phone with his dad,

and he's like, "We should go
visit Rose."

And I go, "What are you
talking about, Rose who?"

And he's like, "Oh, Rose
Kennedy,"

and he's like, "I should
go to the Kennedy Compound

"and give them a visit," and I
go,

"What are you talking about,"
like,

"how do you know the Kennedys?"

And he's like,

"Oh, well, my dad climbed
Mount Everest one time,"

and blah blah blah. [laughs]

Last time I saw my dad was
gosh, I don't even recall.

Hey, how are you?
[Jim] Good to see you, Bob.

[Dianne] Nice to see you.

[Bob] Good to see you.

[Dianne] Hello.

[Bob] You got your Woolrich on.

Yeah, my Woolrich, how you
doing?

How you doing, good, hey, dude.

[Leif] What's up, bud?

[Bob] Good to see you.

[Leif] Yep.

[Bob] Did you come up last
night?

[Leif] Yeah, it was easier.

[Malcolm] Jim Whittaker was
mister mountain,

I mean, Mount Rainier,
he had been on Everest.

So when you talk about
mountains,

you talked about Jim Whittaker.

[Dave] Jim Whittaker was an
iconic figure,

the early '60s, and Jim
Whittaker being the first
American

on top of Everest.

[JFK] Why climb
the highest mountain?

[Announcer] Liftoff, we
have a liftoff.

[Dave] It's of a piece
with Neil Armstrong walking

on the moon, these events
weren't that far apart.

[Neil] I'm at the foot of the
ladder.

When you start to know a
little bit more

about his identical twin, Lou,

their history of climbing
in the 1940s, '50s,

back when climbing wasn't
popular.

And these guys were way out
front.

[slow music]

You know, that was
recognized in the invitation

to be on that first American
expedition on Everest.

No surprise that Jim Whittaker
ended up leading the charge

to the Summit.
[slow ambient music]

"Awarded to the American
Mount Everest Expedition, 1963,

"Norman G. Dyhrenfurth, leader
for outstanding contributions

"to geography through
high altitude research

"and exploration, conquests
of earth's highest peak

"by six courageous climbers,
pioneering a West Ridge route,

"and making the first Summit
traverse."

Pretty cool.

I have a great relationship
with my dad.

I've spent a lot of time
kind of trying to live up

to the legacy that he's passed
down to me.

And honestly, I mean,
trying to make him proud,

I think like every son does.

[Bob] Boy, there's
no snow out there, huh?

No, look at the mountains,

there's not a lot of snow at
all.

Jim was a type of person,
he was always climbing

with adults, and it was his
livelihood.

[slow electronic music]

I'm sure it was tough for
somebody like Jim Whittaker

to start a family, and then
the nature

of your thing you excel
at is being halfway

around the world for
extended periods of time.

[Leif] I think Bobby had a
really different upbringing

than I did, I'm guessing
it was probably harder

in many ways.

[Blanche] Bobby went out
on his own pretty early,

at 18, he left that
relationship, and went

and lived on his own,
paid for his own place,

didn't ask anyone for money,
and was off and running.

I have had a very distant
relationship with my father

since I lived with him briefly
for my high school years.

Not only was he building
the franchise of REI,

but he was an outdoor
adventurer, that was his
industry.

So leaving, being gone for
large chunks of time was

his work, that's incredibly
difficult and taxing.

It took a bite out of me for
decades.

I think it did him too, you
know?

It's nice to be a part of
something,

and it's hard to remain
a part of something

when you keep leaving your
hometown or your family.

[Jim] Starting with the
presidents, there's Eisenhower
here,

and then there's Clinton,
President Clinton,

there's President Reagan.

[Bob] I like your rain jacket,

it looks like a 97
cent Kmart rain jacket,

he was the first American
to climb Mount Everest

in an old lady's rain slicker.

[slow music]

[Leif] You met him on the plane?

[Jim] Yeah, I met Bobby at
Sea-Tac.

Is that at Sun Valley
with Bobby and John Glenn?

Yeah.
[slow music]

And that's at the tennis club,
Christopher's there, I think.

[Leif] Chris Kennedy?

[Jim] Yeah, that's Chris.

[slow music]

[Chris] My father had the same
feeling

about people like Jim
Whittaker, John Glenn

and others that became
his lifelong friends.

He wouldn't want to do what
they did,

but he liked them for having
done it.

[Leif] Is this--

[Jim] Okay, this is when we
first met.

[slow ambient music]

I showed you this one, I
guess, from,

"'How dull it is to pause, to
make an end.

"'To rust unburnish'd,
not to shine in use!

"'As though to breathe were
life.'

"To Seek a Newer World. When
we find it,

"I trust you will haul me up it.

"From his friend, Bob Kennedy."

This is where I live,
not like the Yukon,

but next best thing.

Here is, not this page, it says.

Here we are at the airport.

[Interviewer] That's you and
Kennedy?

Yes, I have to keep pinching
myself

to see whether I actually
was there or not,

it's been 50 years, and
it almost seems like

we were up there just a few
years ago.

[slow orchestral music]

[Announcer] This was the scene

at Arlington National
Cemetery, Washington.

John F. Kennedy, the president,

had been torn from life
by an assassin's bullet.

His brother, Robert, paid
homage to a great man

who had set himself so many
noble tasks,

but whom fate had not
allowed to carry them out.

[slow acoustic guitar music]

[Malcolm] Canadians were just
as tragically stricken

as the Americans were, when
they heard

of the assassination, they
wanted to do something.

Prime Minister Lester Pearson,

on November 20th, 1964, came
to the floor of the House,

said that, "I think it's very
appropriate,

"my fellow commoners, that we
find

"an unclimbed mountain
somewhere in Canada,

"a suitable mountain, climb it,

"claim it, and then map the
area."

You know, the Canadians
weren't sure

of what mountains had been
climbed

and which hadn't been
climbed and everything.

Bradford Washburn, the Director
of Boston Museum of Science,

said, "I've got a peak
in the Saint Elias range

"that looks like a mountain,"
he says,

"it looks like the Matterhorn,

"and there's a plume of
snow blowing off the summit,

"there's your mountain."

[Bradford] This was the
peak that the government

of Canada was to name in honor
of President John F. Kennedy,

partly because of its beauty,
and partly

because its position, almost
on the international frontier,

symbolized the friendship
between our two great nations,

which President Kennedy
so fervently espoused.

[slow music]

There's what got me
mapping with Brad Washburn.

We did this one,

this is the mountains right
here around the house.

[Interviewer] Why do you like
maps?

Oh, I don't know, they tell
you a lot.

Maps tell you an awful lot.

Especially if you know what
goes into it,

then you can pick up the map
years later,

and you can put your finger on
any point,

and you say, "Oh, yes, I
remember the day we were there,

"I remember the angle that we
turned.

"I remember the distance it
was."

And you can always go back to
the map.

It's sort of, I guess in a way,

sort of like going back to
nature.

[slow music]

Bradford Washburn ran
the museum in Boston,

and his new United States
Senator was Ted Kennedy.

Bradford invited him to be
part of

that mapping exercise the
following March.

Teddy was in a terrible plane
crash

in Western Massachusetts, he
lived,

but he was unable to go.

So I think he persuaded
my father to do that,

that was not something my
father naturally wanted to do.

And so I was working
for Bradford Washburn,

and in the midst of it all, I
get a call,

"How would you like to go to
the Yukon?

"We're gonna have a little
expedition,

"we're gonna map the area,

"and you're not gonna believe
this,

"but Senator Robert Kennedy
has expressed a desire,

"he would like to be the
first one on the mountain."

And I said, "I didn't know
he climbed mountains."

He says, "He doesn't."

Why is this, after so many
years,

and so much climbing around
this area,

why has Mount Kennedy been left?

It's inaccessible, has
only recently been named.

As an individual peak, and

of course, naming it,

Kennedy has made it quite
an attractive climb.

The reason we wanted to
climb it was it was named

after the president of the
United States,

and it had never been climbed
before.

That's a perfect goal for a
mountaineer.

[Interviewer] Is this the best
time of the year to do this?

Well, it's better than
somewhat earlier.

Temperatures should not get
any lower

than 35 below zero...

[Interviewer] Does experience
fom Mount Everest help you

in this climb?
It doesn't hurt.

[Malcolm] We went to
get the copies of maps

from the Department of
Mines and Technical Surveys

and there are these beautiful
maps

that were only about half
colored in.

The other half of the map were
huge areas

of white space, and in
parentheses were the words,

"Area unexplored, probably
mountains and glaciers."

[Interviewer] How about
Senator Kennedy?

Is he going to join you?

There is a good chance
that he will, yes.

So I get the call saying,

"Could Senator Kennedy come on
the climb?"

And so I said, "Oh, sure,
has he ever climbed before?"

And he said, "No," and I said,

"Does he know the mountain
has never been climbed?"

He says, "Yeah, I think," and
I said,

"He still wants to go?"

He said, "Yeah," I said, "Okay."

And that's when I called him,

and said, "What are you gonna
do,

"are you getting in shape,
Senator?"

And he said, "Yeah, I'm
running up and down the stairs,

"practicing hollering help,"

and yeah, I thought, oh, boy.

[Malcolm] Here's the
team, there's Jim Whittaker,

the Senator, and I'm
in the back row there.

It was a coming together,
it was a coming together

of ideology, it was a
coming together in sorrow.

It was just one more
situation where Canada

and the US are the best of
neighbors,

and the fact that the
Canadians went all out on this,

it was a very gracious gesture.

That's what I remember most
about it.

[Chris] You know, we spent
a lot of time with Jim

when we were little kids, he
talked

about Mount Kennedy, he
talked about our father,

about how he handled
himself on the mountain,

and that set a high bar
for all of the kids.

[Jim] Look at the slopes, huh?

[Leif] Yeah, cool
snowshoes that you got there.

[Jim] Yeah.

[Bob] We were looking
at this little gem here,

thinking, well, how can we
promote that?

How can we drill back down
into that?

There's only been a few
pages in National Geographic

about it, a few pages in Life
Magazine.

[Leif] When I was on
Everest in 2012 and 2010,

I kind of had these experiences

where I was following in
my father's footsteps.

Thinking about Mount Kennedy
was really appealing to me

because it was off the beaten
path.

Very few people had visited
it, I mean,

it's kind of the opposite of
Mount Everest in many ways.

[Bob] Probably Leif and
I were speaking to Dad

about going back and doing
a 50 years after climb.

The more we talked about it,

the more it sounded like a
keen idea.

[Chris] I called up Jim
Whittaker and Dianne to try

to have dinner with them, and
I thought we were going out

for a friendly drink and
dinner, and in the middle

of the thing, Jim started
pushing this notion

that this year would be the
50th anniversary of his climb

with my father, and that
someone needed to do that.

[Bob] My Dad basically
said we should communicate

with him and gave me his
number, so I reached out,

gave him a cold call.

[Chris] And then some number

from Western Washington got
through, and it was Bobby,

trying to confirm the commitment
that I'd somehow made.

[Bob] Here are these
Kodachrome pictures

you're looking at, and
these stories you've heard,

but the pieces aren't all there.

What about this other aspect,
my namesake?

It'll be interesting to see
what the mountain looks like

after 50 years.
Yeah, really.

[Chris] There's this notion
that you get

from talking to Jim Whittaker
that in between commitment

and confidence is character,
he would commit to things

that he was not confident
that he could complete,

and that is what shaped his
character.

[slow music]

Yeah, it's go time.

[Interviewer] How do you feel?

Out of shape, fat, old, faded.

But excited.

[Interviewer] Why do you think
Bob wants

to climb Mount Kennedy?

Maybe I don't know Bob that
well.

[slow acoustic guitar music]

What have you gotten me into?

You know, I'm not sure exactly
why,

but I know it's important.
[slow acoustic guitar music]

[Interviewer] Did you ever
know Bob

to be a physically fit
person, physically active?

Bob to what?
[Eddie laughs]

Not only do I sit behind
a desk all the time,

I follow that with a five hour
dinner of rich food and wine.

My philosophy has always been...
Fuck, I never had one.

[slow acoustic guitar music]

[Blanche] Once Bobby has set
the hook,

you know, he's on his way.

Mountains and wilderness
always bring out the best

in people.
[slow acoustic guitar music]

[Bob] Off like a herd of
turtles.

Hi.

[Clerk] Hi, how's it going?

[Bob] Good.

Well, yeah, if you
could just fill that out,

and then if you have the
insurance card,

I can take a copy of it.

Does stress burn
calories, I mean, that's--

think it does, yeah,
I'm pretty sure it does.

I was like, oh, yeah, I
mean, I can handle this,

You know, I'm gonna ramp up my
exercise.

Well, it just doesn't happen,

didn't happen, hasn't happened.

Plus, you're crushingly
old at this point too.

Yes, I am.

Thank you, I'll follow
you, we'll go up there.

Have a seat.

Two things, one, your big
picture plan.

Yeah, life's change.

What'd you say?
Life change.

Is it?

Simple as that, yeah, pretty
much--

Is it, what have you been doing?

Not exercising enough, that's
about it.

I feel like I'm in pretty bad
shape,

but luckily I quit my job last
Friday.

I don't know if he's in a rut,

or if it's a midlife crisis
that he's trying to come out of,

or what he's doing.

When's the climb?

May, the first two weeks in May.

Okay, so May 1st is our jump
off date,

essentially.
Basically, yeah.

In part, I might have put it
on my horizon

to give myself a little bit of
a pause

or a different direction
or a different perspective.

Just squat.
I'm a little worried about it

'cause the knee's
been bothering me that much.
Yes.

So oh, [groans] yeah.

[overlapping chattering]

So from there, let me have you
bend

forward like you're gonna
touch your toes.

Cool, and then back up,
cool, do you stretch?

No, God, no.

Good, don't, and then
one more on the left side.

Cool, you're doing exceptionally
adequate, keep going.

Come on, there we go, own
those last few degrees.

Back on your heels, excellent.

This is our timeline, so
here's today,

this is May 1st, Mount Kennedy.

I think he's partly going out
there

to see what he can do, see if
he can climb Mount Kennedy,

see if he can handle it
physically and emotionally,

and learn something about
himself along the way.

He's gonna do this anyway,
why don't we just make him

as functional as we
can, knees, hips, back,

shoulder, heart, and we go
from there?

[Eric] Finally, a functional
Bob.

[Michael] Yes.

Yeah, that's--

Physiologically, I
can't make any promises.

Do I have time for a cigarette?

[Someone] Matt, is it rolling?

[Matt] Yeah.

[Someone] Is it rolling right
now?

What you're about to
see is several years

of footage taken of Mudhoney.
[upbeat rock music]

We are leaving today.

♪ My arms are all twisted

♪ The only thing I miss is I
messed up ♪

♪ I missed it, I messed
up the missing of you ♪

♪ It's getting to sound
like they've seen you ♪

♪ around with her

[Interviewer] So Bob,

what are you gonna do this
whole tour?

I'm just fucking hanging out.

In the same way that Jim
helped get REI off the ground,

Bob Whittaker shares a similar
drive,

sense of adventure, and a DIY
spirit.

He helped get Subpop
Records off the ground,

and the grunge culture off the
ground.

He was in the trenches,

he was out there representing
Seattle back in 1988,

when they went all the
way to New York in a van

where all they, the carbon
monoxide was funneling back

into the van, and they had
to huff that for 3,000 miles.

[Matt] This is
an hour after Bob had

an ice cream cone at McDonald's.

I just like to have a
little snack on the road
to keep me going.

♪ Take it away Nick!

[upbeat rock music]

♪ I don't even know what it's
like ♪

♪ not to go back to you

♪ I don't even know who I like
less ♪

[upbeat rock music]

[loud guitar music]

[upbeat rock music]

Working with Mudhoney was
incredible.

Traveling in a baby
blue $900.00 van turned

into managing Mudhoney,
signing them

to Warner Bros. Records,
hiring more and more crew

as their career grew, it was
pretty cool.

♪ Rock music

[audience cheers]

[Mark] You want some more?

[audience cheers]

I got, oh, sorry, you want me

to look more tragic back here?

Oh my god, no. This is us in
Hawaii.

We went and did a show with
Pearl Jam

and I think maybe Sonic Youth.

I think I remember
Vedder twisting his feet

into the sand so he'd look
really short on purpose.

Man, a bunch of ugly white
people

from Seattle going to
Hawaii is what it was.

That's that. After a while,

some founding members left
Mudhoney,

and they were taking a break.

I was debating going back to
carpentry or who knows what.

[slow rock music]

And then a job position
opened up with REM,

and I went on the road with
those guys,

and I ended up tour managing
them for 12 years, or something.

[slow rock music]

♪ I know you

Bob really, as a tour manager,

kind of stepped into the
upper echelons of that.

I mean, he was road managing
REM,

pretty much the top of the
food chain,

as far as alternate music goes.

♪ She's three miles of bad
road ♪

[Bob] Over the years
I've worked with a lot

of different acts, from
Rufus Wainwright, Neko Case,

the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, one of my
favorites.

♪ Meet her, she's a real woman
child ♪

♪ Oh, my kiss breath
turpentine ♪

I would go on the
road, and you're running

on a lot of adrenalin,
you've got a lot of people

to worry about, and so
you're in three countries

in one day sometimes, and
that's been my career.

I would come home, and
screeching to a halt wasn't
easy.

I'd be wanting to cut in
line in the supermarket.

♪ My crush with eyeliner

The entertainment business
in general can be very intense,

and I'm really happy that
Bob chose to check out

of that when he did because
it'll grind you down.

[slow rock music]

[slow guitar music]

[Leif] Growing up, I think Bobby

and I always had actually
a pretty strong connection.

We laughed a lot, I just
remember him cracking me up,

he's a jokester, a prankster,
and he always has been,

and I love that about him.
[slow guitar music]

But we didn't really
spend much time together.

[slow guitar music]

Reconnecting with him,

I think he's definitely
mellowed out a little bit

and grown up, and I think he's
also kind

of grown more connected to the
outdoors.

[slow guitar music]

I guess we all grow up
eventually and get tired,

too tired to do all the
shenanigans

you did when you were young.

Do you think that's it, or do
you think he's really matured?

I think it was when he got
the place in Ferry County.

[slow acoustic guitar music]

For the past 10 years,
Bob has been working out

in Ferry County on this trails
project.

It's a 30 mile trail that's
open to the general public.

It's an amazing project.
Bob had the vision

to make this happen, and
he had the political will

to get it passed.

His passion is now wilderness.

He's a lot like his dad in
many ways.

[slow acoustic guitar music]

In REM, I found a lot more
dovetailing

of that punk idealism in
civic duty and community.

Those guys are huge with
giving back to the community

and making an effort in their
town of Athens, Georgia.

And so I learned a lot from
those guys.

There's a disconnect that's
happened over the years,

there needs to be a greater
focus on public lands,

there needs to be a greater
focus on outdoor activity,

and focusing on that project
and seeing it to fruition.

I mean, it's legacy
work, it's taken forever.

It's all culminating in this
trail for me.

Came full circle, I was like,
aha,

this is why I do this,
because of these chuckle heads

in 1965 that met on Mount
Kennedy.

[slow acoustic guitar music]

[Interviewer] Jim, what do you
think

about your sons following in
your footsteps on this climb?

I'm proud of them, you
bet, I think it's great.

I mean, any excuse to get out

and climb mountains, what the
heck?

Enjoy this magical planet.

[slow music]

[Bob] Hey.

[Leif] Hey, man, how's it going?

Good to see you.
Let's do it.

[Leif] Yeah, get on the road.

[Malcolm] After 50 years,
this becomes the culmination,

the final chapter of the Mount
Kennedy Yukon expedition.

♪ What you're looking for
won't be found easily ♪

♪ It grows upon the
mountain in a sacred place ♪

♪ Up beyond the clouds, in
ancient grounds, so they say ♪

♪ And many men have died
trekking up that way ♪

Thought you had a friend...fuck.

[Bob] Holy shit.

[Eric] That's a lot taller
than I--

Where are we going, the Yukan,
Yucatan?

[overlapping chattering]

Oops, they're big
[slow music]

Is that it?

[Clerk] Yep.

Thank you.
[slow music]

Ugh, I feel sick.

I don't know why I
haven't been losing weight.

Fucking dick, all right,
yeah, let's go there.

[Leif] Dude, all
right, I'm done, I'm done.

[slow music]

[dramatic orchestral music]

[Announcer] Forbiddingly,
standing 14,000 feet

in the frozen Yukon, is Mount
Kennedy,

named after the late president.

Highest unclimbed peak in
the North American continent,

its challenge is now
accepted by another Kennedy,

Senator Robert.
[slow orchestral music]

[slow ambient music]

When I first met Bobby, he
flew in from Washington, DC.

[overlapping chattering]
[group laughs]

[Jim] You've gotta be afraid
of heights,

that's a blessing because
I wouldn't climb with you,

I wouldn't rope up with you if
you weren't

because you'd kill us.

Yeah, Jim Whittaker, I'll bet
he knew the pressure was on,

taking Robert Kennedy
out in the mountains.

These weren't lessons that he
was learning

for the first time, that
there was a lot on the line,

and that public failure wasn't
acceptable.

When I say that, I don't mean
getting

to the top of a mountain or not,

but I mean hurting an
important person,

or getting an important person
killed.

[slow ambient music]

[Jim] We flew into Whitehorse.

That was where we were
looking for our next way

into the base of the
mountain in a chopper.

I remember Brad was influential
in getting us a flight in

because the ski plane couldn't
make it,

but the Canadian Air Force
chopper was sitting there,

idling, and Washburn walked
over, I saw him talking

to the pilot, and he comes back,

he said, "we've got a ride."

[helicopter blades whirring]

[helicopter intercom mumbles]

[Malcolm] I had never
seen anything like it.

Flying over these glaciers, no,

I mean, I had never seen
anything like the Yukon,

never seen anything like it.
[slow ambient music]

[Announcer] A helicopter
made the first 9,000 feet

the easiest, bringing the
Senator, his fellow climbers,

and all the gear up to
the first base camp.

[slow orchestral music]

Though not a mountain climber,

Robert Kennedy gladly
accepted the invitation

to be the first man at the
hitherto unconquered summit.

All he had to do now was to
get there,

an undertaking that would
have daunted most men new

to mountain climbing, a
remarkable family,

these Kennedys, with a
habit of accomplishing

whatever they set out to do.

Jim Whittaker, first
American to climb Everest,

is in charge of the expedition.

[slow orchestral music]

[Malcolm] There was a little
bit of training required.

Don't step on your rope
with your crampons on.

Keep your head down, keep
breathing.

I think the Senator was
quite taken with Jim.

[Jim] On the plane, we
got to know each other,

and then of course, on the
mountain, when you climb

on a serious mountain,
you develop this thing.

In a way, they were an odd
couple.

In a way, they sort of admired
each other's profession.

Of course, the senator would
say to Jim,

"Boy, this is a mighty
hazardous occupation

"that you've chosen here, I
mean,

"this is dangerous stuff
you're doing,

"you could lose your life
doing this."

Very ironic observation.
[slow piano music]

[Bradford] It was a gorgeous,
chilly spring day,

temperature a dip below zero,
with a brisk little wind out

of the north.

[Jim] And the weather was
beautiful,

God, it was nice weather,
and just a light wind,

maybe five knots.

[Bradford] At 13,000 feet,
you come to a great plateau out

of which the summit pyramid
of Mount Kennedy rises.

Here they stop, rearrange
their ropes,

put on ice creepers, and
prepared

for the ascent of this
final summit pyramid

that rose about 800
feet out of the glacier.

Jim Whittaker, ahead,
Senator Kennedy, second.

Coming up, it's really steep,
and I was sure he'd fall.

It's hairy 'cause it
drops off on each side.

So I was waiting for him to
fall,

but he didn't, he came
right up in my steps.

And he's walking up,
and I said, "Stop there.

"That's the summit, Bobby,
and it's your mountain,

"you go first, you go first."

[slow piano music]

I was so delighted 'cause I'd
wanted him to get up there,

and so he was the first human
being

to stand on the peak
named after his brother.

I mean, that's one of the --
where the tears freeze

on the parka, you just, we
were bawling.

And that was really emotional.

[slow piano music]

[slow acoustic guitar music]

These days, we all talk
about how adventurous we are,

but when you're smacked in the
face

with the repercussions of
adventure,

which involves making mistakes
and dealing

with the consequences,
that's a different thing.

Mount Kennedy is so rarely
climbed,

and there's so little known
about it.

There's been maybe 30
expeditions in history up there.

It was really hard to know

what we were getting ourselves
into.

[overlapping chattering]

[Chris] Good to see you.

Yeah, pleasure, I'm glad you
made it.

Yeah, well, you know,
I had to fly from Chicago

to Vancouver, and then
Vancouver to Whitehorse.

But the most dangerous part
was the last--

Driving with Bobby?
[group laughs]

He kept asking me questions.

[Leif] So we met Brian Jones
and Rich,

our two guides that we'd be
working with up on the mountain.

We started to sit down and
talk about our strategy

for climbing there.

One of my concerns
going onto a big mountain

with a group such as this, but
what I mean

by such as this is that we've
got--

[Eric] Careful.

No, well, no, it's a very
diverse level of experience.

We've got a lot of different
objectives going on here

that we're looking after,
ultimately,

we all have the same
objective, get home.

[Leif] I was sitting
there, and kind of realized,

I'm the youngest person on the
team,

but I'm also one of the most
experienced.

And I'm responsible for all
these people,

like Bobby, who's 18 years
older than me,

and Chris, who's more than
20 years older than me,

and thinking of all the
things that could go wrong,

and all the things that could
happen.

And I didn't sleep much that
night.

Once we're on that glacier,
there's no guarantees

of when we're coming off.

[Chris] Brian, who was
familiar with the area,

was super candid, very honest
about what we were getting

into, but nobody had actually
climbed the mountain.

[Brian] The pilot's plan would
be

to come in the back side.

So here's the mountain right
there.

Okay, and then he'll
come follow these glaciers,

and then come in the cathedral?
[Rich] Yeah.

[Chris] So many other
sports or activities,

the great preparation
comes from recreating

in your mind the experience
you're about to have.

But for me, the idea
of imagining for hours

on end what it's like to stand
on that peak is not helpful.

[overlapping chattering]

So we sit down for the
first meeting with the guides,

and they drop on us that
they're very worried

about these two ice falls
there have opened up a lot more

since 1965, which makes
sense, global warming,

mountains change, whatever,
glaciers move.

Well, I'm fine with what
he said, and the changes.

You are too.
Yeah, I mean, yeah.

We'll be fine. [laughs]

Can you stop recording? [laughs]

[slow orchestral music]

This is one of the best
ones, no one has ever seen.

It's a great picture, and
it was on the mountain.

When he came down from the
mountain,

Jim was so impressed with Bobby,

and they became really good
friends, from that moment on.

♪ The good, they die young

[Bob] On that climb, Bobby
and my dad both looked up

to each other, admired each
other,

and I think inspired each other.

[Jim] When he went back, he
wrote,

"It's such a pleasure to climb
with people

"that spend time outdoors, and
I'm glad

"that I could join this
fraternity

"of those that challenge
themselves."

[Bob] It was so up close and
personal,

the relationship my father had
with him.

[Blanche] After the climb,
Bobby went straight back

to Washington, DC, but while
they climbed,

they decided that we would
go down a river together.

♪ He's gonna be one day

♪ Anybody here

♪ Seen my old friend Bobby

♪ Can you tell me where he's
gone ♪

This is the Colorado,
then there's Bobby,

there's me, there's Jim, our
children, their children.

[Bob] July 4th, 1965,
so this is not long

after they climbed Kennedy
and became fast friends.

There's John Glenn,
and I think my brother,

Scott Whittaker. This is
a really pretty photo.

I don't know if the family's
ever even seen this,

that's Ethel and Bobby on the
river float.

[Blanche] You know,
all those river trips,

I don't care how famous the
people were,

we all threw our sleeping
bags down on the gravel

and went to sleep.

♪ Seen my old friend Bobby

♪ Can you tell me where he's
gone ♪

[Bob] Then they were jet
setting, they were in Sun
Valley,

that's Andy Williams,
here's Andy Williams drunk,

mugging Ethel Kennedy.

Bobby Kennedy and my mom,
Blanche.

Them partying on Onassis' yacht.

Dad and Ethel, 1971,
at Christmas somewhere,

it looks like a crappy house,
it must have been ours.

♪ Abraham, Martin and John

[Interviewer] You were kind of
his way

to get away from all the stress.

In a sense, yeah, that's true.

And that's something that he
said to me.

[Bobby] I'm announcing today
my candidacy

for the presidency of the
United States.

I run because it is now
unmistakably clear

that we can change these
disastrous,

divisive policies only by
changing the men

who are now making them.

[slow acoustic guitar music]

You have my father, that
comes from a retail background,

he loves the outdoors,
and he said he didn't know

he was a Democrat until
he met Bobby Kennedy.

To not know you're a Democrat

until you're 35 sounds crazy
to me.

Jim was not comfortable being
political.

In fact, he told me one
time, the only place

he was comfortable was
standing next to a tree.

[Bob] He had a high profile
after the Everest climb,

even higher profile
after that Kennedy climb.

And so for my father,
that took his advocacy

and politics up a notch.

[Blanche] Jim Whittaker
was the last person

I'd ever think would become
involved in politics.

He just had to kind of
come in from the outdoors,

and Bobby went out.

[Bob] Bobby tapped dad
to be his campaign manager

for Washington and Oregon.

[Bobby] I run to seek new
policies,

policies to close the gaps
that now exist

between black and white,
between rich and poor,

between young and old in this
country

and around the rest of the
world.

[Bob] Dad, Mom, Bobby, Ethel,

touring the Columbia River,
and then on their way

to Portland as a campaign stop.

I was very close to
Bobby, and especially

on the campaign, he
always called me Madge,

never Blanche, changed my name.

[Bob] There's images

where my dad's almost
bodyguard esque,

this tall guy with Bobby.

There's all these amazing
stories.

[Blanche] We just all got along,

and I'm a better person for
knowing Bobby and Ethel.

[Chris] I'd say that
there's this notion of,

what are we doing to protect
the world

that we all share, and that
was not

in the American
consciousness in the 1960s.

There are laws that we
can pass about dumping

and throwing refuse in lakes
and streams and into the air.

And I think that's what's going

to make the difference in this
country.

[Chris] Jim Whittaker
influenced my father,

and his whole life has been
about protecting our planet.

And to do that, he knew
we all needed to get out

and see the place.

[background noise drowns out
speaker]

I think at this point, probably
we're gonna end up landing

at 8,700 feet, right where
Bobby Kennedy

and Jim Whittaker landed 50
years ago.

[slow piano music]

[helicopter blades whirring]
[slow piano music]

[overlapping chattering]
[slow piano music]

[Bob] I'm so excited, this
has been a long time coming,

50 years in the making.

[Chris] When we were kids and
we wanted

to challenge each other,
we would declare an event

or an obstacle or an
impossibility a Whittaker
Challenge.

And if something was declared
a Whittaker Challenge,

you had to try it. That
tradition's been passed along

from my generation to the
next, and every single one

of them is a better
person as a result of it.

Tomorrow is my Whittaker
Challenge. [laughs]

[helicopter blades whirring]
[slow piano music]

[helicopter intercom mumbles]
[slow piano music]

[Pilot] At around 6,000 feet,

and we're a ways from [mumbles].

[slow piano music]

[Pilot] Yeah, I think
we're gonna go left here

[mumbles] dangerous that way,

it's actually looking pretty
good.

There it is, yep, just like
that.

[slow piano music]

[helicopter blades whirring]
[slow piano music]

[helicopter intercom mumbles]

Yep, we're [mumbles].
[overlapping chattering]

[Rich] Thank you.

[helicopter blades whirring]

[slow ambient music]

[Chris] I've never felt so
remote,

so far away from help, so
isolated

as when that helicopter took
off.

Your dad, Leif and Bobby's dad,

they would have taken the
route on up through here,

as well, so.
Yeah?

Following into your dad's
footsteps.

Nice.

Quite literally here.

Yeah, couldn't be happier.

What we're doing is
our packing our sleds,

to take a few loads to the
base camp.

This is the drop zone,
where the helicopter is.

It's not all that ideal

'cause there's some high
hanging ice up there.

[Interviewer] So are you
scared of those things up there?

No, there's not much debris
down there,

but later in the summer,
later in the summer,

they might warm up, start
dropping like flies.

Hell, yes, I'm scared,
Jesus Christ, look at them.

[slow guitar music]

So the plan is, pending weather,

we'll get up in the morning,

and just take our time going up,

assessing the route as we go.

I'm thinking it's gonna
take two to three hours

to get to the final steep pitch

that gets us up onto the
summit plateau.

That part where your dad
talked about looking down

at the exposure, and just
being terrified,

wondering what he got into, I
think that's

that moment on that arete up top

where you can look off
one side, maybe, and--

Thanks for the reminder.
See a long ways down.

That'll do a lot for
the good night's sleep.

Yeah, yeah.

What else do you have to share?

[overlapping chattering]
[group laughs]

Sometimes I wonder what
you've gotten us into.

"Hey, Bobby, let's climb Mount
Kennedy."

Sometimes I wonder why I
brought Bobby on this trip.

"Hey, Bobby, I had a great idea,

"let's climb Mount Kennedy,"
fuck.

"It's like Mount Baker."

[Interviewer] If you can
vote one person off the team,
who would it be?

Myself, no, it's, this trip is
amazing.

It's swimming in mystique,

and we're drowning in
personalities.

[group laughs]
[slow ambient music]

It's about 6:54 a.m.,
we're just getting ready

to set off for our summit bid.

Yeah, I've been thinking
about this for many years,

and it's really special.
[slow ambient music]

The plan is to eat some bad
oatmeal

and get geared up, roped up,

and make a summit bid, pretty
exciting.

Let's do it.
[slow ambient music]

[Chris] 50 years ago,
Jim Whittaker came here,

and he brought my father,
to honor the Kennedy family,

and because of all the
things he's done for us,

I'm here this year to honor
Jim Whittaker.

[slow ambient music]

[Bob] You're in this
place where they were.

All the history, just
kept, just playing over

and over in my head, every step,

as we walk uphill, 100 feet
out of camp,

1,000 feet out of camp,
two hours out of camp.

I was glad we had rope lengths
between us

'cause I was crying and I
didn't want people to know.

[background noise drowns out
speaker]

An altimeter in there,
kind of, sometimes.

That was an easy 800 feet.

I think the, Whittakers take
big steps.

[Leif] All right, Brian, we're
all good.

[Leif] There was a moment,
kind of a realization

where it dawned on me that
we had talked Chris Kennedy

into coming with us, I was
concerned for his safety,

more than anything, I didn't
want Chris to get hurt.

At one point, Chris was ahead
of me,

and I wasn't sure what he was
saying.

He kind of said something
like, "I'm going in,"

or, "I'm going down," or sort
of kind of tossed it off,

and he said it again, and I
looked up, and I could see

what he meant was he was
going into a crevasse.

I just put the line taut
so he wouldn't fall far,

if he did go in, and I don't
know if you've ever tried

to roll with a backpack on,
but Chris did an amazing job,

but he rolled the wrong way,

and it kind of opened up even
more.

So then I just said, "Screw
it, I'm gonna pull him back

"and out," and so I just
started reversing downhill,

and that kind of popped
him out of the hazard zone,

up onto the lip.

The same scenario happened
from the '65 climb,

they dropped Bobby into a
crevasse, like, waist deep.

Every 50 years, we like to
drop a Kennedy

in a crevasse up on Mount
Kennedy, just for fun.

I fell, and I didn't
die, that's about it.

[wind whistles]

[slow piano music]

[Bob] We were going slow,
probably

because of our inexperience.

You haven't slept, you're
an emotional wreck,

Chris falls in a crevasse, we
keep going.

The wind picks up, it
was really windy up high.

[Leif] 45 mile an hour winds
sweeping

across that ridge line, and we
were up

at probably 12,500 feet at
that point.

[slow ambient music]

It was about 6:00 p.m. when we
got up

to the summit plateau, people
were a little intimidated

when they saw that,

and people were also already
really tired.

The decision was really obvious,

we needed to turn around.
[slow ambient music]

[Interviewer] So let's talk a
bit

about how you heard
about the assassination,

the news surrounding that.

God, I don't know that I
want to talk much about that,

that was bad.
[slow organ music]

The night of the California
primary,

a few of the Kennedy people met

with a number of uncommitted
delegates

in the presidential
suite of the Olympic Hotel.

TV sets were on, there was gay
exuberance

as the primary results came in.

A speaker was hooked up to the
telephone

to broadcast the voice of
Senator Kennedy.

At 11 o'clock p.m. Senator
Kennedy spoke to our audience,

and asked us to help him seek
his goal.

I thanked him for the call and
said,

"Congratulations, Bob,
keep up the good work,

"we love you."
[slow music]

[Bob] My mother was with the
campaign

and with Ethel at the Ambassador
Hotel when Bobby was shot.

[Blanche] Jim was in
Seattle when he heard

about the assassination,
and he got on a plane

as fast as he could and got
down there.

[Jim] Got a cab to the hospital,

they were barricading the doors.

And I told them who I was,
and then they let me in,

and I went up to Bobby's room.

[Blanche] Jim had Ethel put on
a gurney

and put beside Bobby so
she could hold his hand.

He was on a breathing
machine, still alive,

but he wasn't gonna
make it, you could tell.

He was brain dead.
[slow music]

And Teddy pulled the
plug on the machine,

and we held Bobby, held
hands and held Bobby,

and that was it.

I knelt by his bed, held
his hand and Ethel's hand,

and cried for what she had lost,

for what those who knew him
had lost,

and for what those that had
never known him had lost.

I cried for the ones that
might never say,

"I am a better man because I
knew him."

♪ Mine eyes have seen the
glory ♪

♪ Of the coming of the Lord

[Jim] We flew back on Air
Force One.

Johnson gave us the
plane to fly Bobby back.

♪ Where the grapes of wrath
are stored ♪

[Malcolm] First, we lose the
president,

and then we lose Robert Kennedy,

who was talking about civil
rights,

he says there's a growing
gap in wealth accumulation,

he's concerned about the
environment,

and I guess Jim Whittaker
probably sensitized him even
more

than he was. Many of the same
issues that are with us today.

[Jim] At the church, Andy sang

without accompaniment The
Battle Hymn of the Republic.

♪ Hallelujah

♪ Glory, glory

When we came out of the church,

there were thousands of people
all singing

that song, as we came
out with Bobby, anyway,

it was, that was tough, we
lost a hell of a good guy.

♪ Marching on

I saw my father drop down on
his knees

at Bobby's grave and start to
cry, and I had never seen that

before, and I've never seen it
since.

And so it's, here's your father,

who's also sort of a superhero,

brought to tears, it was
intense.

♪ Our God is marching on

♪ Glory, glory

♪ Hallelujah

♪ Glory, glory

♪ Hallelujah

♪ Glory, glory

♪ Hallelujah

♪ His truth is marching on

[Chris] You know, anybody
who loses a parent,

a mother or a father, suffers
greatly.

I'd say the bullet that kills
the father wounds the child,

and unless you have
someone like Jim Whittaker,

who can step in, who can provide
those parental experiences,

who can encourage you, guide
you, give you confidence,

tell you, "No, you can do
this, you can accomplish that.

"The river's not too fast,
that water's not too deep,

"the ocean's not too rough,
the mountain's not too tall,

"you can do this," then you
suffer.

And Jim Whittaker came into
our lives,

and he gave us all great
confidence.

♪ Glory, glory hallelujah

One piece of lead stopped a
brilliant,

wonderful opportunity for
the country and the world,

it just stopped it.

We lost a good man.

♪ Amen

[slow piano music]

[Bob] Bobby and Dad left
the tie clips up here in '65.

And I don't know, I found one
in the house sometime, a while
ago.

[slow piano music]

We've done what we could
to honor our parents,

honor your father, my father,
Jack.

pay tribute to the living, as
well.

Get ourselves back safe--

[Bob] I've got this.

[background noise drowns out
speaker]

[slow piano music]

Let's go get down safe.

[Chris] Let's get out of here.
[Leif] Let's get down safe.

[slow piano music]

[slow rock music]

As he moved to seek the newer
world,

he said, "Each time a man
stands up

"for an ideal or goes to
improve the lot of others,

"or strikes out against
injustice,

"he sends forth a tiny
ripple, the ripple of hope."

♪ I want to see a revival,
yeah ♪

What we need in the United
States is not division,

what we need in the United
States is not hatred.

What we need in the United
States is not violence

and lawlessness, but is love
and wisdom

and compassion toward one
another, the feeling of justice

toward those who still
suffer within our country.

♪ Means my soul's survival, oh

[Bob] For me, this climb was

about exploring all
these different emotions,

and connecting with my
brother, building a team,

and being part of an
adventure, drilling down

into this beautiful history
that shaped my family

and me and the Kennedys.

♪ And why am I so blind

♪ With my eyes wide open

I'm proud of my friend, I've
been proud

to be his friend, to see
him take on a big challenge

at a certain time of
his life is impressive.

In the rapids of the Salmon
River,

and drifting down the Colorado,

skiing at Sun Valley and
paddling down the Hudson,

my wife and children watched
the magic of Bob Kennedy,

and we grew to love him.

He gave inspiration and hope
to those

of us who knew him, and
even to those who did not.

We love you, Bobby.

[Chris] We try to plunge
ourselves

into these situations, into
these depth

of challenge and loneliness
and overwhelming emotions

of fear and danger in
order to conquer them

in a relatively safe
space, knowing that life,

without our permission, is
gonna plunge us

into those same situations
time and again.

And at least now we'll know
how to get ourselves out.

[Leif] Good job Bobby.

[background noise drowns out
speaker]

We didn't leave
anything up there, did we?

[background noise drowns out
speaker]

[Leif] Right on, Chris.

Thanks, Leif, thanks for
everything.

Yeah, you come off of that
thing,

and you can't but help
having even more admiration

for your father and for mine.

[Bob] That's what I was just
thinking.

Incredible, that's incredible.

[Bob] I mean--

I didn't think it'd be possible

to have more admiration for--
[overlapping chattering]

[slow acoustic guitar music]

50 years ago, about this time,

there was a very impressive
effort,

the mapping of Mount Kennedy.

And we have Malcolm Taylor here.

[audience applauds]

And I think it's safe to say

that maybe the Kluane
National Park in Canada,

the initiative at least for
that, or the groundswell

for creating that I think may
have come from this project.

So a lot of good came from it,

and 50 years later,
here we are back at it.

I've got a new book full
of notes I'm taking,

we're still learning from the
experience,

50 years later, so that's it.

[audience applauds]
[slow acoustic guitar music]

And here's the result of
all our effort up there

on Mount Kennedy.
[slow acoustic guitar music]

I guess the wild places have
a way of bringing us back

to who we are,

whether you're right here in
Holderness, New Hampshire,

or whether you're in the Yukon
Territory,

or the far reaches of Alaska,

it's a way of sort of bringing
us home.

We are rooted in it, we
are rooted in nature.

[slow acoustic guitar music]

[water trickles]

Hang on, I'm going for it.

[slow acoustic guitar music]

[GPS] You are on the fastest
route.

You will arrive at 12:03 p.m.

Nailed it.

I hear that these
documentaries can be traps

for a midlife crisis, if this
is that,

I'd like it to be a
special midlife crisis.

This was I think on our
summit day, climbing up.

[Bob] Here I am crying.

[group laughs]

Did anybody drop in a
crevasse, or I don't think--

We dropped Chris in a crevasse.

Did you?

Good.

I think for me the biggest
takeaway is connecting

with you, Bobby, and--
Yeah, totally.

Reconnecting, and--
True.

Sharing that experience
together,

and planning it and climbing
together,

I mean, it was just
fun, being in the tent,

joking around, yeah, it was--

[Bob] Part of that was fun.

I mean, all the stuff
we've done on our own,

but the best is having a
nucleus of a close friendship.

With Bob sinking, Bob sinking
knives

into the wall, throwing
baseballs into the wall.

[slow acoustic guitar music]

[slow acoustic guitar music]

[Interviewer] Are you proud of
your sons

for what they've done?

I couldn't be more proud,

even if they didn't climb
mountains,

they're wonderful human
beings, and yeah,

and I couldn't be more proud
of them,

that they're a credit to
the human race, no question.

[slow acoustic guitar music]

Please join me in
welcoming the next governor

of the state of Illinois,
Christopher Kennedy.

[audience cheers]

[audience cheers]

[slow acoustic guitar music]

How old are you, 70, what is
it, 72?

No, it's 84. [laughs]

Oh! We're gonna miss ya.