Seattle mountaineer Jim Whittaker: Put down your phones and get outside

It’s been awfully cold of late in Seattle. And though the recent frigid weather seemingly begs for another Netflix night, one of the great American adventurers explained to KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson why it’s so important to get outside.

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Mountaineer Jim Whittaker, 87, a graduate of West Seattle High School and the first American to summit Mount Everest, told Dori about some of his adventures with astronaut John Glenn and being a pallbearer at Bobby Kennedy’s funeral. He also explained why it’s important for people to put down their smartphones and enjoy nature.

“My concern now is all those devices that are available, the phones and so forth that hold people inside,” he said. “I go around talking and … whenever we get a chance, we tell people to get outside. That’s what my mother used to say, was ‘go outside and play.’ I think it was because we were rough-housing in the house and she wanted us outside but we didn’t have those things to keep us inside. We went out and learned about nature, we climbed trees and walked to the beach and ended up climbing Mt. Olympus and then Rainier. We got outside, and so my thrust now is that we need to get people outside. If they don’t know what a forest is, they won’t vote to save it.”

Listen below for the full interview

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