A fine day, and the mountain was out, as Gig Harbor climbers are honored

Fittingly, “the mountain was out,” as folks say here, as a small crowd gathered last week at the head of Gig Harbor to honor two legendary local climbers.

Mt. Rainier loomed white against a bright blue sky as Mayor Kit Kuhn and others dedicated a plaque commemorating two Gig Harbor climbers, Luther Jerstad and Mary Hoey, Peninsula natives renowned for separate assaults on Mt. Everest, the world’s highest mountain.

Jerstad became the second American to reach the summit. Hoey, two decades later, died in the attempt.

“People live if we remember them,” said Douglas McDonnell , one three climbing enthusiasts who spent the last three years raising money for the plaque. His partners in the effort were Rebekah Jackson and Zachary Sokolik.

“I couldn’t ask for a better day, better weather, a better group of people. I’m just honored we got to do anything at all,” said Jackson.

Welcome sunshine

Around 30 people gathered for the June 25 unveiling at the Bogue Viewing Platform, which overlooks the harbor at its west end. The welcoming sunshine lit up the platform as the three partners, Kuhn and Lou Whittaker, a veteran mountain guide who knew the two climbers personally, extolled their accomplishments and character.

“Marty was a strong climber and one of the greatest people I’ve ever met,” said Whittaker , the twin brother of Jim Whittaker, the first American to summit Everest. Hoey worked as a guide on Mt. Rainier, where Whittaker ran Rainier Mountaineering.

The enameled metal plaque sits on a platform with a view of Mount Rainier, the training ground for both Jerstad and Hoey. It features the skyline of Mt. Everest, short biographies and black-and-white photographs of the two climbers.

The Bogue Viewing Platform is part of a small city park at 8763 North Harborview Drive, near the Harbor History Museum. From the west end of the harbor, it commands a sweeping view that includes Mount Rainier.

“The blue of the plaque matches the blue view,” Sokolik said. “To look and see Mount Rainier where they did their training, it’s the perfect spot and we couldn’t be happier.”

Taking up mountaineering

Sokolik, 35, was working at the Harbor History Museum in 2017 and Jackson, 31, was volunteering there when Douglas McDonnell, a local historian and distant relative of Jerstad, gave a presentation on the two Peninsula climbers.

Inspired, Sokolik and Jackson, now working together as a startup marketing firm, joined McDonnell set out on a mission to honor and preserve the legacy of these two climbers. (They also took up mountaineering themselves, climbing Mount St. Helens shortly afterwards.)

“The most surprising thing to me, and the thing that lit my fire to start working on this project, was they had this incredibly important history and there is nothing commemorating it anywhere,” Jackson said in May.

Marty Hoey

Hoey (1951-1982) was a member of the 1982 Mount Everest Expedition that challenged the previously unclimbed Tibetan North Ridge.

A professional guide on Mount Rainier, she was at the time considered to be the finest high-altitude female mountaineer in the world.

Hoey was two days away from reaching the summit of Mount Everest when the buckle of her harness opened, releasing her from the fixed rope. She fell 6,000 feet into a crevasse, and her body was never recovered. She was just 31.

The 16 remaining team members, all male, did not make it to the summit due to severe weather conditions.

Jim Wickwire, one of Hoey’s expedition teammates, was later quoted saying “If Marty had been with us, we would have made it.”

Hoey is from Wuana and was a Goodman Middle School student.

Luther Jerstad

Jerstad (1936-1998) was a member of the 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition, sponsored by National Geographic. He reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 22, 1963 — only 21 days after the first American to summit, Jim Whittaker of Seattle.

During the presentation, McDonnell read a letter written by Jerstad’s daughter, Janna Cox.

“We always thought our Dad was pretty special and it’s heartwarming to know other people think so as well,” the letter read.

For their achievement, Jerstad and his fellow climbers each received the Hubbard Medal from President John F. Kennedy. The medal is awarded by National Geographic Society for distinction in exploration, discovery and research.

A welcome-home parade for Jerstad in 1963 was the largest parade Gig Harbor has ever thrown for a single individual.

Jerstad’s parents were both Peninsula High School teachers. Sokolik said Jerstad was very active in the community, lettering at Peninsula in multiple sports, including football and basketball. Jerstad went on to play basketball at Pacific Lutheran University.

Jerstad later became a teacher at University of Oregon and started his own climbing company. He died of a heart attack while ascending the Kaia Patthar Peak in Nepal on Oct. 31, 1998 at the age of 62.

“The city is honored to have this plaque here honoring two exceptional people and climbers,” Mayor Kuhn said.