Return to Mount Kennedy

2019-11-05

On March 20th of 1965, Bobby Kennedy became the first human to stand atop a lonely peak in the Canadian Yukon that had just been named to honor his assassinated brother, JFK. His climbing guide was Jim Whittaker, a mountain icon who at 28 had become the first American to summit Mt. Everest. From that solemn trek, Jim-the shy outdoorsman and eventual CEO of REI-and RFK ignited a friendship over their shared love of wilderness. In the following years their lives would intertwine, both men having a profound effect on the other. But their shared path would end with an assassin's bullet. In June of 1968, Jim would look on as Bobby was taken off life support. 50 years later, Jim's son Bobby Whittaker- a legend of the grunge scene- decides that he and his brother Leif must ascend the mountain. Leif, the experienced alpinist, will guide Bobby, as they test their relationship on dangerous ground. When they are joined by RFK's son Christopher Kennedy their trio is complete. Mt. Kennedy's long shadow has loomed in all of their lives for decades. Now, half a century after their fathers' climb, three sons will forge their own paths and find a vantage point above the shadows.