The 1990 Mount Everest International Peace Climb was awe-inspiring at the time, wildly heralded, and reported worldwide. Chukar’s chocolate cherries were edible bites of energy fueling the international climbers to the top of Mt. Everest. Newly launched on our family farm in 1988, Chukar was eager to supply hundreds of pounds of Chukar chocolate cherries in exchange for a photo op and contributor status. But how did all this come about?

In the late 1980s, relations between the USA, Soviet Union, and China were very, very tense. The idea for an International Peace Climb came from Warren Thompson: a Northwest mountaineer, environmentalist, advocate for disabled climbers, and Seattle tax lawyer by profession. The idea took form when led by Seattle’s Jim Whittaker, a world-renowned environmentalist, celebrated mountaineer, and charismatic everyman who was the first US climber to summit Mt Everest in 1963 (alongside Sherpa Nawang Gombu) becoming a national celebrity, and in 1978 successfully summitted K2.

Whittaker, age 60 at the time, galvanized buy-in from leading climbers and environmentalists in the USA, Soviet Union and China for a first ever International Peace Climb of Mount Everest. Organizing climbers from antagonistic nations to come together to summit the world’s highest mountain was a daunting idea and monumental task; logistically, technically, internationally, politically. Even climbing gear and communication equipment required innovation. But they made it happen. Not just an idea man, Thompson became the expedition leader, one of the climbers on the team, and the on-site, massive environmental clean-up—the gathering, sorting and disposing of over 2 tons of debris collected from the mountain during the climb. The 1990 Mount Everest International Peace Climb was successful, celebrated widely, and reported worldwide—and it was Chukar’s chocolate cherries that helped fuel the international climbers to the summit of Mount Everest.

About Jim Whittaker, a life in full:

Jim Whitaker passed away in April 2026, age 97, at his home in Port Townsend, Washington. In the 1950s, Whittaker was REI’s first ever full-time employee, initially focusing on technical gear and its use and rose to the position of CEO from 1971 to 1978, Under his leadership the co-op’s membership grew 4-fold and REI expanded from Seattle to nationwide retail operations. Jim Whittaker testified before congress, helped establish North Cascade National Park, the Pasayten Wilderness, and California’s Redwood National Park. In his later years he logged roughly 20,000 nautical miles in long-distance sailing with his family.