Jordan Romero (born July 12, 1996)www.pitchengine.com is an American mountaineer who was 13 years old when he reached the summit of Mount Everest. Romero was accompanied by his father, Paul Romero, his step-mother, Karen Lundgren, and three Sherpas, Ang Pasang Sherpa, Lama Dawa Sherpa, and Lama Karma Sherpa. The previous record for youngest to climb Everest was held by Ming Kipa of Nepal who was 15 years old when she reached the summit on May 22, 2003.
Romero was inspired to climb the tallest mountains of each continent when he saw a painting in the hallway of his school that had the seven continents' highest mountains. Upon climbing Vinson Massif in December 2011 at the age of 15 years, 5 months, 12 days, Romero became the youngest person in the world to complete the Seven Summits (highest mountains on each of the continents), a title previously held by George Atkinson. After this experience, Romero wrote a novel for children called No Summit Out of Sight.
Mountains climbed Noted summits Romero has climbed Year Summits Country Continent Elevation ft Elevation m July 2006 Mount Kilimanjaro Tanzania Africa 19,820 5,892 April 2007 Mount Kosciuszko Australia Australia 7,310 2,228 July 2007 Mount Elbrus Russia Europe 18,510 5,642 December 2007 Aconcagua Argentina South America 22,841 6,962 June 2008 Denali United States (Alaska) North America 20,320 6,194 September 2009 Mount Carstensz Pyramid Indonesia (New Guinea) Oceania 16,024 4,884 May 2010 Mount Everest Nepal - China Asia 29,029 8,848 December 2011 Vinson Massif N/A Antarctica 16,050 4,892
Romero is now trying to climb the highest point in each of the 50 US states.The Acorn - Youngest climber of the Seven Summits to speak in T.O. He had already climbed Denali in June 2008. (see also Peak bagging (Climbing list))
The "50 US States Summits" Romero has climbed Year Summits State Elevation ft Elevation m Notes June 2008 Denali Alaska 20,320 6,194 Lessons From Everest August 2012 Kings Peak Utah 13,286 4,123 Book Review of No Summit Out of Sight: Jordan Romero and the Climbing of the Eight Highest Mountains 2012 Mount Mansfield Vermont 4,393 1,338.99 2012 Mount Washington New Hampshire 6,288 1,916.58 2012 Mount Katahdin Maine 5,269 1,605.99
Personal life Romero grew up in Big Bear Lake, California, and currently resides in Portland, Oregon. He was born to Paul Romero and Leigh Anne Drake.
Historic climb
Prior to climbing Everest, Romero had already climbed five of the seven highest peaks in the world in his desire to scale the tallest peaks on the seven continents (counting two for Oceania). He finished the seven summits with Mount Vinson in Antarctica at age 15. Before climbing Everest, Romero's highest peak was Aconcagua, in elevation. His group chose a northern route out of Tibet and carried a GPS tracking device and satellite phone. Along the way to the top, Romero conducted an interview from an intermediate base camp 18,700 feet above sea level. Upon reaching Mount Everest's summit, a Skype interview was accomplished and Romero also called his mother, who had been following the climb on a map which included GPS coordinates, pictures and video.
Criticism Before he climbed Mount Everest, there was some criticism over whether a 13-year-old boy should be allowed to attempt this. David Hillebrandt, medical adviser to the British Mountaineering Council, questioned whether Romero was mentally mature enough and then went on to say, "It is totally against the spirit of true mountaineering. This sounds like it's about mass marketing, money and it's verging on child abuse. Nowadays, people are effectively being winched up (the mountains), using ropes that Sherpas have put in for them. It will all be done for him (Romero). He's a token passenger." Because Nepal does not issue permits to people under 16 years of age, Romero and his team decided to climb from the Tibet side. On June 10, 2010, the Lhasa-based Chinese Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA), the official channel through which climbers must apply for permission to attempt peaks in Tibet, announced future age restrictions for all those who reach the top.http://www.thebmc.co.uk/News.aspx?id=3747 New Chinese restrictions for Everest
Book After Romero climbed Mount Everest, he and Katherine Blanc wrote a book The Boy Who Conquered Everest: The Jordan Romero Story. At the end of 2014 Romero with Linda LeBlanc wrote another book No Summit out of Sight: The story of Jordan Romero .
See also Matt Moniz, did 50 State Summits in 43 days with his father Malavath Purna, summited Mount Everest at age 13 Tyler Armstrong, youngest person to climb Aconcagua in Argentina at the age of 9
References
External links Official website Flickr XDance Film Children's book: The Boy Who Conquered Everest