Jordan Romero is an American mountain climber 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. Upon successfully hiking the Vinson Massif in December 2011 at the age of 15 years, 5 months, 12 days, Romero became the youngest climber in the world to complete the Seven Summits, a title previously held by George Atkinson. After this experience, Romero wrote a novel for children called No Summit Out Of Sight.
Mountains climbed
Romero is now trying to climb the highest point in each of the 50 US states. He had already climbed Denali in June 2008.
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. He finished the seven summits with Mt. Vinson in Antarctica at age 15. Before climbing Everest, Romero's highest peak was Mount 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, using ropes that Sherpas have put in for them. It will all be done for him. He's a token passenger." Because of the concerns of climbing through the unpredictable Khumbu Icefall on the Nepal route, Romero and his team decided to climb from the Tibet side. On June 10, 2010, the Lhasa-based Chinese Tibet Mountaineering Association, the official channel through which climbers must apply for permission to attempt peaks in Tibet, announced future age restrictions for all those attempting Everest from the north.
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 True Story of the Youngest Person to Climb the Seven Summits.
