Jordan Romero

Jordan Romero (born July 12, 1996) 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

State high points are shown as red circles. Low points are shown with green squares, except in states whose lowest elevation spans coastlines or lake shores (the Great Lakes or Lake Champlain).(See also List of U.S. states by elevation)

Romero is now trying to climb the highest point in each of the 50 US states. He had already climbed Denali in June 2008. August 2012 Kings Peak Utah 13,286 4,123 2012 Mount Mansfield Vermont 4,393 1,338.99 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. 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.

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 .