What's Next, A Mountain-Climbing Infant?

What’s Next, A Mountain-Climbing Infant?

Is 13 too young of an age to climb Mt. Everest, and also scale the highest mountains on the world’s other six continents (yes, that includes Antarctica)? Well, Jordan Romero (the grinning moppet at left) doesn’t care if you think the answer might be yes; along with his dad, the kid has spent the last three years scaling the Seven Summits while toting around a curiously non-denominational grab bag of good-luck totems that include a cross, a rabbit’s foot, and a pair of kangaroo testicles. He climbed the Alaskan mountain Denali at age 11, and he’s on target to reach the peak of Everest as early as Sunday. Fewer than 200 people have accomplished this feat, and should Romero do it, he’ll beat the “youngest person ever” record by some four years. It may not surprise you that some tongues are wagging over this!

Erik Weihenmayer, who in 2001 became the only blind person to summit Everest and has climbed the Seven Summits, is among those who have pondered the wisdom of allowing a 13-year-old to attempt such an arduous and dangerous feat.

“My gut reaction was that 13 seems young to have the emotional maturity to decide to be there himself,” Weihenmayer said. “When I went up the mountain, I had people like one of my heroes, Ed Viesturs, saying I was going to slow my team down and kill them and myself, so I won’t be a dream crusher.”

Wow, the old “well, I don’t think you can do it, but I won’t tell you in order to make you believe in yourself” trick? That’s a hell of a lot more underminery than the dumb “peaking early” jokes that I was trying to make, that’s for sure.