Local Teen Becomes Youngest to Reach Top of Mount Everest
In this Sept. 1, 2009 file photo provided by the Romero family, Jordan Romero, 13, poses at the Carstensz Pyramid summit, Oceania's highest peak at 16,024 feet, making Jordan the youngest person to summit. Now he has become the youngest climber to reach the top of Mount Everest. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Romero family, File)
Big Bear's Jordan Romero has done something very few people in the world will ever do: Climbed Mount Everest. But what's more amazing is that Romero is just thirteen years old, which now makes him the youngest person ever to do so.
From the summit--that's 29,035 feet (8,850 meters) above sea level--Romero put in a call via satellite phone to his mom, notes an AP report published by abc7.
Romero began the climb along with his father from the base on the Chinese side, since Nepal has an age requirement for climbers that the youngster didn't meet.
They hit the top sooner than expected, but the teen and others won't be able to respond to interview requests until they get back to the advanced base camp. According to a post on his blog, Jordan was "flat on his belly knocked out," not longer after he arrived at the summit, adding that Romero did the record-breaking climb "with style and flair."
The California teen "is now one climb away from his quest to conquer the highest peaks on all seven continents."