April 26th, 2010
01:37 PM ET

U.S. teen begins ascent of world's tallest mountain

Even from more than 21,000 feet up the world's tallest mountain, 13-year-old Jordan Romero couldn't resist the opportunity to greet his mother in a live television broadcast Monday.

"Hi, Mom," Romero said with a wave of his hand during the interview broadcast on CNN from the advance base camp on Mount Everest in Nepal.

The interview followed the first day of real climbing in Romero's attempt to become the youngest person ever to reach the summit of Everest - 29,028 feet (8,847 meters) above sea level.

Accompanied by his father and stepmother, and backed by a team of sherpas and yaks that helped transport their 2,000 kilograms (4,400 pounds) of gear, Romero needed 13 days just to reach the point where real climbing began.

Paul Romero, Jordan's father, said the first day of the actual ascent Monday required technical climbing in tough weather conditions, including ice and snow.

For Jordan, it's all part of the journey.

"It could take ... a couple of weeks or a couple of years," he said, sitting in a tent wearing a parka and fluorescent yellow cap, and with a blue sleeping bag over his legs. "... This is the first of many attempts."

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Filed under: Nepal • U.S. • World
soundoff (6 Responses)
  1. Michael Smith

    So what on Earth is the ultimate purpose of this and similar sounding 'feats' of early and mid teen-agers? Is it a heads up on admission into Stanford or Yale?

    April 26, 2010 at 5:41 pm | Report abuse |
    • morinundman

      There are certain media outlets that will publicise such feats even before the fact. That's surely inspirational. 😉

      October 13, 2010 at 2:31 pm | Report abuse |
    • Sue

      Who knows what the true motivation is, but the only true outcome is to show the world how few brain cells they (the parents) really have.

      October 15, 2010 at 5:29 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Bundy

    What are these parents thinking? Have they ever watched Everest on cable? Men DIE trying to scale Everest. This kids body isnt even fully developed-what will it do to him?

    October 14, 2010 at 12:17 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Sue

    Sorry, but this is ignorant. Are these stupid people who call themselves parents just trying to get famous through their 13-year old? Any decent parent would NEVER EVER let their child participate in something so dangerous and deadly. What are they thinking? I feel sorry for the child who has parents like this. Just pathetic.

    October 15, 2010 at 5:26 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Sue

    HA! Look at what I just found on CNN. Maybe the family in this article should read it.
    http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/01/climber-found-dead-in-cave-on-mount-shasta/?iref=obinsite

    October 15, 2010 at 5:30 pm | Report abuse |
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