Jordan Romero

He may be just 15 years old now, but Jordan Romero demonstrates the determination of an athlete twice his age. If he has his way—no doubt he will—Romero will shortly become the only teenage mountaineer to have conquered the World’s Seven (tallest) Summits, the highest points on Earth. He begins that trek in late December in Antarctica, the continent that contains 90% of the world’s ice. (UPDATE: Romero successfully completed this effort with his ascent of Mt. Vinson Massif on Christmas eve. See details at the end of this story.)

On his way toward accomplishing such a serious goal, the very serious young man has already stunned the world by setting two records: In 2006, he became the youngest American climber of Kilimanjaro at age 10. Then, on May 22, 2010, as he called his concerned mother on a satellite phone and let her know he was about to safely plant his foot 29,035 feet above sea level (the highest point on the planet), Romero became the youngest person to conquer Mt. Everest.

“Mom, I’m calling you from the top of the world,” said a triumphant but exhausted Romero.

Romero, at age 13, surpassed previous record holder Temba Tsheri Sherpa of Nepal, who finished the ascent in 2004 when he was 16. Everest was Jordan’s seventh peak in roughly five years, a trek that has taken him across the Earth’s continents. It wasn’t long after he’d made that extremely unique long distance call to his mom atop Everest and hugged his team members—dad Paul Romero, stepmom Karen Lundgren, three Sherpa guides, and a medic—when Romero began planning his next extreme climb. His final target and the final summit in the World’s Seven Summits group: Mt. Vinson Massif in Antarctica (16,050 ft), which boasts the coldest, most unforgiving climate in the world. Its average daily temperature, 40-50 degrees below zero, makes other peaks he’s tackled seem temperate. While this final attempt, if successful, will fix him firmly in the record books, a fact that certainly fuels Romero, his motivation remains more deeply inspired.

“We are ready to stand at the base of the mountain—mind, body and soul, taking in the sight, feeling the wind in our faces and breathing in the experience,” he writes on his website, jordanromero.com, in a call for donations to support the trek that will conclude his dream.

That dream began at age nine, after being mesmerized by a student-painted mural of the World’s Seven Summits that hung in his Big Bear, California, school. Later that day Jordan greeted his father in the parking lot by revealing the vision he’d had. He would climb all seven summits and do so as soon as possible—as the world’s first teen to accomplish this feat. (An eighth summit was added later). Something in the way he described that goal, and repeated it unwaveringly, convinced Jordan’s father that his son’s dream was born of something more than ordinary childish fantasy. And so they began to plan and train.

“It’s my dream we are following to the highest points on every continent,” Jordan says on his blog. “I know it’s a big goal and lucky for me my family is supporting me every step of the way.”

First there was Kilimanjaro in Africa (July 22, 2006; 19,340 ft), then Kosciusko in Australia (April 2007; 7,310 ft), followed by Elbrus in Europe (July 11, 2007; 18,510 ft), Aconcagua in South America (Dec. 30, 2007; 22,841 ft), Denali in North America (June 18, 2008; 20,320), Cartensz Pyramid in Oceana (Sept. 1, 2009; 16,024) and then Everest in Asia (May 22, 2010; 29,035 ft). That last climb brought him the fame he now enjoys. Despite his previous climbs, Everest, the top of the world, is what impresses.

For the uninitiated, mountain climbing at any scale, let alone that of Everest, is no walk up a gently sloping hill. To understand the challenge, erase from your mind any visions of lederhosen-sporting Austrians yodeling to each other across snow-capped peaks. Everest is a killer. It invites challengers to come closer, charms and seduces them into believing that glory waits at its top and that all will be well in the end. But since record keeping began at the turn of the last century, 219 known “challengers” have lost their lives while attempting to conquer Everest. If survivor’s logs are to be believed, 120 frozen bodies have been noted at various times over the last decade—revealed and then reburied by the cycle of advancing and retreating snow. But the accuracy of those collective reports must be questioned, since overlapping and duplicate reports are likely. Romero’s team recorded spotting five frozen bodies, and two additional challengers died just two days after Romero’s ascent. Those who brave Everest and return believe that these souls consecrate its treacherous elevations.