Jordan Romero Prepares To Conquer Seventh Summit…
Not many can cross climbing the seven tallest summits of the world off their bucket list, but at just 15 years old, Jordan Romero soon will.
Jordan has climbed six out of the seven tallest summits of the world including Everest at age 13, which earned him the title of the youngest person to climb the infamous peak. This month he is set to take the seventh and final summit, Mount. Vinson with his father Paul, step-mother Karen and team. If successful, Jordan will be the youngest in the world to conquer all seven summits.
Vinson Massif (Mount. Vinson) is the highest mountain in Antarctica at 16,050 feet. Located in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains it was first climbed in 1966 and has since been climbed successfully by hundreds of mountaineers. It joins Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Denali in Alaska, Mount Elbrus in Europe, Aconcagua in Argentina, Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia and Mount Everest in the Himalayas.
Jordan was initially inspired to climb all seven summits at age nine after seeing a painting of the seven continents’ highest mountains in the hallway of his school. But it hasn’t been that simple. When Jordan took on Everest, controversy followed as many professionals questioned his ability to take on such a dangerous endeavor. But Jordan’s father, Paul, ensured that his son was ready for the hike with daily agility, strength and endurance training and the same goes for their upcoming Mount. Vinson climb.
And how does this boy-wonder feel about his upcoming adventure? “I'm jazzed, real jazzed. It's been a bit since I’ve been on a big trip.” Jordan said. “I'm trained as best I can be….I have my family and town behind me, which feels good.”
Jordan knows that it’s important to stick to what you’ve committed to. His sheer drive to succeed is what has kept him going and he knows it will take him to the top. “It's competitive I guess, but I get strong the higher I go.” Jordan notes. “I love the feeling of going to the red line, going very, very hard on myself. It all makes sense when I'm able to go this hard, while in a beautiful environment with my family.”
The journey doesn’t stop there. Jordan has devoted a solid chunk of time speaking to schools across the U.S., which is a part of his “Find YOUR Everest” campaign and encourages kids to find their passion and live a healthier life by kicking their junk food and soda habit. Getting the kids to “GET OFF THE JUNK” by eliminating their bad eating habits is something that Jordan is very passionate about. Not only does he hope that kids will change their bad food binges for the duration of his climb, but he hopes it’s something they get off of for life. "I'm really upset about this obesity epidemic and I gotta do something about it" explains Jordan. His initiatives have received an outpour of positive comments on his blog from teachers and citizens of his Bear Valley community in California.
To keep his fans up to date, Jordan will be using his social media channels like Facebook and Twitter during the expedition and followers will be able to track his progress in real-time through free iPhone and Android applications which will soon be available on Jordan’s site: jordanromero.com.
Jordan Romero’s Climbs So Far:
Kilimanjaro – Africa: July 22, 2006 (World Record at Age 10)
Kosciuszko – Australia: April 2007
Elbrus – Russia: July 11, 2007 (World Record at Age 10)
Aconcagua – South America: December 30, 2007 (World Record at Age 10)
Denali – North America: June 18, 2008 (Age 11)
Carstensz Pyramid – Oceania: September 1, 2009 (World Record at Age 11)
Mt. Everest – Asia: May 22, 2010 (World Record at Age 13)
Vinson Massif – Antarctica: departing December 12, 2011