A 13-year-old American boy became the youngest climber to reach the top of Mount Everest yesterday, coming one step away his quest to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents.
Jordan Romero called his mother by satellite phone from the summit of the world’s highest mountain, 8,850m above sea level.
“He says: ‘Mom, I’m calling you from the top of the world,’” Leigh Anne Drake told reporters from California, where she had watched her son’s progress on a GPS tracker online.
“There were lots of tears and ‘I love you! I love you!’” Drake said. “I just told him to get his butt back home.”
The teenager with long curly hair — who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa when he was nine years old — said he was inspired by a painting in his school hallway of the seven continents’ highest summits.
“Every step I take is finally toward the biggest goal of my life, to stand on top of the world,” Jordan said earlier on his blog.
The former record for the youngest climber to scale Everest had been held by Temba Tsheri of Nepal. He reached the peak at age 16.
Jordan’s climbing team reached the summit hours earlier than expected.
“The first thing, they all hugged each other and said: ‘I love you, I can’t believe we’re finally here,’ and started crying,” said Rob Bailey, the team’s spokesman, by phone from the US.
Jordan, from Big Bear, California, was climbing Everest with his father, his father’s girlfriend and three Sherpa guides. He left for the peak from the base camp on the Chinese side.
Everest was his first challenge above 8,000m.
Unlike neighboring Nepal, the other approach to Everest, China has no age limit for climbers. Jordan registered with Chinese officials last month, said Zhang Mingxing, secretary-general of China Tibet Mountaineering Association.
No interview with Jordan would be possible until he returns to advance base camp, which could take a couple of days, Bailey said.
Climbers stay overnight at three or four camps before the summit, depending on their route and pace.
Jordan carried a number of good luck charms, including a pair of kangaroo testicles given to him by a friend who has cancer.
“That’s the one that probably meant the most,” Bailey said.
At the summit, Jordan left behind his lucky rabbit’s foot and planted some seeds that a Buddhist monk at a local monastery had given him for luck on his journey, Bailey said. Then he took the satellite phone and called his mom.
Just one mountain remains in the quest to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents, the Vinson Massif in Antarctica.
Jordan’s team leaves for Antarctica in December, Bailey said.
“A piece of cake,” his mother said.
‘SUPER SHERPA’
A Nepalese Sherpa climbed Mount Everest for the 20th time early yesterday, beating his own world record, an official said.
Apa Sherpa, 50, reached the summit of world’s highest peak on Saturday morning, a spokesman for the tourism ministry said.
“He reached the top of Everest this morning. He is in sound health and is now heading back to base camp after spending around half an hour on the summit,” Laxman Bhattarai said.
Sherpa, who first scaled Everest in 1990 and has been dubbed the “super Sherpa” for the apparent ease with which he climbs the mountain, dedicated his latest expedition to the impact of climate change on the Himalayas.
“I am thankful to have been able to climb Mount Everest for the 20th time,” he said in a statement published on his Web site. “I also climbed to bring attention to the damage done to the Himalayas because of global climate change.”
Thousands of people have climbed Mount Everest since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to conquer the 8,848m mountain in 1953.
The New Taipei Kings claimed the inaugural Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL) championship on Sunday, defeating the Kaohsiung FamilyMart Aquas 108-89 in the final. Playing at home, the Kings pulled ahead with Jeremy Lin’s (林書豪) clutch three-pointers, securing their victory over the Aquas in the TPBL final. The Kings came out strong in the first quarter, dominating to build a 35-18 lead. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage to 61-38. In the third quarter, the Aquas narrowed the deficit to 12 points, but Lin stepped up, sinking several tough three- pointers to extend the lead. In the final quarter, the Kings pushed the
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink, but for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
BEAT THE HEAT: A brutal heat wave in the US has made cooling breaks standard. Dortmund’s coach said the weather could shape the destiny of the tournament Chelsea on Tuesday beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 to set up a FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie against SL Benfica, who earlier defeated Bayern Munich 1-0, as furnace-link heat and the threat of thunder and lightning wreak havoc at the tournament. Elsewhere, minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors, while Los Angeles bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo. In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th
RSS