13-year-old California boy makes it off mountain after becoming youngest to scale Everest

Youngest Everest climber makes it safely off peak

KATMANDU, Nepal — The 13-year-old American boy who became the youngest person to scale Mount Everest made it off the mountain safely Wednesday, saying reaching the highest point in the world was the time of his life.

Jordan Romero, from Big Bear, California, reached the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) summit on Saturday with his father Paul Romero, his father’s girlfriend Karen Lundgren and three Sherpa guides.

“It was a feeling like no other,” he told reporters in a brief interview after entering Nepal from Tibet. “We were having a time of our lives. It was the best view you could get anywhere in the world.”

He broke the record set by Temba Tsheri of Nepal, who reached the peak at age 16.

Romero is one climb away from his overall goal of reaching the highest peaks on all seven continents. The final peak is the 16,076-foot (4,900-meter) Vinson Massif in Antarctica, which he hopes to tackle at the end of the year.

Romero’s father said there was nothing wrong with the decision to allow his young son to climb the world’s highest peak.

“Nothing irresponsible about what we did. We were so prepared, everything went perfect. Age has nothing to do with anything,” Paul Romero told reporters in Liping, a border town about 75 miles (120 miles) northeast of Katmandu.

Jordan Romero said the climb was harder than he thought, and he was now looking forward to seeing his friends and family.

The team had climbed Everest from the northern face of the peak in China. Nepalese laws require climbers to be at least 16.

Online:

Jordan Romero’s website: www.jordanromero.com