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My name is Jordan Romero. I'm 14 years old from Big Bear Lake, California. Recently, I became the youngest person in the world to climb Mount Everest. I have climbed six of the seven summits. The seven summits are the highest point on every continent.
When I saw a mural of the Seven Summits when I was nine years old, it was something that played a big role in inspiring me, fascinated me, dealt my research, found all the facts. My dad picked me up from school one day. I said that I want to climb the Seven Summits. Being in nature and being close to it, you know, that's what it's all about, just having that experience, you know, being on top of the world. I love that feeling.
I definitely was scared at many points. There's a lot of things that can happen at any moment without warning. Yeah, play it safe, be smart, make smart decisions. It's where you gotta be on your game. Listen, an ice axe has been up there on top of the world. The main function is to help you if you're by chance sliding down; just leave your ice axe into the snow; helps save tons of lives.
The reason why I'm climbing is to inspire kids and adults, teens, everyone, to find their own Everest, to find it in climbing. I want to inspire kids to set goals, to get up off the couch, drop the Xbox controller, and get out, live an active and healthy life. Live it to the fullest is what I go by every day. You have goals for kids; it could be to just run their fastest mile time or get an A on a test, athletic, academic. What I'm going to do is go to my friend's house to jump on the trampoline to land a new trick. They can be so simple. I could set a goal right now: walk into the house right now; that's a goal.
The key to having goals is to not give up and to look at something that you really want to achieve and take small steps. Find people around you who will support you and go for it. You can do anything, big or small. I'm not done yet, but then after the Seven Summits, even though that could be a life's worth of stuff right there, you know, there's still more in store. Every mountain I've climbed, every time I'm done with it, all I say is, "One down, six to go," or "Five down, two to go." As long as you stay committed, take the right steps, anything is possible.