Thirteen-year-old Jordan Romero, a Big Bear Middle School eighth grader and world class mountaineer, braved blizzard conditions, waist-deep powder and sub-zero temps over his winter break—not home in Big Bear, but atop the 12,600 foot summit of Arizona’s Mt. Humphreys. This is his fourth peak of the tallest among the 50 states, serving as ongoing training in his efforts to summit the tallest peaks in the world. Of the Seven Summits internationally, Romero has already climbed to the top of six of them (he’s including eight altogether), most recently summiting Indonesia’s Carstensz Pyramid at 16,000 feet in September. Romero and climbing partners, dad Paul Romero and Karen Lundgren, had planned to conquer Mt. Vinson in Antarctica this month, but will save that trip until December and, in the meantime, climb in the Sierra Nevadas to gear up for the biggie: Mt. Everest. Romero plans to leave Big Bear on March 28 to climb the 29,029 feet of Mt. Everest. If he completes the trek to the top at age 13 as planned, he will be the youngest person to do so, as the current record holder is a 15-year-old Nepalese girl, followed by 17-year-old Johnny Strange of Malibu last May. When not climbing the world’s tallest summits with dad Paul, Romero also lives in Fawnskin with mom Leigh Anne Drake and younger sister Makaela.
