The Boy Who Conquered Everest - Jordan Romero with Katherine Blanc : Balboa Press Bookstore | Online Shopping for eBooks, Hardcover Books, Paperback Books

Jordan Romero was a regular nine-year-old boy. He loved BMX biking, listening to music, hanging out with his friends and family, participating in school activities, and studying nature and reptiles. So why would he want to climb the world’s tallest mountains? What made him decide to try something so dangerous and difficult?

It all started when Jordan spotted a map of the famous “Seven Summits,” the tallest mountains on Earth’s seven continents, including massive Mt. Everest—the tallest of all. Jordan could not take his eyes off of that map; his head was filled with thoughts of snow-covered peaks, jagged rocks, billowing white clouds, and deep blue skies.

Four years later, Jordan stood and gazed down at those peaks and cloudy skies from the 29,035-foot summit of Mt. Everest. He had reached his goal: to conquer the mightiest of mountains and inspire other kids to dream BIG!

How did he do it? This is his story...

"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."

-- Sir Edmund Hillary
The first known person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, 1953

The Goal

The little mural that inspired a BIG DREAM!

"At my school there was a wall mural that I'd walk past every day when I was in 3rd grade. The mural showed the tallest mountain on each continent: the seven summits."

"One day, my dad picked me up from school and I told him that I wanted to climb them all--especially Mount Everest."

You wanna' do WHAT??

While Jordan's friends and family supported the idea, others weren't so sure. Jordan explains:

"Some people couldn't understand why I'd want to do something so difficult. But I already loved mountain climbing, and I wanted to set a really big goal for myself--something that my dad and I could do together."

Dad, can I go climb Mt. Everest?

Yes, but you'll have to train very very hard.

OK, no problem. When do we start?

Actually, it wasn't quite that simple.

Before he could tackle mighty Everest, Jordan would need to prepare himself by climbing many of the world's tallest peaks. This required him to:

1) Obtain permission from each country.

(Jordan's dad Paul and stepmother Karen worked REALLY hard to persuade some governments to allow him to go because Jordan was so young.)

2) Gather the right equipment, supplies, and other gear needed for each type of terrain and seasonal climate.

(Jordan would be climbing in deep snow, over icy glaciers, and up sheer cliffs of rock!)

3) Train, train, train some more, and then

Keep
On
TRAINING.

Katherine Blanc has spent most of her life surrounded by cartoons and other interesting characters. Her father-in-law was the late Mel Blanc, known as the “man of a thousand voices,” including most of the Looney Tunes® characters for Warner Bros. Her husband, Noel Blanc, carries on his father’s tradition.

Katherine has a passion for words and imagery. She is the author of The Bad Puppy’s Guide to Life and The Bad Kitty’s Guide to Life (Sourcebooks, Inc.), Today (BCC Press), Big Bear Historical Museum Coloring Book (Big Bear Valley Historical Society), Gold Mountain Girl (Grizzly Publishing), and Cliff the Climber (Mirror Publishing). She is also a designer and producer of limited-edition greeting cards. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in visual communication. She lives in Southern California.