Nonfiction
Thirteen-year-old
Jordan Romero
wanted to be the
youngest person
to reach the top
of Mount Everest.
OVER THE DECADES, HUNDREDS HAVE DIED
CLIMBING THE WORLD’S HIGHEST MOUNTAIN.
BUT THAT DIDN’T STOP 13-YEAR-OLD JORDAN
ROMERO FROM TRYING TO REACH THE TOP.
NAR
NONFRI ATIVE
CTION
Reads
but itl’ike fiction—
s all tr
ue!
INTO THE
ZONE
A MOUNT EVEREST ADVENTURE BY SEAN McCOLLUM
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SCHOLASTIC SCOPE • FEBRUARY 14, 2011
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SCHOLASTIC.COM/SCOPE • FEBRUARY 14, 2011
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MOUNT EVEREST: DESMOND BOYLAN/REUTERS/
CORBIS; JORDAN ROMERO: TEAM ROMERO
DEATH
Was this trip turning into a deadly
disaster?
Unmerciful Mountain
Climbing teams began exploring
Mount Everest in the 1920s. It
was not until 1953, however, that
two men stepped onto the snowy
summit and returned to tell about
it. Sir Edmund Hillary, from New
Zealand, and Tenzing Norgay, from
Nepal, pioneered a route up from
So far, so good, Jordan thought.
for this expedition for months.
the mountain’s south side. Their
They had already climbed to 23,000
So he kept placing one boot in front
feat is still considered one of the
feet—higher than some jets fly.
of the other. That, Jordan knew, is
great accomplishments of human
He knew, though, that trouble—
how a person makes it to the top
exploration.
and death—could come without
of any mountain.
warning. Violent snowstorms could
Suddenly, a deep crunching
At first, only expert mountaineers
dared to follow in Hillary’s and
trap them. They could be injured
noise sounded behind them. Jordan
Norgay’s footsteps. By 1980, though,
at any time. Or they could simply
turned and saw a heart-stopping
several companies were offering
become too weak to continue.
sight. Enormous chunks of ice
guides and gear to less-seasoned
Altitude sickness, a serious and
were tumbling down the slope. The
climbers. For a very high fee, these
sometimes fatal condition caused
ground beneath him and his dad
outfits promised to help adventurers
by the lack of oxygen at extreme
gave way. He was knocked off his
try to reach the summit. (Today,
heights, posed another danger.
feet and began sliding down the
they charge as much as $100,000
mountain. It was an avalanche!
per climber.)
But Jordan had been preparing
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SCHOLASTIC SCOPE • FEBRUARY 14, 2011
a “crazy, tough mountain.” Still, he
difficult than anything Jordan
attempts grew. Climbers reported
believed if he prepared carefully
had ever done.
being stuck in lines, waiting their
and showed proper respect for the
turn to stand on the summit. Trash
challenge, Everest would let him
was more than a daydream. He
piled up at base camps. Hillary
reach its summit.
toughened his body by running and
said Everest had become “a circus.”
Experts feared it was only a matter
Dreams of Everest
Jordan soon proved that his idea
riding his bike. He built his strength
by attaching a tire to a chain and
Jordan’s quest to climb Mount
dragging it up and down the family’s
Everest began in a hallway of his
long driveway. With his family’s help,
when a blizzard took dozens
California grade school. As a third-
he organized events to raise money
of climbers by surprise as they
grader, he was fascinated by a mural
and get donations of climbing gear.
struggled to reach the summit. Eight
depicting the Seven Summits—the
people suffered agonizing deaths in
tallest mountains on each of the
mom Karen formed Team Jordan.
the thin air, high winds, and freezing
seven continents. Mount Everest, on
During the next three years, they
temperatures, beyond the reach of
the border between Tibet and Nepal
climbed five of the Seven Summits.
any help.
in Asia, dwarfed all the others. “My
Jordan discovered how right his dad
dad picked me up from school and
was—climbing these mountains was
remain where they fall, frozen
I told him that I wanted to climb
the most difficult thing he had ever
mummies in the cold, dry air.
them all,” Jordan recalls. “Especially
done. Sometimes he broke down
Retrieving them is too difficult and
Mount Everest.”
in tears struggling up a mountain.
of time before a big disaster struck.
Their fears came true in 1996,
Most climbers who die on Everest
Jordan and his dad and step-
His father, Paul, took his son
Sometimes he even felt like quitting.
pass by them, these corpses are
seriously. As a paramedic, long-
But with his family’s encouragement
gruesome reminders of the risks of
distance runner, and mountain
and support, he found the will to
climbing Mount Everest.
climber himself, Paul believed in
reach each peak.
dangerous. To climbers who must
Jordan knew all of this. He knew
setting tough goals. He explained
that Everest was, in his own words,
to Jordan that this would be more
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3
6
Year after year, the number of
PHOTOS 1, 2, AND 5: TEAM ROMERO; PHOTO 3: ©NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE; PHOTO 4: NAMGYAL SHERPA/AFP/GETTY
I
t was late April 2010, and 13-year-old
Jordan Romero was halfway to the top
of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest
mountain. Jordan, his father, and a team
of climbers were just beginning a journey
that could, if everything went right, lead them
to the highest point on Earth.
In March 2010, Team
Jordan flew to Tibet, a region

1. Jordan scales a rocky slope. 2. Jordan at the start of his climb. 3. Sir Edmund
Hillary was a celebrity when he returned from Everest. 4. Garbage has piled up
on Everest’s slopes. 5. Team Jordan sets out from the last base camp.
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SCHOLASTIC.COM/SCOPE • FEBRUARY 14, 2011
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of China. Mount Everest, the tallest
13-year-old lacks the judgment to
we conquer, but ourselves,” Sir
themselves together for safety, and
mountain of all, was next.
risk his life this way. Others said
Edmund Hillary had said. This was
began the climb.
the high altitude could damage his
one of Jordan’s favorite quotations.
Questions and Criticism
growing body and brain. Some even
As their Everest attempt
wondered if Jordan’s dad was using
approached, Team Jordan gained
This was the big push.
On May 21, they reached 26,000
Going for the Summit
feet—the “Death Zone.” At that
Mount Everest is so tall that it
his son to get attention.
altitude, the air is so thin a person
must be climbed in stages. Base
can suffocate in minutes. Like most
they were the best judges of Jordan’s
camps are set up along the route,
climbers, Jordan and his teammates
abilities, and they agreed that he was
where climbers can rest and let
used oxygen masks. Even so, they
than the youngest person who had
up to the challenge. Jordan believed
their bodies adjust to the altitude
found that climbing in the Death
ever reached the summit.
his quest was making him a stronger,
before climbing to the next camp.
Zone took every ounce of their
better person. “It is not the mountain
Karen, Jordan, and his dad hiked
willpower. They climbed through the
into the first base camp on April 16.
night. They had to be on and off the
They were joined by four Sherpa
summit in the morning. Afternoons
teammates: Ang Pasang, Lama
are when the worst storms roll in,
Dawa, Lama Karma, and Kumar, the
and the mountain is most deadly.
international attention. Questions
Jordan and his family believed
about Jordan’s age constantly came
up. At 13, he was three years younger
FACTS AND FIGURES
This map shows the highest mountain on each continent.
Mt. Elbrus
(18,510 ft)
Russia
The
Seven
Summits
EQUATOR
Carstensz
OCEANIA
Pyramid
(16,023 ft)
Western New Guinea
Mt. Kilimanjaro
(19,340 ft)
Tanzania
AUSTRALIA
Mt. Aconcagua
(22,841 ft)
Argentina
SOURCE: National Geographic Society
W
Vinson Massif
(16,067 ft)
Everest by
the Numbers*
EVEREST SUMMITS BY DECADE
Attempts
11,000
Summits
4,500
Corpses
still on the
mountain
E
S
3,299
879
220
150
*Numbers are approximate.
182
5
18
88
50s
60s
70s
80s
DECADE
90s
3,300
3,000
2,700
2,400
2,100
1,800
1,500
1,200
900
600
300
*Does not include 2010.
on Earth. The jagged snow-capped
used a satellite phone to call his
Since the first explorations of Everest,
was an Indian climber, Tsewang
peaks of the Himalaya mountains
mom and sister in California.
they have helped and guided foreign
Paljor, who froze to death in 1996.
poked through the clouds to the east
climbing expeditions.
Now his body and lime-green boots
and west. To the north, the Tibetan
person ever to summit Mount
are a landmark on the trail. The sight
plateau stretched for hundreds of
Everest. The record mattered less to
climbed as high as 23,000 feet. Their
shook Jordan as he stepped around
miles. Gazing south, Jordan could see
him, though, than the incredible view
bodies were getting stronger in the
the corpse. It also reminded him
the country of India. Jordan hugged
and thrilling experience, and the
high altitude.
to stay sharp.
his dad, Karen, and the Sherpa crew.
knowledge that he had done what he
They snapped pictures, their faces
set out to do—one step at a time.
By late April, Team Jordan had
Then came the avalanche.
to the summit. This proved to be
the hardest part of the climb. They
thighs. But the main flow of ice
had been climbing for 14 hours and
and snow had missed them. Their
Jordan felt totally exhausted. The
nerves were shaken, but they were
temperature was -30° Fahrenheit.
able to continue.
Strong winds beat against them.
Some distance away, two other
climbers had also been caught in the
avalanche. One was hurt. The other
disappeared into a crevasse—a large
crack in the glacier ice. His body was
never found.
By mid-May, Team Jordan felt
Jordan had become the youngest
and Karen reached the final ridge
to his boots, stabbed his dad in the
strapped on their packs, roped
SCHOLASTIC SCOPE • FEBRUARY 14, 2011
The sun rose as Jordan, his dad,
the ice-grabbing spikes strapped
ready to try for the summit. They
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peeking out from their hoods. Jordan
Jordan spotted “Green Boots.” He
Not everyone was so lucky.
*2000s
one of the most spectacular views
a mountain people native to the area.
Jordan fell and slid. His crampons,
N
SUMMITS
Mountain Jordan
has climbed
Mountain Jordan
has not climbed
Deaths
Mt. Everest
(29,035 ft)
Nepal-China
border
As they approached 28,000 feet,
•
CONTEST
Writing About Text Features
On either side of Jordan, the
mountain plunged thousands
of feet. If he slipped, the safety
rope might be all that would save
him from disappearing forever
into the valley below.
A few more breaths, a few more
TEAM ROMERO
Mt.McKinley
(20,320 ft)
Alaska, U.S.
talented camp cook. The Sherpa are
DESMOND BOYLAN/REUTERS/CORBIS; MAP: JIM McMAHON
Some critics argued that a
A triumphant Jordan
on top of the world
steps. And then, there was nowhere
higher to go, nowhere in the whole
CONTEST
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world. Jordan was looking out on
SCHOLASTIC.COM/SCOPE • FEBRUARY 14, 2011
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