Youngest Everest climber sets new goal

KATMANDU, Nepal — The 13-year-old American boy who became the youngest person to climb Mount Everest announced plans for an ascent later this year of Mount Cho Oyu, the world's sixth highest peak.

Jordan Romero, from Big Bear, California, told reporters Thursday in Katmandu that he plans to climb the 8,201-meter (26,906-foot) peak during the autumn climbing season. Cho Oyu straddles the Nepal-China border.

Nepal prohibits people under the age of 16 from climbing high mountain peaks, but there is no such restriction in China. Romero scaled the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) Mount Everest last weekend from the northern side of the peak in China. He arrived in Nepal on Wednesday.

Romero is on a quest to climb the highest mountain on each of the seven continents, and plans to scale the final one on his list — the 16,076-foot (4,900-meter) Vinson Massif in Antarctica — during the winter. Cho Oyu, considered one of the easier climbs among the world's highest mountains, is not on that list.

Romero said the Everest expedition went smoothly despite the team battling with high winds.

"I definitely do encourage younger people to go big. I encourage other people to climb Everest and especially younger children just to go big," Romero said.

He said one of the difficulties was moving across the rocky surface near the summit.

Climbers have complained recently that melting glacial ice has exposed a rocky surface, making it difficult to move with crampons best suited for ice. Rising temperatures on the mountain due to global warming have been blamed for the melting ice.

Romero said he wanted to young people. "I am doing this to set an example for them and try to motivate them to get outdoors and set goals," he said.

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA (AP)

Jordan Romero, center, the 13-year-old American who Saturday became the youngest climber to reach the summit Mount Everest, greets with a traditional Nepalese gesture as he crosses the border from China to arrive in Nepal's border town Tatopani, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) northwest of Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, May 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)