14 DAY TRIAL // Authorities in Nepal, where Mount Everest is located, have strict regulations set in place about who can climb the mountain, and clear specifications as to the age limit allowed for climbers. But a 9-year-old boy is set to try and climb the mountain next summer, regardless of whether he gets a permit or not.
If he manages to do so, the third-grade boy will become the youngest person to ever climb the tallest mountain in the world. Everest has a height of 8,848 meters, or 29,029 feet from sea level.
The current record holder is a 13-year-old boy that scaled the mountain this year, reaching the summit on May 22, 2010. He is an American schoolboy called Jordan Romero.
He stole the record from a Nepal teen who climbed Everest in 2001, at the age of 16. Now, Romero himself is threatened by 9-year-old Tseten Sherpa, who just last week climbed a 6,000-meter (19,700-foot) peak.
Laws in Nepal state that climbers need to be over 16 to go up the mountain, but the boy's father is looking for special approvals to allow for a climb in April 2011. This is when the season will be just right for such a risky endeavor.
The father and son due are determined to make the attempt regardless of approvals. If they do it illegally, Tseten Sherpa's name will be kept off the record books, and his father will most likely have to pay a massive fine.
According to materials published in the Hindustan Times newspaper, the boy and his father, Pemba Dorjee Sherpa, began practicing for the ascent last year. Last week's climb of Mount Ramdung was also part of that training.
The new legislations that may get in the way of Tseten's attempt has been recently imposed by the China Tibet Mountaineering Association, which is in charge of dispensing permissions for ascents that start out of Tibet.
The Chinese forbid anyone under 18 to climb the mountain, whereas the Nepal side can be tried out by those older than 16. “The current government regulations in both Nepal and Tibet indicate that [Tseten] will not be issued a permit to climb Mt. Everest,” explains Nima Norbu Sherpa.
He holds an appointment as the acting president of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA). “Even if he does it, the feat will not be given official recognition as long as these age limits remain in place,” he goes on to say.
Just to be fair, these limits are not set in place just for the sake of it. Mount Everest is ruthless to those attempting to climb it, and many daring adventurers met their ends on its slopes, Our Amazing Planet reports.