Colorado dad says his 8-year-old is the youngest to scale El Capitan, but did they really climb it?

[Demovictory9]

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-11-02/a-colorado-dad-says-his-8-year-old-is-the-youngest-to-climb-yosemites-el-capitan-but-did-they-actually-climb-it


The headlines screamed what anyone would consider a colossal feat: An 8-year-old boy climbed to the top of Yosemite’s 3,000-foot El Capitan on Saturday, becoming one of the youngest people to summit the world famous rock.

“I am so proud of my son!” Joe Baker posted on his Facebook page Wednesday. “He is now officially the youngest person to climb ElCapitan.”

But what had been a well-promoted achievement quickly turned into controversy, all centered on whether the boy’s climb actually involved climbing.


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After the climb, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Baker and his son relied on two climbers who set up a rope for them. The father and son then used hand clamps to climb up the rope, in essence not needing to touch the rock’s face as they ascended.

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“They didn’t climb a foot, so they don’t deserve any recognition,” Evans told The Times. “All they had to do was go up this little rope. They had no other responsibility otherwise. Hail the guides who were the climbers, because these guys were tag-alongs. Climbing a rock is not climbing a rope.”

[hunter]

1. None of it is impressive to the guy wearing jet boots. Be one with the rock.

[Earth-shine]

6. A very underrated movie.

They search for God only to find an evil, impersonating alien. A simple, yet profound story.

Great soundtrack. Relatively poor special effects compared to the other Trek movies.

[dalton99a]

2. Kick

[GenThePerservering]

3. I'm fairly familiar with the extreme sport community

i.e., various extreme sports, and can say they can be insular and pretty catty. But in this particular case they have a point. The kid didn't climb. He did a great thing for a kid and proved he could deal with heights and had courage, but he didn't climb.

and this (from the father Baker): He also attributed the confusion to his wording and said he wasn’t aware of a difference between a “rope ascent” and a “climb.”

That's back-pedaling - if he's good enough to climb El Capitan, he should know. I think it was for publicity and ego and feel sorry for the kid.

Let the poor kid get a little older, keep climbing and get the stage-dad out of the picture.

[Laffy Kat]

4. This really bothers me.

It's not safe. I don't understand this kind of parenting.

[DET]

5. Same Here

The kid doesn’t understand the danger that he’s been put in, but the father does (or should). This was a vanity project for Dad. Personally, I consider this borderline abusive.