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Author Topic: What can a 13 year old do?  (Read 2443 times)

Ludovico

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #30 on: January 27, 2010, 09:40:48 AM »

Not if she is taking the polar route!   :)
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Ludovico

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #31 on: April 11, 2010, 10:10:16 AM »

Not if she is taking the polar route!   :)

Speaking of the Polar Route........

California 13-year-old to attempt to climb Everest


By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON (AP) – 5 days ago

LOS ANGELES — A 13-year-old California boy plans to try to climb Mount Everest in a quest to reach the summits of the highest peaks on all seven continents.

If Jordan Romero succeeds, he'll become the youngest person to conquer the world's highest mountain.

Jordan will attempt the ascent to 29,035 feet with his father and his father's girlfriend, both experienced outdoors people who have helped train the teenager for top-level mountaineering.

When Jordan was only 9, a school mural of the seven summits inspired his ambitious goal.

"I told my dad about it and he didn't say no. He just explained the difficulties and what I'd have to do. We started training right away," said Jordan, who was scheduled to depart for Nepal Monday night.

At age 10, he became the youngest American to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak. He's steadily checked off four of the tallest peaks since then, including Alaska's Mount McKinley, which many climbers consider to be a more technical climb than Everest.

Despite his penchant for tall mountains and thin air, friends and family describe Jordan as unusually grounded for a 13-year-old. He said he understands the risks of climbing Everest, which kills climbers almost every year.

"Mountain climbing requires a lot of mental training and making smart decisions. It's a metaphor for life," he said, sounding wiser than his years.

The teenager's planned Everest ascent is making the mountaineering community think hard about how young is too young to climb such a dangerous mountain.

Jordan's father, Paul Romero, said he wants nothing more than to make his son's dreams come true.

"It's his quest and we're just along for the ride," said Romero, a helicopter paramedic who lives in the San Bernardino Mountains ski town of Big Bear Lake. "We may or may not reach the summit this time. It might be a dress rehearsal."

Romero and girlfriend Karen Lundgren are adventure racers, competing in weeklong endurance races that combine biking, climbing, paddling and climbing through wilderness areas around the world.

Jordan's mother, Leigh Anne Drake, said she supports her son but she also sees her ex-husband's influence in the project.

"He went to his dad's for a weekend and came back with a new goal," to be the youngest to reach the top of Everest, she said. "If you're going to do it, you have to foot the bill. But if you set a record, you can get sponsorship."

The trio's Everest expedition is costing $150,000. Jordan, his father and Lundgren will be making the ascent with three sherpas.

Temperatures at the summit can plunge to 100 degrees below zero and hurricane-force winds blow much of the year. Atmospheric pressure at the peak is about a third that of sea-level, which can lead to breathing difficulties, mental sluggishness and other serious medical problems. Climbers usually use bottled oxygen.

The extreme cold, lack of oxygen, falls, exhaustion and avalanches have killed hundreds of climbers. Many of their bodies remain beside the trail.

Guides who have experience with Everest say Jordan will probably be safe, as long as he and his team pay close attention to how their bodies are reacting to the high altitude and low oxygen conditions near the peak.

"After doing five of those peaks — I've done them, it's hard — that means he's a tough kid," said Jason Edwards, a guide with the Seattle-based International Mountain Guides. The outfitter has a minimum age limit of 18 for Everest expeditions because of liability issues.

But Gordon Janow, a guide with Alpine Ascents International, also based in Seattle, said there's not a lot of research on the short- and long-term effects of high altitude on children, whose brains and bodies are still developing.

"We're in a day and age where parents are pushing kids to extremes so much. It's very hard to disentangle the parent from the kid these days," he said. "But with mountaineering, the kid can't just go through the motions. They have to do a lot of physical training and really want it."

Janow has turned down 14-year-olds who wanted to climb Kilimanjaro without their parents.

"Jordan's probably a better bet than some 68-year-old guy who's only done two mountains," he said. "These days it's moving so fast, it's a 10-year-old sailing around the world this year and an 8-year-old the next. What's reasonable anymore?"

During the frenzy of packing, Jordan's mother said she is bracing herself for two long months when the only news of her son will come from a blinking dot that represents his GPS device on a topographical map of Everest.

"I'm on a roller coaster," Drake said as her voice cracked with emotion. "From the second he leaves my arms until he's back, it's like I can't breathe and I can't cry. But at the same time, I'm so overjoyed that's he's getting the chance to do and see all of these amazing things."

She said her son is taking two months of homework to Nepal so he can keep up with school.

The current record holder for the youngest to climb the peak is Temba Tsheri of Nepal who was 16 and lost five fingers during his ascent due to frostbite.
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t'Sade

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #32 on: April 11, 2010, 01:11:17 PM »

I still fully think that children can do it, just a matter of finding the right one with all the right factors.

Knowing it, is the hard part.

Making sure it isn't the parents and people pushing them... a bit harder.
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Ludovico

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #33 on: April 12, 2010, 09:57:11 AM »

I think this is a lot safer relatively speaking than sailing around the world. A support team would closely monitor it.

Of course, the parents role can be very subtle.
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t'Sade

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #34 on: May 23, 2010, 05:52:30 PM »

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/22/13-year-old-boy-beco.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boingboing%2FiBag+%28Boing+Boing%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Well, he did it. Apparently, they couldn't get to the top of Everest form one side because of his age, so they went the long way through China and did it anyways. Kind of cool and it points out that people are capable of doing a lot. Of course, he's trying to do the seven greatest mountains, but in many ways, I don't see how this is much different than the girl. But, then I don't have either (yet) so I don't have that connection.
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MariusVI

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #35 on: July 29, 2010, 01:13:38 PM »

Girly's off to join the pirates now as well...

Custody has been transferred from Child Protection to the legal (and biological) parents, who've agreed to let her go.

She'll probably get humped by a humpback whale before the day is over, but let her revel in her newfound freedom now...

I wonder what route she will take - being a nice piece of blonde ass for any Somali, Malay or Indonesian pirate!

Duh... that all does sound rather sexist, yet ideology or no, the sea isn't a safe place to be, and letting her go is as crass a decision as keeping her grounded.

Must be the influence of Hollywood, which makes me write in one-liners.
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t'Sade

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #36 on: July 29, 2010, 05:12:53 PM »

Well, I'm in favor of it. Even if it goes horribly, it is one of those things I think is remarkable.

Ignoring her entire age, it would be an story right up my venue if she was kidnapped by pirates, forced to be their sex slave before eventually taking over them and ruling her own pirate empire. She eventually gets all the way around the world a decade later as an afterthought.

A terrible thing for reality, a fun story in fantasy.
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Ludovico

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #37 on: August 08, 2010, 09:33:14 AM »

Apparently, this is catching on....


Parents of rescued teenage sailor Abby Sunderland accused of risking her life

Sailing experts condemn family for allowing 16-year-old American girl to attempt a solo round-the-world voyage

A teenage girl attempting to sail solo around the world was rescued yesterday in a remote spot of the Indian Ocean, bringing to a successful conclusion the dramatic bid to save her life.

Sixteen-year-old American Abby Sunderland was picked up from her stricken vessel by a dinghy launched from the French fishing boat Ile de la Reunion.
Abby Sunderland's boat adrift Wild Eyes adrft in the Indian Ocean, spotted from a rescue plane. Photograph: Will Blackshaw/AP

Her father, Laurence Sunderland, speaking to reporters outside their California home, said his daughter was safe and well: "She got out of her vessel with the clothes on her back, and we are just really excited and ecstatic that Abigail is in safe hands. She was in good spirits… she talked to her mother."

However, the same cannot be said of Sunderland's yacht, Wild Eyes. The vessel was apparently pounded by gigantic waves that had destroyed its mast, which in turn knocked out her satellite communications equipment. The yacht was then effectively left floundering midway between Africa and Australia. It is likely to be allowed to sink.

Sunderland had activated an emergency beacon which started a huge search and rescue operation involving Australia, America and France. Numerous ships became involved in the hunt, as well as a chartered jet which spotted the teenager late on Thursday. Sunderland was able to radio the plane and say report that was fit and had food and water supplies.

The rescue itself was not without incident as rough seas saw the captain of the French boat fall into the water. "He was fished out in difficult conditions," said a statement from the French territory of Reunion Island.

Though the search for Sunderland ended happily, it has caused a debate on the wisdom of such young sailors making dramatic and dangerous journeys. Sunderland was following the achievement of her brother, Zac, who had made the solo journey around the world at the age of 17, becoming the youngest person in the world to do so.

Many critics of Sunderland – and her parents – have criticised the decision to let her go on such a journey. "It's not something that a 16-year-old should be able to decide whether they're capable of doing it. It's potentially irresponsible for the parents," Michael Kalin, junior director of San Francisco's St Francis Yacht Club, told the Associated Press.

Other top figures from the world of sailing joined in the criticism. "In Abby's case she was lucky. It's only a matter of time until we end up with a tragedy on our hands," said Derrick Fries, a world sailing champion and author of Learn to Sail.

Such opinions by professionals have been echoed on blogs and comments on news articles as members of the public have called the Sunderlands irresponsible and careless. One commentator on the Los Angeles Times website summed up the view of many: "Abby Sunderland was on the wrong type of boat (a racing yacht) in the wrong location (the southern Indian Ocean) at the wrong time of year (winter in the southern hemisphere). Other than those minor details it was a well-planned voyage."

But the family have robustly defended themselves. They have pointed out that Abby is a highly experienced and highly skilled sailor. They have even used the debate to criticise the too-careful tendency of much modern parenting advice and said that a certain amount of risky challenge was healthy for an adventurous child.

"I never questioned my decision in letting her go. In this day and age we get overprotective with our children," Laurence Sunderland said. "Look at how many teenagers die in cars every year. Should we let teenagers drive cars? I think it'd be silly if we didn't."
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Ludovico

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #38 on: August 08, 2010, 09:39:55 AM »

Wow.....read the following....

Laura conceded her trip "is a little bit different as the old ones, because they do it nonstop and I will do with stops."

Asked whether she was afraid of pirates in the Gulf of Aden, she said no, she expected to travel in a protected convoy through that area.


Convoys?? Stops???  Are we raising spoiled, soft kids today, or what?  >:(
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t'Sade

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #39 on: August 09, 2010, 06:30:24 PM »

Yes.

We have very protected "firsts" with things like that. I mean, she had satellite communication which is something the first people didn't have. On the other hand, part of it is so people felt safe about letting a 16 year old do things like that.

And, if you just tossed her on a boat and said "see you in a year", they would be arrested so fast it wouldn't even be funny.
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der Wandersmann

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #40 on: August 09, 2010, 07:07:45 PM »

No they wouldn't ... Lud would.
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KK

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #41 on: August 09, 2010, 08:04:42 PM »

I think it is totally irresponsible of the parents.
I wonder how much of it is the girl's real free will or the indoctrination by her parents. But that's probably something we will never know for sure.

So, I guess she either makes it or she doesn't. If she does, fine. If she doesn't, I don't think mankind will be off much worse. And she can at least serve as a warning.
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t'Sade

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #42 on: August 10, 2010, 06:38:09 AM »

Or encouragement. I mean, her 17 yo brother already did it.

Quote
Sunderland was following the achievement of her brother, Zac, who had made the solo journey around the world at the age of 17, becoming the youngest person in the world to do so.

But, then it comes a push to beat her brother. I do agree that her parents were influential in this and probably pushed her a lot faster than she thought. Not to mention, she pushing herself or her brother pushing her.
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Ludovico

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #43 on: August 11, 2010, 10:10:45 AM »

No they wouldn't ... Lud would.

Damned straight!  8)

Seriously, parents pushing their kids too hard is  really problematic. Think about how much they will miss socially.
« Last Edit: August 12, 2010, 09:08:17 AM by Ludovico »
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der Wandersmann

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Re: What can a 13 year old do?
« Reply #44 on: August 11, 2010, 12:49:18 PM »

Especially if they're dead.
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