7-year-old [with AS] climbs Mount Rainier

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7-year-old climbs Mount Rainier
10:53 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 20, 2005
By ELISA HAHN / KING 5 News

BOTHELL, Wash. – A 7-year-old Bothell boy has accomplished something most adults will never achieve – he climbed Mount Rainier.
Aidan Gold is already reaching for the stars, and he was never closer than last Thursday when he reached the 14,411-foot summit of Mount Rainier and his parents have the pictures to prove it.
Others on the mountain were shocked to pass this pint-sized climber.
"Everyone would stop and wait and watch. Part of it was curiosity and part of it people were just concerned about him," said Warren Gold, Aidan's father.
Aidan says there was no need for worry. He is a veteran who's climbed around 90 mountains.
His parents are avid climbers and early on, Aidan started following in their footsteps - literally. He took on Mount Si at age 3 and Mount Adams at age 6.
"I think I have the focus," said Aidan.
That focus comes from a type of autism called Asperger's Syndrome.
"What seems to come with this is an intense ability to focus on things the child is interested in," said Warren.
It allows Aidan to do amazing tasks, like create elaborate origami and climb big mountains.
"When I came in to the crater, they all stood up and gave me a standing applause," said Aidan.
His parents admit they've gotten questions about safety and criticism.
"To be honest, I think it's more dangerous to drive on our freeways. In the mountains we can control our risks to a high degree. Not completely, but to a high degree," said Warren.
What is undeniable is that this young boy is able to take his disability and turn it into an advantage.
"I don't think we really realized what a blessing it really was," said Warren.
In a few months, Aidan and his family will head to the Alps, then in the winter to the Mount Everest base camp. Aidan says he just wants to see what challenges he may take on later in life.
The Golds say they have found no official record of the youngest person to climb Mount Rainier, but they have been told that Aidan is not the first 7-year-old to reach the summit.

/me is out of breath just reading this. I complain about a little incline in a walk in the park, lol.

A child who can climb a high peak like Mt. Ranier has gotta have some pretty strong lungs. I tend to worry about lack of breath when I am in Lake Tahoe, which is only half the altitude.

A 7-year old healthy like that can probably spend lots of time climbing the Himilayas as an adult, as long as s/he stays in good condition. Living in the Alps or in Bolivia would be a piece of cake too.

That Article Said:

Sweet. A blind man climbing Mount Everest, and a aspie climbing Mt. Ranier.

_________________

I wonder if having AS can be an advantage? Like for some reason, being able to filter out the worries and keep going.

But then a disadvantage would be having too much focus on the worries and building up an anxiety over it.



Blind climbers climbing Mt. Everest. An AS kid climbs Mt. Ranier.

Paraplegic climbing the vertical steep end of Half Dome. (They showed live footage on TV sometime in the early '90s.)

Has a deaf person climed any major peaks or mountains?

I suppose deaf people have climbed major peaks and mountains, but I haven't done any research on it yet. It's just amazing how people with "disabilities" can do things that many "normal" people cannot.