8-year-old looks set to become youngest ever to climb Yosemite’s El Capitan

For the past two years, Sam Baker has been planning to climb the granite walls of El Capitan.

Well, as much as any 8-year-old can, even if it’s one whose parents are rock climbers who gave him the middle name Adventure and took him on his first rock climb at age 3.

Sam and his father, Joe Baker, have already climbed a third of the iconic rock, located on the west side of Yosemite Valley in the national park in central California.

On Monday, the pair set out to reach the summit, about 3,000 feet above the valley floor. If successful, Sam will become the youngest person to make the trip.

“Together we will live at least four days and three nights living on the wall” Joe Baker wrote on his Facebook page.

“All the time either the fingers or the anchors were hanging. Just imagine walking a mile on pavement on your toes, but uphill. But then we also have to take everything they need to live, including hundreds of pounds of just water. It will be a historic achievement for an 8-year-old.”

The whole process will be filmed and distributed via steam social media accounts and on the website under the name SamAdventure.com, which chronicles the various climbing adventures of a Colorado family with the goal of inspiring other families on their own journeys.

They request photos and/or videos on social media or even their own videos.

Obviously, this isn’t Sam’s first outing.

At the age of 5, he climbed Pingara Peak in Cirque Towers, Wyoming, and the head of Mount Albert near Independence Pass, Colorado. He has climbed all five of the 1,000-foot Flatirons in Boulder, Colorado, and has already climbed Yosemite’s Fairview Dome, Lost Arrow Spire, and Eichhorn Peak in the Tuolumne Meadows.

Nor is he the first child to try to climb.

In 2019, 10-year-old Selah Schneiter and her father For four and a half days, he climbed the route of Nos El Capitan, which runs through the center of the rock and has attracted top climbers since it was first climbed in 1958.

Climbing El Capitan at any age is not without its dangers. Climbers have famous cliff fall. Even Hans Florin, who set the record for the Nos route in just over two hours, had to be rescued from the mountain in 2018.

Joe Baker knows the risks.

“A lot of people are talking about the risks,” he wrote on Facebook on Monday. “It’s also important to discuss the benefits that far outweigh the risks. Start by asking: How would I be different today if I had climbed El Cap with my father when I was 8 years old? What do you think the rewards are?’