14-Year-Old Set to Climb Antarctica's Highest Peak

mount-vinson-110112-02 — Antarctica's highest point, Mount Vinson, as seen from space. (Image credit: NASA.)

A 14-year-old California boy, already the youngest person to climb Mount Everest, is set to become the youngest climber to scale the highest point in Antarctica.

A year after conquering Mount Everest, Jordan Romero has set his sights on Mount Vinson , 16,050 feet high (4,900 meters). A successful climb would make him the youngest person to complete the Seven Summits circuit climbing the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents, AOL News reported.

Romero has been scaling the continental giants since 2006, when along with his father and his father's girlfriend, he climbed Africa's peak, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. [Infographic: Tallest Mountain to Deepest Ocean Trench .]

The Antarctic expedition is to last three to five weeks. Upon his return, Romero said, he will set out on another expedition a tour of the highest mountains in all 50 states, to raise awareness for the outdoors and to encourage kids to exercise.

"I'm really stoked about touring all 50 states. We're giving presentations to schools and clubs. We're going around to get the message to kids across the nation to go outdoors," Romero told AOL News.

One 9-year-old Nepalese boy doesn't need that message. Tseten Sherpa, a third-grader, wants to scale all 29,029 feet (8,848 meters) of Mount Everest this summer . By doing so, he would break Romero's record as the youngest person to climb Mount Everest if the feat were recognized.

New laws may keep Romero's record intact. Romero was 13 when he scaled Everest in May 2010, but climbers now must be 16 years old to climb Everest from the Nepali side and 18 years old to climb from the Tibetan side.

Reach OurAmazingPlanet staff writer Brett Israel at bisrael@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @btisrael.

Brett Israel was a staff writer for Live Science with a focus on environmental issues. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from The University of Georgia, a master’s degree in journalism from New York University, and has studied doctorate-level biochemistry at Emory University.