American, 13, climbs Everest, calls his mom
<p>In this Sept. 1, 2009 file photo provided by the Romero family, Jordan Romero, 13, Jordan Romero poses at the Carstensz Pyramid summit, Oceania's highest peak at 16,024 feet, making Jordan the youngest person to summit. Romero, a 13-year-old American boy has become the youngest climber to reach the top of Mount Everest. A spokesman for Romero says the boy's team called by satellite phone from the summit of the world's highest peak on Saturday, May 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Romero family, File)</p>
BEIJING - The youngest climber to reach the peak of Mount Everest hugged his tearful companions and told them he loved them. Then 13-year-old Jordan Romero took the satellite phone and called his mom.
"He says, 'Mom, I'm calling you from the top of the world,'" a giddy Leigh Anne Drake told The Associated Press from California, where she had been watching her son's progress minute by minute on a GPS tracker online.
"There were lots of tears and 'I love you! I love you!'" Drake said. "I just told him to get his butt back home."
With Saturday's success on the world's highest mountain, at 29,035 feet above sea level, Jordan is just one climb from his quest to reach the highest peaks on all seven continents.
The teenager with a mop of long curly hair - who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa when he was 9 years old - says he was inspired by a painting in his school hallway of the seven continents' highest summits.
"Every step I take is finally toward the biggest goal of my life, to stand on top of the world," Jordan said earlier on his blog.
Before him, the youngest climber to scale Everest had been Temba Tsheri of Nepal, who reached the peak at age 16.
Also Saturday, officials said a Nepalese Sherpa who lives in Salt Lake City broke his own world record by climbing Everest for the 20th time. Apa, who goes by one name, went up to collect garbage, a growing environmental problem on the mountain.
Several climbers took advantage of Saturday's clear weather to reach the summit, Mountaineering Department official Tilak Pandey said. May is the most popular month for Everest climbs because of more favorable weather.
Jordan had never climbed above 26,240 feet, but his team climbed quickly along the final ridge to arrive at the peak hours ahead of schedule.
"The first thing, they all hugged each other and said, 'I love you, I can't believe we're finally here' and started crying," said Rob Bailey, the team's spokesman, by phone from the United States.
"I don't think it ever dawned on them to say, 'Oh my gosh, Jordan, you're the youngest to get up here,'" Bailey said. "It's never been about setting a record, besting anybody else."
Jordan, from the San Bernardino Mountains ski town of Big Bear, Calif., was climbing Everest with his father, his father's girlfriend and three Sherpa guides.
Helicopter paramedic Paul Romero and his girlfriend have trained Jordan for top-level mountaineering. Romero and Karen Lundgren are adventure racers, competing in weeklong endurance races that combine biking, climbing, paddling and climbing through wilderness areas.