10-year-old girl becomes youngest person ever to climb Yosemite's El Capitan
In just five days, Saleh Schneiter scaled 3,000 feet of steep rock formations to reach the top of Yosemite’s El Capitan—and she’s only ten years old.
"Our big motto was 'How do you eat an elephant?' Small bites," she told ABC affiliate KFSN. "One pitch at a time, one move at a time, one day at a time."
On June 12, Saleh became the youngest person to make it on the treacherous “Nose route” on El Capitan— one of the most challenging and treacherous vertical rock formations in the California national park.
Saleh climbed 31 pitches, or rock climbing sections, with the help of her dad, Michael Schneiter, and a close family friend.
"It's really overhanging in spots, you're looking down and you can see 3,000 feet down where you started and you're just thinking, 'Oh my gosh it's so big,'“ Schneiter told Good Morning America, adding that the route gets steeper and more challenging at the end.
However, the lofty heights didn’t scare the ten-year-old who stands at just 4-feet and 2-inches tall. The young climber rose to the challenge and made it to the top of El Capitan.
Selah was "just really in shock once we got to the top," according to her dad.
"Once she topped out, she was the first one to go up to this tree, that is a symbolic thing for climbers, and she just broke down in tears," Michael recalled. "She said it was her first happy tears she's ever had."
After the record-breaking five day climb, the three camped out on the top of the slab. While Michael and his friend were exhausted, Saleh was like a little kid again and wanted to check everything out exploring almost like it was nothing.
Michael, an American Mountain Guides Association-certified rock guide and instructor, helped Saleh prepare for the treacherous climb starting last year. However, the 10-year-old prodigy already had rock climbing in her blood.
Michael and his wife, Joy, met while scaling El Capitan themselves 15 years ago. Since then, the family has made yearly trips to Yosemite National Park.
Now that she’s accomplished her goal— and broke a record in the process— Saleh would "love to inspire other girls to just go be active," much like the female climbers who inspired her, including Margo Hayes and Lynn Hill.
"She's all about wanting other kids to be more active, whether it's biking, climbing, skiing — she always wants more kids to be active and not be on their phones, and I think that's ultimately some of our motivation to talk about it, because it's real,” Michael said.
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