Jess Roskelley

Jess Roskelley is an American mountaineer. On May 21, 2003, he became the youngest American to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He is the son of mountaineer John Roskelley.

Jess Roskelley near the summit of the Citadel during the first ascent of the Hypa Zypa Couloir, Alaska Range. Photo by: Kristoffer Szilas.

Early life

Roskelley was raised in Spokane, Washington, where he attended Mt. Spokane High School. He later moved to Montana to attend the University of Montana.[1]

Mountain climbing career

Roskelley began his career in mountain climbing as a guide on Mount Rainier. He passed the Rainier Mountain Guides exam at the age of 18,[2] and by 20 (in 2003) he had reached the summit 35 times as a guide.[3]

In March 2003, Roskelley and his father, mountaineer John Roskelley, traveled to Mount Everest as members of an expedition named "Generations on Everest". The expedition marked Jess's first attempt at the Everest summit, while it was his father's fourth attempt, having failed on three attempts earlier in his career.[4] Father and son successfully reached the summit on May 21, 2003, at which time Jess Roskelley, at the age of twenty, became the youngest American to have reached the summit of Everest.[4] In 2010, this record was surpassed by Jordan Romero, who summited Everest at the age of thirteen.[5]

Roskelley later moved to Alaska where he divided his time between climbing and working as a tank welder.[6] In October 2012, he and John Frieh climbed a new route on Mount Wake in the Alaska Range. They called the route The Cook Inlet.[7] In April 2013, Roskelley, Ben Erdmann and Kristoffer Szilas forged a new route on the Citadel, a peak in the Kichatna Mountains of Alaska. The route, which is next to Supa Dupa Couloir, was named Hypa Zypa Couloir.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Profiles: Jess Roskelley". The University of Montana President's Report. University of Montana. 2003. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Jess Roskelley". JessRoskelley.com. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  3. ↑ Landers, Rich (June 8, 2003). "Peak of desire". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Leaming, Sara (May 21, 2003). "Roskelleys reach top of Everest". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  5. ↑ Sharma, Gopal (May 22, 2010). "California teen becomes youngest to climb Everest". Reuters. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  6. ↑ Cameron, Gwen (October 29, 2012). "Frieh Finds Two Late-Season Ascents In AK". Alpinist. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  7. ↑ MacDonald, Dougald (November 5, 2012). "Rare Autumn New Route in Ruth Gorge". Climbing. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  8. ↑ MacDonald, Dougald. "Amazing New Route in Alaska's Kichatna Range". Climbing. Retrieved March 9, 2014.

External links

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