American teenager reaches Everest peak

A 13-year-old American boy has become the youngest ever person to climb Mount Everest.

Jordan Romero's blog says his team reached the summit of the mountain earlier.

The teenager has already climbed the highest mountains in every other continent with his father and stepmother.

A spokesman for Romero said the boy’s team called by satellite phone from the summit today.

The record for the youngest climber to scale Everest was previously held by Temba Tsheri of Nepal. He reached the peak at the age of 16.

Jordan was climbing Everest with his father and three Sherpa guides. He left for the peak from the base camp on the Chinese side.

Jordan was on a quest to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents.

Everest was his first challenge above 8,000 metres (26,240 feet).

Meanwhile, a Nepalese Sherpa climbed to the summit of Mount Everest for the 20th time, breaking his own previous record for the most climbs up the world’s highest mountain.

Mountaineering Department official Tilak Pandey said Sherpa Apa’s ascent of the 29,035-foot summit today was his 20th successful climb.

Apa first climbed Everest in 1989 and has repeated the feat almost every year since.

His closest rival is fellow Sherpa guide Chhewang Nima, who scaled Everest 16 times.