Colorado boy becomes the youngest American to reach peak of Matterhorn in Swiss Alps

I’d accomplished precisely nothing by age 11, but not all 11-year-olds are created equal…

Earlier this week, an 11-year-old from Colorado Springs, Sam Evermore became the youngest American to summit the Matterhorn, the iconic 14,690-foot mountain in the Swiss Alps.

The tween had previously attempted the ascent with his dad Joe last year, but severe weather forced them to turn back.

Sam and his dad reached the summit in just three hours and 45 minutes from Hörnli Hut (a mountain hut located at the foot of the north-eastern ridge), adding to a list of impressive accomplishments that includes being the youngest person to have ever climbed California’s El Capitan, which he completed in 2022 when he was eight.

The record for the youngest person ever to climb the Matterhorn is held by a Swiss climber, who completed the climb at eight years old in 1999.