An eight-year-old boy has become the youngest person to climb the crags of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, USA. According to his father, Joe Baker, who accompanied him on the climb that ended yesterday, the experience changed the boy’s life.

Sam “Adventure” Baker began cliff climbing with his father on Tuesday. To achieve this feat, the duo relied on a team of two others. Ascension was carried out during the day and nights were spent in temporary hammock-like structures on the rock surface.

Joe Baker wrote in a Facebook post, “I’m so proud of Sam. He’s the youngest rope-assisted climber to ever climb El Capitan. In a few years, he could be back and break more records.”

Sam’s mother, Ann Baker, told CNN that she supports her son’s adventures. “They seem so happy to be there and they’re in high spirits,” she joked.

Climbing El Capitan, a rock formation towering 910 feet above Yosemite Valley, is a challenge for even the most seasoned climbers and a favorite destination for many in the global climbing community, according to Joe Baker.

In 2019, 10-year-old Selah Schneiter climbed the mountain and broke the record for the youngest person to do so at the time.

But the successes of the two boys are not without controversy, according to the British tabloid The Guardian.

Some climbers say the method known as “hacking” – or rope climbing – is not true climbing, as it uses the rope for climbing and does not interact much with the rock surface.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that a longtime Yosemite climber who watched people climb El Capitan said the two recordings were “publicity hoax.”

“The park’s own guides do everything I’ve seen. So it’s not a climb,” Tom Evans told the newspaper.

First route at 3 years old

But the Baker family doesn’t seem to mind the criticism at all. “This adventure is already changing both of our lives,” said Sam’s father. “When we got downstairs, I told Sam about his next big goal. He wondered what it might be. I already told you it was going to be even harder.”

According to local newspaper The Union Democrat, Sam grew up in Colorado and has already made a name for himself in the rock climbing groups. He was just three years old when he completed his first course in the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. He was four years old when he and his father climbed 396 meters to climb the Second Flatiron outside of Boulder, Colorado.

When Sam was seven years old, he climbed the Lost Arrow Spire in Yosemite Valley. Before he was eight years old, Sam climbed the Fairview Dome and Eichhorn Pinnacle above Tuolumne.