It’s not clear whether to file this under the category of “crazy things parents push children to do” or under “wow, that little girl is so, so cool.”
The mind boggles at the story that 10-year-old Selah Schneiter climbed the famously difficult El Capitan cliff in Yosemite National Park. The heart also races. The film of her ascent of the 3,000-foot mountain is enough to give vertigo to almost anyone who watches. The viewer understands that Selah and her father, Mike, are experienced climbers and that Mike rigged all the ropes to make sure Selah was safe.
Still, the thought of such a mite of a girl climbing the towering rock face almost exactly a year after two expert climbers fell to their deaths there is bracing, to put it mildly. Just a week after Schneiter became the youngest person ever to climb El Capitan, another experienced climber died on a less difficult mountain in the same park.
Put all that aside for now, though. The fact is, young Selah made it, both safely and with a sense of great fun. This girl clearly is strong, talented, and determined. On camera, she also comes across as winsome, charming, and engaging. This isn’t a Tiger Woods or Jennifer Capriati, pushed while remarkably young into some professional atmosphere by hard-driving parents. Instead, Selah seems to have embraced the challenge in a spirit of adventure married to meticulous planning.
“This is pretty incredible!” said Leland Davis, a veteran climber and well-known outdoors author. (He also just happens to be my cousin.) “The challenge with taking kids that young on adventures that big is managing their fear while also making sure that they appreciate the risk involved in the situation and remain focused on safety throughout. It’s a rare kid that can combine those two things at that young age.”
So, here’s a tip of the hat to Selah. Her achievement is remarkable, indeed inspirational. She’s a champ. Oh, and she’s really, really cool.
