Kids & Family
7-Year-Old Could Be Youngest Ever To Summit Mt. Shasta
Mason Gurney trained over the course of the past year for the 26-hour hike to the top of the 14,180-foot peak.
REDDING, CA — A 7-year-old mountain climber reached the peak of Mount Shasta last month after a 26-hour hike and a year of training, according to news reports. Gurney became one of the youngest, if not the youngest ever, climber to reach the peak of Mount Shasta, the fifth-highest in California.
It wasn't his first summit either. On his seventh birthday, Gurney climbed White Mountain Peak, the No. 3 tallest in the state. At 14,252 feet, White Mountain is slightly taller than Mount Shasta but an easier climb.
"I thought it would be a little bit easier, but it came out to be maybe a little bit harder," Gurney told KTVL-TV. "Or like the same." His next goal is to climb Mount Whitney, the tallest in the continental U.S.
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His father, Travis Gurney, told KHSL he was initially unsure if they would make it to the top.
"Mason didn't struggle," he said. "We just kept a steady past all the way."
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