8-Year-Old Becomes Youngest Ever To Summit Yosemite’s El Capitan

This morning, a monumental achievement by Sam Baker. I've got to the top of El Capitan. And now we're enjoying our light show at the top. At just eight years old. Good to go, buddy. He's the youngest climber ever to reach the top of California's El Capitan, Yosemite's iconic rock formation, towering at 3,000 feet. Whoa! For four days and three nights, Sam and his dad scaled the daunting granite walls in a four-person team. It's awesome and amazing. He didn't cry. Last whole three days, he was ready. Sam, it sounds like you're pretty tough. Yeah. We spoke with the duo hours before the historic summit, as they were securely clipped in and literally hanging on. You can see all of our gear hanging over here. Is there anything under you guys? Nothing. For thousands of feet, we're on sheer bare wall with a cot. This small but mighty third grader has been training for years on rock climbing walls to impressive peaks all across the country. Some of his gripping achievements documented on social media. Should we show them how high we are? Whoa! When did you start climbing? Since I can walk. All that practice now paying off in this groundbreaking and daring adventure. Fitting because adventure really is Sam's middle name. What does dad tell you when you get scared? Keep going. It's not about not having the fear. It's about having the fear and pushing through it. And that's really what courage is. Pushing through and reaching new heights while bringing father and son closer together. And of course, what goes up must come down. This journey isn't quite over for Sam. The team has an eight mile hike ahead of them as they start coming down El Capitan. The first order of business when they're on more stable ground. A big ice cream cone for Sam. You can imagine, you know, not a lot of food options up there. So they worked up an appetite. I love that his middle name is Adventure. I mean, he's living up to his name. My name is Peter Sedentary. Yeah, me too. Yeah, exactly. Comfortable at this desk. with the Today app. Download it now.