The True Story Behind the 7-Year-Old "El Cap Kindergartener"<br>Climbing Magazine logoPowered by Outside

The True Story Behind the “El Cap Kindergartener" Ascent<br>On May 22, a 7-year-old reached the summit of El Capitan. Why are so many climbers upset about it?

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Joey Danger Evermore jugs up El Cap on his May 2026 ascent. (Photo: Courtesy of Joe Evermore)

Published June 2, 2026 04:03PM

By now you’ve surely seen the headlines: On May 22, a seven-year-old boy made it to the top of El Capitan in Yosemite. In the past week, various news outlets, including People and FOX, have reported on Joey Danger Evermore, who spent five days jugging up El Cap alongside his dad, Joe, and his 11-year-old brother, Sylvan. When the group summited the Nose (5.9 C2; 3,000ft) around 1 a.m. that Friday, Joey became the youngest person in history to ascend El Cap—breaking a record set by eight-year-old Jackson Houlding in November 2024, after he jugged the Muir Wall (5.10 C3; 2,900ft) with his parents and siblings. On May 23, the most-watched newscast in the world, ABC World News with David Muir, dedicated its kicker segment to Joey.

“I’m going to the moon!” shouted Joey on camera, pushing off from the wall.

Typically, when climbing records are broken, Climbing reporters like me are quick to celebrate and share the details. But this one felt different. From my view in Yosemite, where I’m based for the season, most of the climbers I know regard the ascent—and specifically the dad in the equation—with dismissal or disdain.

Soon I heard the rumors: “It’s all for publicity.” “It’s such a junk show.” “The kids were crying the whole time.” “The dad’s got this weird, conservative agenda.” Climbers accused Joe Evermore of various crimes: hiring illegal and unqualified guides, getting in the way of a search and rescue operation, dragging up children who didn’t want to be there. Over breakfast tables and birthday dinners, I watched my friends and former colleagues debate whether the seven-year-old deserved to say he’d “climbed” El Cap: After all, neither he nor his dad led or even cleaned any of the pitches. Yet while many members of the climbing community condemned the Evermores, the world of non-climbers could not stop celebrating.

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To suss out some truth from these clashing versions of the story, I spoke with Joe Evermore himself, one of his hired guides (who agreed to be interviewed in exchange for anonymity), the director of the Yosemite Mountaineering School, and two Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR) members who encountered the Evermores at the summit. What I found was a complicated picture of media, climbing achievement, and parenting—and a much bigger story than what’s been told.

Kids on El Cap

Joe Evermore is not the first person to decide that a child is ready to shuffle-crunch their body up a thousand-foot mound of granite. In 1987, Mike Caldwell brought his son, Tommy Caldwell, up Lost Arrow Spire (1,400ft) at just six years old. Brands often tout Tommy’s early experience as foreshadowing for his legendary career in Yosemite big wall climbing.

Yet for most “El Cap kids,” jugging lines at younger and younger ages does not necessarily make them Caldwell-esque prodigies. In 2001, the now-grown Tommy joined Beth Rodden, Steve Schneider, and Hans Florine in fixing lines on the Nose for 11-year-old Scott Cory to jug over three days. Later, in 2012, big wall aficionado Andy Kirkpatrick climbed Tangerine Trip (5.7 A3; 2,300ft), another El Cap classic, fixing lines for his 13-year-old daughter, Ella Kirkpatrick. Seven years later, in June 2019, longtime American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA)-certified guide Mike Schneiter brought his 10-year-old daughter, Selah Schneiter, up the Nose to take the official “youngest rope ascent” record on the mountain. That autumn, the record fell to nine-year-old Pearl Johnson, who jugged up Triple Direct with her mother, Janet Johnson, and YOSAR’s own Nick Sullens. Neither Scott, Ella, Selah, nor Pearl are household “pro climber” names today.

Then there were the Hersons. In contrast to other parents, Jim and Anne Herson encouraged their offspring to actually climb the routes as much as possible, whether on toprope or lead. At age five, Connor Herson followed Snake Dike (5.7; 900ft) on Half Dome, while his sister Kara Herson completed a jumar-less NIAD (Nose In a Day) at just 14 years old. When he was 15, Connor became the youngest person ever to free the Nose (5.14a; 3,000ft), the first of his many historic climbs.

But unlike the parents before him, when Joe Evermore decided to train his children to jug El Cap, he had not yet climbed it successfully himself. In his twenties, Joe tried at least twice to aid Triple Direct (5.9 C2; 3,200ft) on El Cap and also attempted to aid up the West Face (5.7 C2; 1,000ft) of Leaning Tower. Each time, he ended up bailing.

“I’m not super stoked on my record, to be honest, of failed...