Jordan Romero is a 12-year-old kid from Big Bear Lake, California, who is on a quest to become the youngest person to climb the Seven Summits. He’s already climbed five. However, what’s more important for the outdoor industry is the opportunity for Jordan to be a role model and inspiration to get kids active and outside.

Doug Schnitzspahn asked Jordan to write an essay for the OR Show Daily about how to get kids involved in the outdoors. Schnitz later told me it was his favorite editorial story in all four days of the Daily. In case you missed it, I’ve posted it below. It looks long, but it’s well worth a five-minute read and it includes some terrific ideas that every company in the outdoor industry should take to heart.

Get Inside to Get Them Outside
By Jordan Romero

A normal day for me begins with hearing my cell phone alarm ring my favorite ringtone at 6:30 a.m.  I snooze it a couple of times, trot downstairs for a bowl of cereal, some Acai, FRS and some vitamins. I grab my lunch from the fridge, make sure my homework from the night before is packed in my bag and by 7:30 a.m. I am heading out the door for a short 10 minute walk to Big Bear Middle School. At 7:44 a.m. the first bell rings.  The rest of the day is spent shuffling between classes counting minutes.  One class ends at 10:18 a.m., another 11:41 a.m. and we get exactly 4 minutes to get between classes.  It’s a funny schedule to be so exact. It makes me laugh to be on a schedule that is so exact and it’s especially amusing that the school clock is actually 2 minutes off and they don’t even know it.  I set my watch by the satellite time on the Internet and the school clock is always 2 minutes behind.

Jordan on the Denali summit approach

So, at exactly1:55 p.m. (on the school clock) I am finished with school and I walk 10 minutes home (maybe it’s even 11 minutes since it’s up hill, but by that time, I am pretty much done with counting minutes).  I get home, grab a snack and then nearly every day I do some exercise.  Sometimes I run, sometimes I hike, other times I bike, practice on my slackline or do some climbing practice. It’s a habit and I like doing it. I’ve been exercising in the outdoors since I was a little kid. My Dad took me camping and hiking before I could even walk. I grew up in the outdoors, it’s a real part of my life.  The gear, the magazines, the sports stores, it’s what I know and mostly it’s my Dad’s fault. (Thanks Dad!)

I live in a mountain resort community where running, biking, hiking, paddling are the norm and are within easy access to everyone, yet there are many, many kids at my school who don’t go and don’t want to play outside.  It’s not their fault, they just never got the same opportunity that I did.  If a kid’s parents don’t teach them to play in the outdoors, who will?

I think that’s where the Outdoor Industry needs to focus their attention.  They need to get the attention of the kids who don’t go out, the kids who don’t know what to do outside.

Jordan on the summit of Mt Elbrus with his dad.

The big question is how to get the attention of these kids, the ones whose parents don’t know what to do or where to go either. These kids don’t have mountain bikes in their garage, backpacks just waiting to be filled with camping gear that is tucked away on the shelves.  These kids’ parents don’t have adventure magazines lying on the kitchen table. No amount of advertising is going to reach these kids and teach them that they can forget the time, ignore the minutes of the day and go enjoy the outdoors.

So, how can the Outdoor Industry reach these kids?

The big companies need to be connected in the local communities.  They need to be involved with the local Parks and Recs, Teen Centers and schools.  The way to become a household name is to be a part of the school athletic teams, let kids try out their products, sponsor contests and give prizes directly to the kids.

Kahtoola and Powerbar have begun such programs and they are spreading their name to kids who never heard of them before.  Powerbar sponsored our Middle School Cross Country team. We all wore our cool Powerbar shirts for training, to school and everywhere.  Our non Cross Country friends all learned about Powerbar at school from all of us. Kahtoola has joined in by sponsoring our school’s first Snowshoe Club.  They’re giving us 15 pairs of snowshoes to borrow so that even kids who don’t have the gear can join the club.  It doesn’t matter if their parents have even heard of snowshoeing, they can join.  By getting involved locally, kids don’t have to rely on their parents to teach them about the outdoors.  It’s a good role for the Outdoor Industry.

A little education will grow a whole new generation of outdoor kids who in turn will show their kids the way.  Together we’ll create a healthier and happier group of kids and parents.  A group of kids that use their watch to find the altitude, read a compass, the barometer and chronograph and know how to find the correct time.

For you cynics out there, who think that Jordan’s parents wrote this essay for him, read this interview that Outside magazine did with Jordan.

Jordan is the real deal, and he’s got the right ideas about how to get kids outdoors. We should all be following his lead.