Nine-Year-Old Boy Becomes Youngest Ever to Summit Mont Blanc

Lelio Massimo di Roccasecca, nine, climbed the 4,807-meter (15,771-foot) Mont Blanc on September 4, 2026, with his father, Valerio Massimo di Roccasecca, becoming the youngest-ever person to reach the summit. Lelio’s father, an avid mountaineer who has summited peaks worldwide, including K2, introduced the boy to the mountains as a toddler. “It started as nostalgia, going back to places I went to,” reported Valerio to The Times of London, who first summited Mont Blanc at the age of 14. “But over time it grew into a chance to teach him grit and determination in a world of short attention spans and screens.”

Valerio has been careful to note that this is not Lelio’s first rodeo, and that the boy completed the ascent not just under his own power, but by his own volition as well. At five, he reached the summit of Gran Sasso — the highest mountain in Italy’s Apennines range — at 2,912 meters (9,554 feet) elevation. At eight, he summited the Bishorn, a relatively easy 4,000-meter (13,123-foot) peak in Switzerland. This August, Lelio and his father trained around the Mont Blanc Massif in preparation for their summit attempt. Their training includes several refuge stays, as children are more susceptible to altitude sickness than adults.

After reaching the Goûter refuge on September 2, Lelio and his father hunkered down for the next day due to high winds. At just 29 kilos (64 lbs), there was a real risk of Lelio getting blown away in high winds. The team continued the next day, with Lelio leading the final push to the summit. They then descended back to the Goûter refuge, where the refuge’s manager and several mountain guides were waiting to congratulate them.

The internet, however, hasn’t hesitated to criticize the achievement, with some labelling the act as attention-grabbing or even reckless. The main criticism is that the boy is too young to have truly assessed the climb’s risk on his own. Rather, he was a vehicle for his father’s — or his family’s — aspirations.

Meanwhile, Lelio’s father has stated that the climb was not, in fact, about records. Rather, it was the culmination of  Lelio’s passion and talent for mountaineering. Critics argue that, if that’s truly the case, it may have been a better idea to pause the summit attempt.

The Goûter route is perhaps more dangerous now than at any time in recent history. Record heat has been melting permafrost deep in the granite bedrock of the Mont Blanc Massif. This past summer produced rockfalls with astonishing frequency and size. In fact, the route was effectively closed between August 11 and 26 of this year. The crossing under the Grand Couloir was simply too risky. Two climbers were killed in the couloir on July 15, and another on September 10, just days after Lelio’s ascent.

• Related: Mont Blanc’s Easiest Route Closed Since August 11

These are objective risks; you can mitigate them to some extent with safe practice, like crossing at night when temperatures are cooler, but you can’t eliminate them entirely. Lelio and his father could have waited until next year. However, the boy then would have been too old to capture the record as a 10-year-old British boy holds the current record.

Yet, we can’t prove whether Lelio truly understood the risks of the ascent. And to be totally fair, we can’t prove that adults use proper risk assessment either. Risk will always be relative. Having summited K2 and Everest, Lelio’s father is well acquainted with risk. Valerio has likely passed on some of that attitude to his son.

What we can understand, however, is that this is an impressive feat for a nine-year-old kid, regardless of his motivations. Even with all of the world’s resources at their disposal, the vast majority of nine-year-old kids wouldn’t be up to this monumental task. Lelio has impressive drive, stamina, and ability to shrug off discomfort. He deserves recognition and congratulations for his accomplishment – and yes, a bit of glory, too.

• Related: 32 Mountaineers Forced to Pay for Helicopter Evacuation from Mont Blanc, France, After Climbing Despite Closure