Cirrus@Austlit

'There is a TV news item playing right now about Selah Schneiter, a 10-year old who has just climbed to the summit of El Capitan. She is the youngest to have ever successfully made that climb. El Cap, as it is often called, is a 3000 ft rock formation located in the Yosemite National Park in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Even if you have absolutely no fear of heights, the idea of a 10-year old climbing El Cap is mindboggling. Selah comes from a climbing family (her parents met on an El Cap climbing trip back in 2004); but, for anyone of any age to do a climb like that (sheer granite, straight up) they need tremendous grip and finger strength, exceptional hip and shoulder flexibility, strong knee flexion – and they need a tremendous, unerring, deep-rooted amount of endurance. Summits are generally not considered to be within the reach of 10-year olds. Selah Schneiter's feat challenges our perception of what is possible.' (Graeme Harper. Editorial introduction)