By Julie Stutterheim
Angel More has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, swam to Alcatraz and, in a few weeks, she’ll embark on a journey to reach the highest mountain peak in the Americas. Did I mention she’s only 12 years old?
This amazing girl is determined to do what many cannot, and she’s hoping to raise support for Children International along the way.
Angel set a world record for most of these feats, and if she reaches the summit of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina on her climb this month, she’ll be the youngest girl to make it to the top. It’s a dangerous 19-day trek, and Angel and her father could face brutal weather, blinding snow, possibly even avalanches. Only 30 percent of climbers successfully complete this journey; the rest are forced to retreat back down the mountain.
Yet Angel is confident. She considers her first climb to Machu Picchu her most difficult challenge so far.
“My throat was hurting really bad, my head was hurting,” she says. “I was in bad shape. Something that helps me [when I climb] is eating chicken. Whenever I eat chicken, I feel better.” She now packs it on all her climbs.
“We don’t know if this is a scientifically proven way to handle altitude sickness,” laughs Hemant, Angel’s dad and frequent climbing companion.
After Angel and her younger sister, Amber, were born, her parents threw out the parenting rulebook.
When her coach offered a chance to swim in an open-water race, Angel was the only girl on her team who volunteered to compete.
“[People said] you can’t take kids on long walks, hikes, international flights … or this or that,” says Hemant. “So we ignored that advice completely. We just did it. Their ability to do things with minimal whining is inspiring.”
When Angel was 3 years old, her parents took her to Japan for two weeks. Every day they visited a new city, sightseeing and walking everywhere, usually about 10 miles each day. Although Angel was merely a toddler, she walked alongside her parents without complaining. When she was 4, she began a swimming program. Even at a very young age, her parents noticed that she had remarkable willpower and determination. At swim competitions, she discovered that many of her peers were faster in shorter distances, so she decided to differentiate herself in two ways – endurance and pure courage.
Her coach suggested the idea of an open-water race in the San Francisco Bay, and Angel was the only girl on her team to register.
“Many of her friends didn’t feel like they could do it, even though they were faster, stronger. So she has been able to work on her fear and take the plunge, literally and figuratively, and then just go with it,” explains her father.
Since then, Angel has competed in more than ten open-water races, including the Bridge-to-Bridge, a six-mile swim from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge, and the Swim Around the Rock (Alcatraz), where she holds the record as the youngest person to complete the race.
And with each race and each climb, she becomes more confident she can complete the next one.
In July, Angel and her family went on another adventure – this time to visit her family’s sponsored children.
Her parents were longtime supporters who began sponsoring through Children International when their children were born. They wanted to give to an organization that would benefit impoverished children directly, and when they found out they could visit their sponsored children, they knew it was meant to be.
At the community center in Guatemala, the children and youth made a huge impression on Angel.
“When I met the children, I knew that anything was possible for them,” says Angel. “I think children in poverty should get a chance also to succeed and do what they want to do in their life. These children also have big dreams, and they work hard to achieve them. Their biggest goals are to have a sustainable job, have a family and a home.”
Angel spent time with the children during the trip, making wallets out of recycled gift bags as part of a youth microenterprise project, playing soccer, learning to cook traditional food and visiting with program graduates.
Angel and her family traveled to Guatemala to meet their sponsored children and visit with youth at the CI community center.
“There’s not much of a difference between me and them. If we were able to help them out and give them better resources, we could all be equal, and we could all have a chance,” she says.
Angel feels an affinity with these youth and their determination. After all, they are also trying to reach an almost impossible summit: the climb from desperate poverty. For them, getting a job, starting a career and being able to help others in their communities means reaching the top of the mountain. And they have trained for years. Caring adults at the community centers, along with the resources they find there, such as medical, educational and career-readiness services, help them reach their goal. With each success, their confidence grows. In the end, endurance and courage matter most.
Angel is the youngest girl to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
After the trip to Guatemala, Angel wanted to help. She told her mom, “If I’m climbing Mount Aconcagua, maybe I should do it for a cause. I’m a kid, and I can help other kids.” She’s now hoping to raise $100,000 in support of Children International’s youth programs. Find out more about Angel’s climb and how you can get involved.
Her parents agreed, and Angel is already planning her next adventure in support of Children International. Yes, the mother of them all: Mount Everest. It’s her own mother she’ll still need to convince.
“I didn’t just wake up one morning and say [to Angel], oh, let’s walk to the top of the mountain,” says Archana, her mother. “We trained a lot. I had her climb with me, and then I knew, OK, my kid can handle this. Basically, I worry a lot.”
Her parents believe Angel is not just training for mountains but for life, building confidence and strength to tackle tough situations. Even though she’s only 12, she’s not just reaching for the stars; she wants to help other kids get there too.
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