Stella Noble, 9, youngest to climb Colorado’s Longs Peak ‘Diamond’

Stella Noble is not scared of heights.

The 10-year-old mountain climber from Boulder, Colo. insists that looking down from 10,000-foot peaks is nothing but exciting.

"It looks cool, you can see everything!"

This summer, the little girl, then nine, became the youngest person to climb "The Diamond," the sheer east face of Longs Peak in the Rocky Mountains.

Stella's father, Forrest, has climbed The Diamond "twentysomething times, in all seasons and conditions," Colorado Daily reports. A photo of The Diamond in his office inspired his daughter to climb the mountain.

Stella certainly had the climbing credentials to tackle such a mountain. She started young, scaling the walls in her family's basement home climbing gym. By the age of five, she was climbing with the ABC climbing program for kids. And this year, she won the Sport Climbing Series National Championship.

Still, the decision to let their daughter climb such a dangerous peak wasn't an easy one for Stella's parents.

"I wrestled long and hard with myself and had long discussions with my wife about bringing Stella up into such a harsh and unforgiving environment . . . When I consider her abilities against many partners I have been up there with I think she is actually more qualified than most who attempt this climb," Forrest wrote in Stella's scrapbook.

"It can be dangerous up there," said Stella's mother, Paige. "But they were going the safest way they could." She emphasized that her husband is very safe with child climbers.

Forrest climbed alongside his daughter on the last climbable day of the season, to minimize the risk of falling ice rocks.

Stella's climb to the 4,346-metre summit and back took more than 11 hours.

Forrest says his daughter is "a natural" at the sport. Her drive is what makes her excel at it.

"It's this drive she has that makes her good at it. Whatever she does, even washing the car, she wants to do the best job she can," he told The Daily Mail.