Every day Stella Noble, of Boulder, Colorado, looked at a photo of the Diamond face of Longs Peak in her father's office.

She says, "He climbs it every year and I wanted to climb it, too."

On August 31, she got her wish. Stella and her father, Forrest, completed the Casual Route (5.10a) making her the youngest person ever to climb the Diamond, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

Ranked number one in the country for sport climbing in her age group, Stella recently competed in the Teva Mountain Games, winning the gold medal for ages 11 and under.  She is a member of the ABC climbing team based out of Boulder, Colorado.

[Stella Noble. Photo by Walter Workman.]

Stella and her father, with their friend Fredrik Marmsetter, climbed the Diamond as a trio.  Forest says, “I took some precautions, like climbing as a threesome with Stella in the middle. That way someone was always with her at each belay and at all times in close contact with her.” 

Forrest has climbed the Diamond over 25 times so he had a deep well of knowledge about the wall and route.  Due to her meager 50 pounds, Stella was exempt from belay duty during her ascent.

Before Stella’s ascent, then 12-year-old Tommy Caldwell held the title of youngest climber to ascend the Diamond after he seconded his father, Mike.  Tommy and Mike climbed as a duo, with Tommy belaying his father.  Next in age is Layton Kor’s cousin, Arland, who summited the Diamond at 15, just a few years after 16-year-old Roger Briggs’ ascent of D7 (5.11) in 1967.

The Diamond is the prominent east face of Longs Peak.  First climbed in 1960 by Bob Kamps and Dave Rearick via D1, the Diamond has a vertical gain of more than 900 feet and sits above 13,000 feet, topping out at 14,259 feet.    

The Casual Route, established in 1977 by Duncan Ferguson and Chris Reveley, is the least difficult route on the wall but all are serious undertakings.  Roughly 700 feet long, the climb is usually done in eight pitches.

Asked what she thought of it, Stella says, "It was fun."