Rock climbing veterans slam eight-year-old’s climb of Yosemite’s 3,000-foot El Capitan as a ‘hoax’

Seasoned mountaineers denounce a father’s claims that his eight-year-old son is the youngest person to ever climb Yosemite’s 3,000-foot El Capitan face.

Critics have accused Joe Baker of setting up a ‘publicity hoax’ around the climb, saying he ramped up media attention for his son Sam’s climb while misleading the public about the nature of the ‘record-breaking’ feat.

Sam, a second-grader from Colorado, and his father completed the ascent of El Capitan on Saturday to a chorus of headlines calling the ascent a “historic” event and hailing Sam as the youngest person to ever climb the daunting peak.

But many in the climbing community raised their eyebrows at the headlines, noting that Sam wasn’t actually climbing the rock face in the strict sense, but instead climbed with previously rigged ropes using a scaling device called a rope clamp.

Although Baker posted that Sam “completed ElCap’s latest ascent” on Saturday, critics said the father made that distinction only after spending months in the media watching his son as a rock-climbing prodigy. even the most hardened climbers take a break.

Critics also said Baker appeared to employ guides not approved by Yosemite National Park, and it was unclear where the money he raised leading up to the climb actually went.

Baker did not respond to requests from DailyMail.com for comment.

“This is a publicity hoax,” said Tom Evans, a retired teacher who has camped at the base of El Capitan for 28 years with a telephoto lens, documenting the comings and goings of climbers on the cliff.

For the past year, Baker has promoted publicity about his plans to have his son become the youngest person to climb El Capitan.

The duo has been featured in numerous news segments on local and national television and appeared in numerous interviews.

“You only get to El Cap if you’re an expert in the sport,” Baker said of his son in a promotional video on his website promoting the climb.

“That’s what we’re developing is a young man who is an expert in the sport. He can do everything the great climbers can do,’ he said.

While numerous clips show that Sam — whose family says he’s been climbing since he was able to walk — is an undeniably talented young climber, critics said Baker’s characterization of their mission to climb El Capitan wasn’t entirely fair.

“This is a publicity hoax,” said Tom Evans, a retired teacher who has camped at the foot of El Capitan for 28 years with a telephoto lens and documents the comings and goings of climbers on the cliff.

While numerous clips show that Sam — whose family says he’s been climbing since he could walk — is an unquestionably talented young climber, critics said Baker’s characterization of their mission to climb El Capitan wasn’t entirely fair.

Evans, 78, told the… San Francisco Chronicle that he watched the Bakers for four days of their ascent and that he never once saw them touch the rock or physically attempt to climb the wall.

Instead, he saw the pair “jump up,” which is a process in which the climbers use a mechanical device to slide up rope lines. The lines where the bakers were combing had been laid out for them by a climbing team that led the way and also carried most of their supplies.

“The guides do everything I’ve seen,” Evan said. “That’s why this isn’t a climb.”

Evans said he confronted Baker at a local restaurant the night before they started their climb.

‘The whole media presentation has to stop. I know your son has in no way suggested getting this record. This is about you,” Evans recalled to the Chronicle. “He said, ‘It’s not about the record, it’s about spending time with my son.’ I said, “Then why all the publicity?”

Sam and his father Joe Baker on the face of El Capitan during their climb. They completed the climb on Saturday

Sam Baker climbs El Capitan using a rope clamp, a mechanical device that allows climbers to advance rope lines

Evans said the Bakers seemed to be cashing in on El Capitan’s reputation for their own gain.

“It annoys me because if you climb El Capitan, you’re in an elite group of climbers,” he said. ‘[The Bakers] stealing that reputation shamelessly for their own use.’

Tommy Caldwell, a well-known El Capitan scaler, told the Chronicle that he was skeptical of the Bakers because of their appetite for media attention.

“I find it a bit horrifying,” he said of their numerous television appearances.

He also thought their claims to a world record were questionable.

“Theoretically, I could have put (my son) in a transport bag when he was 1 year old and got him there” to claim a record, Caldwell said.