Nine-Year-Old Boy becomes Youngest Person to Climb Argentina's Aconcagua Mountain Peak

A 9-year-old boy has gained the title of the youngest person in history to climb to the top of Argentina's Aconcagua mountain, according to the Associated Press (AP). Tyler Armstrong climbed the tallest peak in the Western and Southern Hemispheres at 22,841 feet high.

According to the news organization, Tyler's father, Kevin, and a Tibetan sherpa who had made the trip many times, climbed the mountain with him on Christmas Eve.

Though these climbers made it to the top unscathed by the mountain's bitter cold and extreme height, the climb has claimed over 100 lives, according to the AP.

"You can really see the world's atmosphere up there. All the clouds are under you, and it's really cold," Tyler said, via the news organization. "It doesn't look anything like a kid's drawing of a mountain. It's probably as big as a house at the summit, and then it's a sheer drop."

In order for Tyler to make it to the top, his father had to request a special permit because he was too young. It's estimated that of almost 7,000 obtained permits, only 30 percent of the climbers have actually made it to the top. For Tyler and Kevin, fortunately, Nicolas Garcia handled their paperwork in order to help them reach the top.

"Any kid can really do this, all they have to do is try. And set their mind to the goal," Tyler said, via the AP. However, he also added that in order to successfully climb the mountain, he had worked out twice a day for an entire year.

As part of his climb, Tyler fundraised for CureDuchene, which helps to fund muscular dystrophy research.

Before Tyler, Matthew Moniz, 10, of Boulder, Colarado, took the title as the youngest climber in 2008, according to the AP.