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Men’s Journal Recognizes 16-Year-Old-Eagle-Scout’s Accomplishment, One of 2014 Greatest Feats

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Men’s Journal, a monthly outdoorsmen’s lifestyle magazine, recognized Matt Moniz for one of “The Best Record-Breaking Feats of 2014.” The 16-year-old Eagle Scout became the youngest person to summit the 27,766-foot Makalu (the fifth tallest mountain in the world) a week after summiting the 26,905-foot Cho Oyu (the sixth tallest mountain).

Moniz is a member of Long Peak Council’s Troop 171, chartered to First Presbyterian Church in Boulder, Colorado, and a high school junior at Boulder High with an impressive mountaineering background.

In 2007, Moniz began his mountain-climbing career with a climb to Mount Everest Base Camp with his father, Mike, and a group of climbers. His climbs include 14 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks, part of a fundraising effort to raised money for an ill friend.

The year 2010 was a record-breaking year for Moniz. National Geographic named Moniz as one of its Adventurers of the Year after he became the youngest to summit the highest points in all 50 states in just 43 days, a record-breaking time he shares with his father. Also, he is the youngest to hold the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Award.

Earlier this year, Moniz, along with his father and a small team, attempted back-to-back summits of the three 8,000-meter peaks of Cho Oyu, Mount Everest, and Lhotse, dubbed the “Triple 8.” The unfortunate April 18, 2014, avalanche on Mount Everest, which claimed the lives of 16 Nepalese guides, prevented their summit of that peak.

Although he did not complete the summit to Mount Everest in his “Triple 8” attempt, Moniz told The Denver Post this past summer, “It literally was the trip of a lifetime. Climbing Makalu was so much fun. Doing it in three days was unbelievably fun; I’d love to do that style again. It was so different from the classic expedition style. We were just one go, all the way up.”

 

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