Esri Announced Teen's Antarctic Trek Goes Live with App

December 13, 2011

Esri announced that the Southern California teen who made headlines last year when he became the youngest person to summit Mount Everest has set his sights on the South Pole. Fifteen-year-old Jordan Romero will leave his home in Big Bear, California, on December 12, 2011, and journey to Vinson Massif, Antarctica's tallest mountain. During the climb, Romero and his team will use an Esri application to provide updates that include their GPS location, weather, and elevation. The app integrates with social media sites and supports the 7 Summits Challenge, in which Romero encourages others to participate in his climb by logging their own miles running, walking, cycling, or swimming.

Jordan Romero will use an Esri application to publish live updates from his trek up Vinson Massif in Antarctica

"This app will let my friends and family and fans come along on the climb," Romero said. "Thanks to the social media integration Esri developed, we can send our location and text messages from the satellite phone directly to Facebook. We will be able to keep the world updated every step along the way."

Esri said that those who sign up for the 7 Summits Challenge will use the app to record daily activities and miles covered. People who finish the challenge will be rewarded by having their own avatar virtually join Romero at the top of Vinson Massif.

"The 7 Summits Challenge aspect of the application lets our team share our message of setting goals and living healthier lifestyles," Romero said. "It's easy. You just sign up, set a goal, choose a summit, enter daily workouts, and view your development along with our journey."

Romero's father and stepmother, both experienced mountaineers, will accompany him up Vinson Massif, as they have done with his previous endeavors.

According to the announcement, updates from Romero and his team will be displayed live here, sent via satellite phone provided by Network Innovations. Esri has partnered with GeoPro LBS Inc. to develop a service layer to capture text, e-mail, and GPS coordinates from the satellite phone every five minutes and store the data on Esri ArcGIS software. Information collected during the expedition will be published by ArcGIS for Server and consumed by a web application built with ArcGIS API for Flex. The service layer integrates with Metro Exploration to deliver current weather reports and with Facebook to publish the team's messages.