Teen Climbing New Heights

Tori Allen is so skilled at rock climbing that you're left wondering if even Spider-Man can do what she does, reports Early Show National Correspondent Hattie Kauffman.

"I go to the state fair sometimes and ask, 'Can I climb the wall?'," says Allen. "And then they're like: 'Sure, yeah, right.' And then I get on the wall, and they're like: 'Oh my goodness.'"

Allen became the youngest woman ever to climb the face of Yosemite's El Capitan — a 3,500-foot climb up.

There might be soldiers who can't perform some of the maneuvers Allen does. She can use only her arms to climb walls. She even can do pull-ups with one finger holding the bar.

Last year, someone asked her if she wanted to try the X-Games in Philadelphia, an extreme sports competition. The event was called speed climbing.

"I had never done speed climbing," says Allen. "So I was excited. I was like: 'Oh well, I'll do this for fun.'"

She did a lot more than just have fun. Allen became the first American to win an X-Games gold medal in speed climbing.

"I set the wall record at 13.4 seconds," says Allen. "And the year before, the record was 17-something. So I beat the world record by four seconds."

It was an accomplishment Allen was extremely happy about.

"She wants to be an Olympian," says father Steve Allen. "And the X-Games for her was her Olympic moment in an extreme sport."

Since rock climbing is not in the Olympics, Allen decided to take up another high-flying sport — the pole vault. Before trying that sport, she was a figure skater. It seems whatever Allen tries, she turns to gold.

From her days on the ice, to life on the rocks, Allen says she likes anything that will take her higher or faster.

"I don't think I've ever been scared," says Allen. "I just like the thrill of something."

But for parents Steve and Shawn Allen, having a daughter who can do what she does can be both a blessing and a burden.

"What if there's an accident? What if she gets hurt?" asks Steve. "I questioned the whole four days she was doing it. I questioned if it was the right decision."

And sometimes the decision is no.

"I refuse to let her bungee jump 'cause it scares me to death. She wants to do whitewater kayaking. And I told her she had to learn to swim first," says Shawn. "But, she's 14. You know, I have to remember that. She acts like she's 18, 20, 25 sometimes."

But the 14-year-old is drawing lots of attention. Her picture has graced the covers of Scholastic and Sports Illustrated magazine.

And she is as focused in the classroom as she is in athletics. Also, in her spare time she gives motivational speeches to younger students.

"Her talks, I think, are a mirror of her," says Mike Holman, a dean at Lawrence Central High School. "That she truly lives what she believes."

"I see the future and I think it's unlimited for her," says Shawn Allen. "It's unlimited. And I'm proud of her."

Tori Allen agrees and says the sky the limit for her. She says she want to either be a kindergarten teacher or a CIA spy. But whatever Allen will do, you can bet she'll be going places and not just hanging around.