Image of Boracay Island, Philippines, courtesy of fortraveler.com (click to enlarge).
Romeo Garduce is currently on his way to BC, after attempting Island Peak for acclimatization. Image of Romeo some days ago with Ama Dablam in background, courtesy of Romeo Garduce's GMA7 expedition blog (click to enlarge).
Earlier this year, Leo Oracion and Erwin Emata trained in New Zealand and Nepal (pic). Image courtesy of Philippines Mt. Everest expedition.
"There is no word on Abanojar's climbing experience. All we know of him is he is a 4x4 enthusiast." Image of Abenojar in a 4x4 driving competition, courtesy of Land Rover Club of the Philippines (click to enlarge).
'National' climber Leo Oracion, planting Philippines flag on top of Muztagh Ata last year. Image courtesy of Philippines Mt. Everest expedition (click to enlarge).
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Everest 2006: Philippines' update - Four climbers in the game
Posted: Apr 06, 2006 09:30 am EST
(MountEverest.net) Philippines are in focus this 2006 Everest season. The island archipelago of white sandy beaches and turquoise waters has two independent climbers and a national team currently approaching the mountain; in a quest to plant the Philippine flag on the summit of Everest for the first time.
The National Philippines Mount Everest Expedition was planned for 2007, but rapidly brought forward their plans when they heard a single climber, Romeo Garduce, was attempting the peak this year.
The official team decided to send their strongest members, Leo Oracion and Erwin Emata, to climb the peak ‘as a reconnaissance trip’ in order to guide the other national climbers there next year. Next, a ‘second batch’ of team members were reported leaving for Nepal in support of the two front-line climbers.
Dropping sponsors!
Funny enough, originally both the National team and Garduce were sponsored by The North Face. But the official team dropped TNF’s sponsorship (usually it is the opposite). “Presumably they were demanding exclusivity in the light of Romy Garduce's attempt this season,” Francis Lim, a Philippine mountaineer and member of the local mountaineering federation MFPI, told ExplorersWeb.
Things became even more interesting earlier this week, when a third party joined the game: Dale Abenojar, another individual climber reportedly nearing Everest BC.
The dark horse
“Abenojar is a mountaineer and a 4x4 enthusiast, member of the land rover club of the Philippines,” writes Francis. “He became famous in the Philippines for driving a 4x4, his 'deranged rover' as he called it, to the crater of mount Pinatubo, the sadly famous volcano which erupted in 1991 rendering thousands homeless. He doesn't have a website but google searches indicate that he sought for sponsors last year in Harry Kikstra’s 7-Summits forum board.”
“He was the first Philippine to publicly announce his intention to climb E in the 90's. He was also the first to bring up his plan to the government, but I guess they had more pressing matters to attend to, instead of a solo climber wanting to go for Everest and asking for government funding. Blogs from the MFPI (Philippines Mountaineering federation) e-groups say he turned up at EBC in '93 but didn't get as far as khumbu icefall and instead spent the whole time in Base Camp.”
It appears the general feeling is that Abenojar could be a showman, thriving on outrageous and high profile stunts:
"Besides from his Mt. Pinatubo 4x4 crater climb, he also 'climbed/rode' to the summit of Mt. Apo, the country's highest at 2954m., on a dirtbike. He had with him 7 porters to help him carry the bike thru the rocky sections," reports Francis. “Unlike the other Filipinos going for Everest, little has been known of Abenojar Alpine experience.”
Rumors are there can also be other unknown Filipinos out there suddenly turning up at EBC. It's clear already that Mount Everest will stir the tropical paradise of the Philippines this year.
The title of “Everest summiteer” goes much further when accompanied by a “first”. Even if the times of nations “conquering” the highest mountains on Earth are long gone, Everest still holds an attractive challenge and the promise of fame and glory for patriots everywhere.
In countries with no climbing tradition or solid climbing federations, the choice to launch a Himalayan expedition rests with private parties who have the technical and financial resources to take on such a task.
However, in other cases, government or public entities (such as a climbing federation), might be tempted to launch a ‘National’ expedition, aiming to plant their flag at the top of the world.
Romeo "Romi" Garduce (spelled 'Garduch' in some media) hopes to become the first Philippine to summit Mt. Everest. A systems analyst in his 30’s, Garduce summited Cho Oyu in September 2005. On Jan 1, 2005, he became the first Philippine to climb Aconcagua. Now he is joining an international team for Everest, and will follow Hillary’s route from the Nepali side of the mountain. Romi plans to acclimatize on a lower peak in the Khumbu area – fellow Philippine Jon Villareal will join him on the acclimatization peak.
National team climbers Leo Oracion and Erwin Emata summited Muztagh Ata in August 2005, thus breaking the previous Philippine altitude record set by Garduce on Aconcagua, which in turn was broken by Garduce again when he summited Cho Oyu last fall.
Leo and Erwin have been training earlier this year in New Zealand's mountain ranges.
Dale Abenojar is a mountaineer and a 4x4 enthusiast, member of the land rover club of the Philippines. He was the first Philippine to publicly announce his intention to climb E in the 90's. Blogs from the MFPI (Philippines Mountaineering federation) e-groups say he turned up at EBC in '93 but didn't get as far as Khumbu icefall and instead spent the whole time in Base Camp.”
Francis Lim is a Philippine mountaineer and member of the local mountaineering federation MFPI. Currently based in Hongkong for work commitment, he summited Kinabalu last year, aside from other climbs in the Philippines. This year, he is focusing his energy for Mt Siguniang.
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