Garduce reaches top of Europe's highest peak

Mountaineer Romeo Garduce has reached the summit of Mount Elbrus, Europe's highest peak and the fourth of the “seven summits" that he has conquered, which included last year’s climb when he reached the top of Mt Everest. GMA News’ Balitanghali reported Wednesday that Garduce summited 18,510 foot-high (5,642 meters) Mt Elbrus on August 25. The mountain Elbrus is located in the Caucasus mountain range within Russia’s boundaries. The “seven summits" refer to the highest peaks in each of the seven continents. Garduce on May 19, 2006 became the third Filipino to reach the summit of 29,035-foot-high (8,848m) Mt Everest, the world’s highest mountain, in Nepal. Leo Oracion summited Mt Everest on May 17 last year, followed a day later by Pastor Emata. The mountaineer tried to reach Mt Elbrus’ summit in 2004 but he aborted at 5,400 feet (1,645m), on the fourth day of his attempt due, to harsh weather conditions. Apart from Mt Elbrus and Mt Everest, among the “seven summits," Garduce has also reached the top of 22,842-foot-high (6,962m) Mt Aconcagua in Argentina in 2005 and the 19,400-foot-high (5,913m) Uhuru Peak of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in 2002. -GMANews.TV