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Garduce back at Base Camp,
offers Everest climb to Filipinos


A day after reaching the summit of Mount Everest, Filipino mountaineer Romi Garduce arrived back at Base Camp on Saturday at 9 p.m. (11 p.m. in the Philippines), and promptly offered the successful climb to the Filipino people. “I-reiterate ko lang ang message ko, ang climb na ito, inaaalay namin sa sambayanang Pilipino. Kahit mukhang imposible, basta may focus tayo, kaya natin yan," Garduce said, in a live interview with GMA 7 reporter Jiggy Manicad on Saturday evening. (I would like to reiterate my message. We offer this climb to the Filipino people. Even if something looks impossible, if we have focus, we can do it.) As the Philippine flag waved in the background, Garduce said he was naturally very happy that he had made the climb, and added he believed it won’t be the last time that Filipino mountaineers would make such a journey. He was also pleasantly surprised that the Garduce clan in his hometown of Balanga, Bataan had gathered in a small feast to mark his return. FILIPINOS ATOP EVEREST Garduce on Friday at 11:20 a.m. (1:20 p.m. in the Philippines) became the third Filipino in as many days to reach the summit of 29,035-foot-high Mt. Everest. Base Camp, found at 17,600 feet, is where climbers launch their trek up the summit and also rest and recover after the grueling, perilous journey. Garduce made it to the top two days after Heracleo “Leo" Oracion reached the summit on Wednesday afternoon, followed by Erwin ‘Pastor’ Emata who summited on Thursday morning. Oracion and Emata, members of the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition, arrived back at Base Camp on Friday. The first three Filipinos who made it to the summit took the south trail via Nepal. Another Filipino climber, Dale Abenojar, is making his way to the summit via the north trail in Tibet, China. SOUTH TRAIL The three climbers followed the route called the South Col, the same route from Nepal side which Hillary and Tenzing took. The three climbers passed through the Hillary Step, named after the New Zealand mountaineer, which at 28,750 feet is the last section before the final assault on Everest’s assault. Descending from the summit Friday evening, Garduce sent a message to other Filipino climbers aiming for Mt. Everest that it is not an impossible dream. In a live phone patch aired over GMA’s 24 Oras , Garduce said from Camp 4: “This is a symbol that the Filipino can do it. This is not the last time that we will achieve extraordinary things." The mountaineer said he was glad they made it through despite the strong winds that blew non-stop for nine hours since Thursday evening. Garduce was able to talk to her mother, 78-year-old Flaviana, who asked her to go home safely after sealing his mission. Garduce’s family in Balanga, Bataan, some 120 kilometers north of Manila, continues to pray for the climber’s safety. ACCOMPLISHED MOUNTAINEER The latest feat of Garduce, a systems manager of the financial reporting unit of Procter and Gamble -- Philippines in Makati, Metro Manila, makes him among the most accomplished mountaineers in the Philippines. Garduce has scaled 15 mountain ranges all over the world since he became a member of the UP Mountaineers in 1991. Mt. Everest is third peak that he has successfully climbed out of the so-called Seven Summits, or the highest mountains in each of the seven continents. The first two he has climbed includes the 22,842-foot-high Mt. Aconcagua in South America on January 2005 and on the 19,400-foot-high Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa on September 2002. Garduce scaled in September 2005 Tibet’s Mt. Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth highest mountain peak at 26,906 feet. GREETINGS FROM THE PIONEER Garduce’s feat came 10 days before the 53rd anniversary of the historic climb of New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay when they became the first to step on the peak of Mt. Everest on May 29, 1953. Hillary, now 87, congratulated on Friday the three Filipino climbers for the feat, which the website Explorerweb describes came from a challenge that started from zero. “I have nothing but the greatest respect for the Filipino expedition, for the determination and the will to battle on and go to the summit," Hillary said, in a recorded message played over GMA’s 24 Oras Friday night. The news program also flashed photos of Hillary and his wife while being interviewed in their home in Auckland, New Zealand. “My heartiest congratulations to Leo, Romi and Erwin for their success in getting to the top. Very good luck to them. They must have been strong and determined," Hillary said. GMANews.TV

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