May 19, 2006. Garduch on top of Mt. Everest... :)
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Aconcagua 2004-5
Jan 1,2005. Summit of Aconcagua with Magnus (Sweden) and Pablo (Argentina), Andean Range Argentina.
Elbrus 2004
Garduch near the Barrel Huts, Mt. Elbrus at the background (Caucasus Russia)Read the Story of My Elbrus Climb
Kilimanjaro 2002
Sept 2002.Garduch on top of Uhuru Peak, Kilimanjaro (Tanzania, East Africa).
This is my pre-The NorthFace days, hence my pathetic 'kapote' pants hehe.
Read My Kilimanjaro Climb Story
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Why 7 Summits?
Climbing all seven summits has been a coveted prize for most mountaineers. For some, it is a life-long pursuit to top all popular mountains in all corners of the Earth. Today, a little less than 200 climbers has done this feat – or just a mere 10% of the total summiteers of Mt. Everest.
In the Philippines, this feat is still a long reach. We just recently completed the conquest of Everest, and it is still a long way for a Filipino to complete all seven summits.
But why the seven? This is just one of the many possible challenges that an individual could undertake.
The 14 Giants
In the world of extreme adventure, the first on the list is summiting all 14 8000m peaks (all in Death Zone). Yes, that includes Everest, K2, Cho Oyu, and others. There are a few elite mountaineers who has done this feat, the first one was the renowned Reinhold Messner, who was also first to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen, and the first one to climb Everest, solo without supplemental O2, during monsoon! Truly a great mountaineeer! As for me, I've done only 2 of these 14 giants (Cho Oyu and Everest). I might do a few more after the 7 summit quest. But the most I can do is probably just 6 or 7 of these peaks, but no more. Most of the peaks are very technical in nature, requiring good discipline in ice, rock and big-wall climbing. We’ll need a new breed of Filipino climbers who can pursue this challenge.
The Poles
Another one in the adventure daring-do list is to traverse the North and South Poles without using motorized aids or dogs. North Pole is extremely dangerous, offering open leads (the sea in-between ice plates), difficult-to-traverse ice ridges (crumpled and collided ice plates and floes), polar bears (they can eat you), navigation problem (whole floating ice plates moves in different directions), and of course, extreme cold. And with the looming disaster brought about by Global Warming, this could be far more difficult in the future. Even polar bears started experiencing the difficulty. South Pole is obviously equally disastrous, but at least you know there’s land beneath the ice, at least most part of it. I read from somewhere that the wind there though, could reach a stunning 170mph! Anchor and rope up all you can, you’ll still fly like a kite. Obviously it’s also a cold hell, with daytime summer temperature reaching -40C and below. Ticking one of these poles is surely an admirable feat in itself.
The 7 Summits
And of course, the equally tiring quest for the 7-Summits. These adventure package means climbing all the highest mountain in each 7 continents. These are, arranged from highest to lowest - Everest in Asia, Aconcagua in South America, Denali or McKinley in North America, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe – and no, Mont Blanc is not the highest in the whole Europe, Vinson Massif in Antarctica; and the fun part – 2 candidate peaks for Oceana-Australasia region. Some folks consider Australia as the Australian continent. If that’s the case, the highest would be Kosioscko (which you can easily climb in 1-2 days). Some actually argued that it should be a combined Australia/New Zealand group – even if NZ belongs to a different tectonic plate. If you believe that – Mt Cook is your mountain. Although the top 2 candidates are Kosciousko in Aussie-land, and Cartenz Pyramid in Papua. Papua (formerly- Irian Jaya) is part of Indonesia, located west of Papua New Guinea where it shares the same piece of giant island. It’s below the equator and very close to Australia – hence, part of the Oceana group of islands/territories. Most 7 summiteers have climbed both candidate mountains to be ‘sure’ that they’ve done it all – making the 7 summits an 8-Summit quest instead. :)
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When I was asked why I wanted to climb Everest, I tell folks that “…climbing big mountains for me is a path towards self-discovery, and self-enrichment”. But now that it’s over – it doesn’t mean I’ll stop and end my story. This quest to complete the 7 is just a continuation of that long journey…
In the Philippines, this feat is still a long reach. We just recently completed the conquest of Everest, and it is still a long way for a Filipino to complete all seven summits.
But why the seven? This is just one of the many possible challenges that an individual could undertake.
The 14 Giants
In the world of extreme adventure, the first on the list is summiting all 14 8000m peaks (all in Death Zone). Yes, that includes Everest, K2, Cho Oyu, and others. There are a few elite mountaineers who has done this feat, the first one was the renowned Reinhold Messner, who was also first to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen, and the first one to climb Everest, solo without supplemental O2, during monsoon! Truly a great mountaineeer! As for me, I've done only 2 of these 14 giants (Cho Oyu and Everest). I might do a few more after the 7 summit quest. But the most I can do is probably just 6 or 7 of these peaks, but no more. Most of the peaks are very technical in nature, requiring good discipline in ice, rock and big-wall climbing. We’ll need a new breed of Filipino climbers who can pursue this challenge.
The Poles
Another one in the adventure daring-do list is to traverse the North and South Poles without using motorized aids or dogs. North Pole is extremely dangerous, offering open leads (the sea in-between ice plates), difficult-to-traverse ice ridges (crumpled and collided ice plates and floes), polar bears (they can eat you), navigation problem (whole floating ice plates moves in different directions), and of course, extreme cold. And with the looming disaster brought about by Global Warming, this could be far more difficult in the future. Even polar bears started experiencing the difficulty. South Pole is obviously equally disastrous, but at least you know there’s land beneath the ice, at least most part of it. I read from somewhere that the wind there though, could reach a stunning 170mph! Anchor and rope up all you can, you’ll still fly like a kite. Obviously it’s also a cold hell, with daytime summer temperature reaching -40C and below. Ticking one of these poles is surely an admirable feat in itself.
The 7 Summits
And of course, the equally tiring quest for the 7-Summits. These adventure package means climbing all the highest mountain in each 7 continents. These are, arranged from highest to lowest - Everest in Asia, Aconcagua in South America, Denali or McKinley in North America, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe – and no, Mont Blanc is not the highest in the whole Europe, Vinson Massif in Antarctica; and the fun part – 2 candidate peaks for Oceana-Australasia region. Some folks consider Australia as the Australian continent. If that’s the case, the highest would be Kosioscko (which you can easily climb in 1-2 days). Some actually argued that it should be a combined Australia/New Zealand group – even if NZ belongs to a different tectonic plate. If you believe that – Mt Cook is your mountain. Although the top 2 candidates are Kosciousko in Aussie-land, and Cartenz Pyramid in Papua. Papua (formerly- Irian Jaya) is part of Indonesia, located west of Papua New Guinea where it shares the same piece of giant island. It’s below the equator and very close to Australia – hence, part of the Oceana group of islands/territories. Most 7 summiteers have climbed both candidate mountains to be ‘sure’ that they’ve done it all – making the 7 summits an 8-Summit quest instead. :)
---
When I was asked why I wanted to climb Everest, I tell folks that “…climbing big mountains for me is a path towards self-discovery, and self-enrichment”. But now that it’s over – it doesn’t mean I’ll stop and end my story. This quest to complete the 7 is just a continuation of that long journey…
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