Pinoy, 2 Pinays scale world’s coldest mountain

Three climbers, two of them women, again made it to the record books for being the first Filipinos to reach the summit of Mt. McKinley, known as the coldest mountain in the world, in Alaska last June 23.

This was announced yesterday by Art Valdez, team leader of the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition. He identified the three climbers as Reggie Pablo of Olongapo City, Carina Dayondon of Bukidnon and Noelle Wenceslao of Manila.

"They are the first Filipinos to climb Mt. McKinley. This is another honor for our country.This only proves that Filipinos can really do it if we only unite and set our heart on everything we do," Valdez said during a health forum.

The three climbers belonged to Valdez’s expedition team that set out to scale Mt. Everest, the world’s highest mountain, last May. Two of the group’s members - Leo Oracion and Erwin "Pastour" Emata — reached the summit last May 17.

The three climbers joined the expedition team up to the Island Peak and base camp of Mt. Everest but returned to the Philippines on May 5 to prepare for their Mt. McKinley expedition.

According to the Wikipedia Dictionary, Mt. McKinley or Denali is the highest mountain peak in North America with a height of some 20,320 feet. It is found in the central portion of the Alaska Range which spans much of south central Alaska.

"Mount McKinley has a larger bulk and rise than Mt. Everest. Even though the summit of Everest is 9,000 feet higher, measured from sea level, its base sits on the Tibetan Plateau at about 17,000 feet, giving it a real vertical rise of little more than 12,000 feet. The base of Denali is roughly a 2,000 foot plateau, giving it an actual rise of 18,000 feet," Wikipedia showed.

The mountain is known for its extremely cold weather due to its high latitude and proximity to the jet stream.

Valdez noted the mountaineers left the Philippines for Alaska last May 19, after confirming that their colleagues had succeeded in scaling the summit of Mt. Everest.

"Their food supply was good only for 18 days.The members of other expedition teams gave them food. The foreigners were fascinated to see climbers from a tropical country like the Philippines in that mountain," Valdez declared in Filipino.

He added the climbers stayed on the slope of Mt. McKinley for 37 days while waiting for the weather to improve.

They hung about at Camp 4 (14,000 feet) for 14 days and then at Camp 5 (17,000 feet) for 12 days before assaulting the peak. The temperature in Mt. McKinley falls to negative 20 degrees Celsius at noon time and negative 60 degrees at night.

"The weather was so bad. It was in their fifth and final attempt that they made it to the top. Other climbers usually make only two to three attempts.But the three did not want to give up.They reached the summit at 8:20 p.m. It was night time there but it was not dark," Valdez said.

Valdez also revealed a plan of the expedition team to go back to Mt. Everest in April and May next year.

This time, however, they will field three Filipinas - Dayondon, Wenceslao and Janet Belarmino of Nueva Vizcaya — to attempt to scale the Mt. Everest summit. Belarmino is also part of the team that climbed the mountain last May.

But the team will be divided into two and will climb Mt. Everest from the southeast ridge of Nepal and northeast ridge of Tibet.

Valdez added that Oracion and Emata would also join the group as team leaders.