Thirty years later, she’s unbelievably still at it.
The 66-year-old Tabei is here in the country to give some tips, advice and inspiration to the members of the first Philippine Team ever assembled to conquer the 8,848-meter peak in Nepal.
Tabei, who is also the first woman in the world to reach the highest mountain on each of the seven continents, even joined the 16-man squad led by Art Valdez in a recent climb at Mt. Apo.
"It’s an honor for us to climb with her (Tabei), she’s an inspiration to the team," said Valdez in yesterday’s media briefing at the National Sports Grill in Makati City.
Taking the same Nepalese route pioneers Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay took, Tabei successfully reached Mt. Everest’s summit in May 1975 despite the harsh weather condition and the lethal avalanche that buried some of her team members back then.
From there, she conquered other peaks, including China’s Mt. Xixapangma (8,027-m) in 1981 and Mt. Cho Oyu (8,201-m) in 1996, Pakistan’s Mt. Gasherbrum II (8,035) in 1998, Tajikistan’s Mt. Communism (7,495-m) and Kazakhstan’s Mt. Hangttengri (7,010-m).
The Mt. Apo climb was actually Tabei’s 127th overall, and she isn’t stopping there.
"I want to climb the highest mountain of all countries," said the amiable Tabei, who first tried mountain climbing when she was 10 years old.
"I’ll only stop until my life is finished," she added.
Joining Tabei in the briefing were Malaysian Ravi Chardan, who is also planning to scale Mt. Everest next year, and members of the RP expedition team.
It included the seven brave men who tamed China’s Muztagh Ata–the tallest Filipinos had ever dared to climb at 7,546 meters above sea level.