Garduce mounts bid to be first Filipino on top of Mt. Everest

Filipino high altitude climber, Romeo "Romi" Garduce, also known in the international mountaineering community as "Garduch"–has reached Everest’s Base Camp last April 3–the first step in realizing his goal to be the first Filipino to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.

At 29,035 feet, Mount Everest is easily the tallest mountain on the planet. The Nepalese revere and call it "Sagarmatha," which means "goddess of the sky." It straddles the borders of Nepal and Tibet and sits on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau (Qing Zang Gaoyuan).

A systems analyst for a multi-national company, Garduch quietly left the country last March 4 to begin what many would perhaps agree as the climb of his life.

But the snow-capped majesty of the Everest hides dangers that have claimed the lives of many seasoned climbers and mountaineers.

Whiteouts–also known as blinding blizzards– avalanche, and hypothermia are only some of the hazards that Everest climbers have faced since Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal first climbed it on May 29, 1953.

Fifty-three years later–Garduch is attempting to be the first Filipino to summit Mt. Everest.

Garduch is not doing his Everest climb for personal glory. He is doing so because he thinks it is about time a Filipino–any Filipino–joins other success stories in the historical annals of Everest.

The GMA Mount Everest Expedition is the fourth "Climb-for-A-Cause" that Garduch has undertaken.

The GMA Mt. Everest Expedition is co-presented by Northface and is supported by Caltex with Techron, My Marvel Taheebo and Revicon Max.

Caltex supports Garduce in his bid to become the first Filipino to conquer the tallest mountain in the world. Caltex believes that Romi’s success is further proof that Filipino athletes are truly world class and are capable of excelling in the international arena. Romi’s attempt only shows how Filipinos can overcome any challenge and adversity, no matter how difficult or how high. Caltex says it will continue to support ventures that benefit, enrich and improve the society and people of which we are a part.

Revicon Max believes that Garduce is living proof that Filipinos are more than ready to conquer the world with their innate sense of determination to rise above challenges. Revicon Max is relentless in its support for endeavors like the GMA Mt. Everest Expedition, endeavors that benefit, enrich and improve the stature of Filipinos all over the world.

My Marvel Taheebo also supports the GMA Mt. Everest Expedition. By supporting the television coverage of Romi’s attempt, My Marvel Taheebo celebrates the strength and determination of Romi and other Filipino climbers and athletes and wishes all of them well in their pursuit of their dreams–the fulfillment of which will bring much pride to the country and all Filipinos everywhere in the world.

Set to benefit from Garduce’s Everest climb is the GMA Kapuso Foundation, a non-profit organizaton of GMA Network, Inc.

Prior to this, he has scaled Mt. Cho Oyu in Tibet, Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina and Mt. Elbrus in Russia.

Incidentally, two of the three above-mentioned mountains are included in the list of Seven Summits or the highest peaks of the world’s seven continents – Mt. Aconcagua, 22,975 feet and Mt. Elbrus at 18,619 feet.

Mt. Cho Oyu, at 27,064 feet is the sixth highest peak in the world and was scaled by Garduce on Sept. 26, 2005. It is the highest ever mountain climbed by a Filipino. Located at the borders of Nepal and Tibet, Mt. Cho Oyu–which means "The Turquoise Goddess"–is known as one of the deadliest mountains in the world as many climbers had died trying to reach its summit.

Beneficiaries of these past climbs of Garduch were indigenous people (Cartwheel Foundation), underprivileged patents of the internal medicine ward of the Philippine General Hospital (Bukas Sarili Foundation) and the Bauan-Anilao Conservation project in Batangas.

After successfully reaching Everest’s Base Camp, Garduch now focuses on acclimatization.

The Bataan-born mountaineer is following the "Hillary Route," named after Edmund Hillary.

Despite the perils of the Hillary route, Garduce is all set to trudge the path leading to the summit of Mt. Everest while the nation waits with bated breath to see if he succeeds and is finally able to plant the Philippine flag on the peak of the tallest mountain in the world.