Romi Garduce
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Romeo "Romi" Garduce (born 1969 in Balanga, Bataan), who sometimes goes by the nickname "Garduch", is a Filipino mountain climber and works as an IT Professional in Procter and Gamble Philippines. He began climbing mountains for a cause in 1991 as a member of the University of the Philippines Mountaineers.
After reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in 2002, Garduce became the first Filipino to climb one of the Seven Summits.
On September 26, 2005, Romi Garduce became the first Filipino to ascend Cho Oyu, then the highest mountain peak scaled by a Filipino. [1].
On May 19, The Himalayan Database published by American Alpine Club had included Romeo in the list of Everest South summitteers for 2006[1], officially recognizing him as the 4th Filipino on top Mount Everest. Although, on May 17, 2006, Leo Oracion was second to reach the peak of Mount Everest by the South-Nepal, the highest mountain on Earth, and planted the Filipino flag, however, another Filipino climber, Dale Abenojar, was able to reach the summit and become the First Filipino to reach Mount Everest's peak from North-Tibet as affirmed by Mount Everest chronicler Elizabeth Hawley on June 14[2]. although mainstream media gave doubts to Abenojar's assertion[citation needed]. The Himalayan DataBase published by American Alpine Club[3] had included Dale in the list of Everest North summitteers for Spring 2006 on May 15,[4] officially recognizing him as the 1st Filipino on top Mount Everest.
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[edit] Mount Everest attempt
Garduce attempted to reach the peak of Mount Everest in a mission sponsored by GMA Network concurrently with Leo Oracion's team, the First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition (FPMEE) and principally sponsored by ABS-CBN. [5]. On the North side is Dale Abenojar without network sponsor and corporate financial support. Although Garduce was beaten by Dale Abenojar, he proceeded on to his summit assault.
On May 19, 2006, Garduce became the fourth Filipino to reach the summit of Mount Everest after Dale Abenojar, Leo Oracion and Erwin Emata.
However, Mount Everest chronicler Elizabeth Hawley said on June 14, 2006 that another Filipino climber, Dale Abenojar, is the first to summit on May 15, two days before Leo Oración.[6]
Garduce should have been in the summit on an earlier date but his sherpa guides advised him to postpone the assault to the Everest's peak due to bad weather. Upon learning that Dale, Oracion and Emata has reached the summit, Garduce clarified that he never intended to race and felt happy for them.
After the Filipinos successfully reached Everest's peak, Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to step in the peak of Everest, was interviewed by GMA Network in his Auckland home. He congratulated the three Filipino men for their determination and gave his greatest respect to the Filipino expedition team. [7]
[edit] List of mountains climbed
[edit] Unknown dates
- Mount Nagcarlan, Laguna, Philippines
- Mount Daedun, South Korea
- Mount Rokko, Kobe, Japan
[edit] Known dates
- Annapurna, Nepal (November 1998)
- K2, Pakistan-China and other countries (September 2001, reached base camp only)
- Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (September 2002)
- Pokalde, Khumbu, Nepal (October 2003)
- Gokyo, Nepal (October 2003)
- Kala Pattar, Nepal (October 2003)
- Cerro Bonete, La Rioja, Argentina (January 2005)
- Mount Aconcagua, Argentina (January 2005)
- Mount Elbrus, Russia (August 2004, didn't reach peak)
- Cho Oyu, Nepal-Tibet (September 2005)
- Mount Everest, Nepal-Tibet (May 19, 2006)
[edit] Future plans
Garduce is planning to climb the Seven Summits of the seven continents of the world for a cause up to 2014. He has already reached three, Mount Kilimanjaro (highest peak in Africa), Mount Aconcagua (highest peak in South America), and the highest peak in Asia and the world, Mount Everest. He has climbed Mount Elbrus (highest peak in Europe) but it was aborted at 5,400 m due to bad weather conditions. He might climb Mount Elbrus again to reach its summit, as well as the other planned climbs — Mount Denali (highest peak in North America), Carstensz Pyramid (highest peak in Australasia) and Mount Vinson (highest peak in Antarctica).
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=52491
- ^ http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=79186
- ^ http://www.americanalpineclub.org/pages/page/39
- ^ http://www.himalayandatabase.com/2006%20Season%20Lists/2006%20Spring%20A5.html
- ^ http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=sports03_may05_2006
- ^ http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=79186
- ^ http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=2061
