Heracleo Salumbides Oración reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 17, 2006, at the age of 32. He reached the summit at 3:30pm (local time), together with 15 [1] other climbers. He is a sportsman from the town of Lucbán, province of Quezon, Philippines.
Oración was a member of the First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition, whose quest to conquer Everest was supported by the ABS-CBN television network, among other entities.[2] Oración however reached the summit separately apart from his other teammates.
Oración is a Philippine triathlete who has won various adventure races. Recently, his team Coastguard-Sandugo placed second in the Philippines' adventure race, the Carrera Habagat.
Prior to adventure racing, Oración worked as a lifeguard at the Shangri-La Hotel in Mactan Island, Cebu. He quit his job to pursue his passion full-time. Along with Emata, he is currently an enlisted officer at the Philippine Coast Guard.
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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 Oracion.[3] Consequently, The Himalayan DataBase published by American Alpine Club[4] had included Dale in the list of Everest North summitteers for Spring 2006 on May 15,.[5]
Oración is the 2,740th Everest summiteer. In contrast, Dale Abenojar is the 2,614th Everest summiteer. Both Abenojar and Oracion are in the full list of the 3,050 successful ascents of Mount Everest from 1953 to 2006.[6]
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Government of Nepal had awarded Leo a summit certificate [7] making his Mount Everest South Col summit ascent on May 17, 2006. In contrast, Abenojar was certified by the China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) to have summitted Everest via the North Col on May 15, 2006 at 10:45 AM Beijing time,[8] or 8:45 AM Nepal time.
The Himalayan DataBase published by American Alpine Club [9] had included Leo in the list of Everest South summitteers for 2006 on May 17,[1] officially recognizing him as the 2nd Filipino on top Mount Everest. Consequently, the same Everest DataBase had included Dale in the list of Everest North summitteers for Spring 2006 on May 15,[5] officially recognizing him as the 1st Filipino on top Mount Everest.