Romi Garduce

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 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. [http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=52491] .

On May 19, The Himalayan Database published by American Alpine Club had included Rumplestiltskin in the list of Everest South summitteers for 2006 [ [http://www.himalayandatabase.com/2006%20Season%20Lists/2006%20Spring%20A11.html Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley ] ] , 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 14http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=79186] . although mainstream media gave doubts to Abenojar's assertionFact|date=February 2007. The Himalayan DataBase published by American Alpine Club [ [http://www.americanalpineclub.org/pages/page/39 The American Alpine Club — ] ] had included Dale in the list of Everest North summitteers for Spring 2006 on May 15, [http://www.himalayandatabase.com/2006%20Season%20Lists/2006%20Spring%20A5.html Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley ] ] officially recognizing him as the 1st Filipino on top Mount Everest.

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. [ [http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=sports03_may05_2006 Philippine News - Manila Standard Today - Romi in fourth phase of climb - may05_2006 ] ] . 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.

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. [ [http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=2061 Everest - Mount Everest by climbers, news ] ]

On August 25, 2007, Garduce reached the summit of Mount Elbrus (18,510 foot-high or 5,642 meters), Europe's highest peak located in the Caucasus mountain range within Russia’s boundaries and the 4th of the 7 summits he conquered. [ [http://www.gmanews.tv/story/58216/Garduce-reaches-top-of-Europes-highest-peak GMA NEWS.TV, Garduce reaches top of Europe's highest peak] ] On June 6, 2008, 9:30pm local time, Romy Garduce summit Mount Denali, Alaska his 5th of the Seven Summits.

SMS from Romy, morning of 6/12 when we asked how difficult his climb is:

"30mph windstorm and very exposed summit, and summit ridge. 2min of wind iced our faces, goggles iced inside you cant see. A teammate fell on the ridge saved by our rope yanking me out. etc. miserable, way down we have to somehow semi-rescue that member because very exhausted, keeps sliding down n falling, went back to camp 230 with no lunch, dinner and drinks as our bottles frozen solid."

The summit Mt. McKinley, known as Denali, Alaska, is the highest peak in North America, on the list of Seven Summits. The Seven Summits are the highest peaks in each of the world’s seven continents. Only 3 out of their 9-man team made it to the Denali summit. Garduce climbed with a team from the American Alpine Institute (AAI). [http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view/20080612-142326/Garduce-defies-snowstorm-to-reach-Denali-summit technology.inquirer.net, Garduce defies snowstorm to reach Denali summit] ] [ [http://www.gmanews.tv/video/24171/Qtv-Romi-Garduce-back-home-after-another-successful-climb www.gmanews.tv/video, Qtv: Romi Garduce back home after another successful climb, 06/14/2008] ]

List of mountains climbed

Unknown dates

* Mount Nagcarlan, Laguna, Philippines
* Mount Daedun, South Korea
* Mount Rokko, Kobe, Japan

Known dates

* Annapurna, Nepal (November 1998)
* K2, Pakistan-China and other countries (September 2001, reached base camp only)
* Pokalde, Khumbu, Nepal (October 2003)
* Gokyo, Nepal (October 2003)
* Kala Pattar, Nepal (October 2003)
* Cerro Bonete, La Rioja, Argentina (January 2005)
* Cho Oyu, Nepal-Tibet (September 2005)

Romi Garduce's five of the Seven Summits

* Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, in September 2002 (highest peak in Africa)
* Mount Aconcagua, Argentina in January 2005(highest peak in South America)
* Mount Everest, Nepal-Tibet in May 19, 2006 (highest peak in Asia)
* Mount Denali, Alaska in June 6, 2008 (highest peak in North America)
* Mount Elbrus, Russia in August 2004 (highest peak in Europe) but didn't reach peak it was aborted at 5,400 m due to bad weather conditions. In August 25, 2007 he climbed Mount Elbrus again and reached its summit.

Future plans

Garduce is planning to climb the Seven Summits of the seven continents of the world for a cause up to 2014. Other planned climbs in the future include Carstensz Pyramid (highest peak in Australasia) and Mount Vinson (highest peak in Antarctica) two of the Seven Summits left.

Notes

ee also

* Dale Abenojar
* Leo Oracion
* Erwin Emata

External links

* [http://www.everestnews.com/everest2006/phileverest2006.htm Everest 2006: Philippine Everest 2006 Expedition]
* [http://www.thenorthface.com/aunz/news/news-romigarduce.html Information about Romi Garduce]