|
Leo
Oracion, the first Filipino to summit
Mount Everest in 2006, flew in recently from
Nepal
accompanied by two local mountaineers after scaling the
6,189-meter Island Peak in Imja Valley in Khumbu, Nepal,
on April 18.
With Oracion were Joshua Viscara and Ivy
Macainan, members of a local club. The trio is in the
process of scaling half a dozen mountains over 6,000
meters before attempting to climb the legendary
Seven
Peaks,
which are considered the seven highest mountains in the
world. Oracion will be the team leader.
Mount Everest is part of the so-called
Seven Peaks, which are the usual targets of professional
climbers wanting to make a name for themselves in the
rare field of Alpine mountaineering.
“I would act as the team leader of
Ascend 8000, a group of professional adventurers who
would attempt the Seven Peaks feat in five to seven
years,” Oracion said.
He said they have received warnings that
the ice rocks which usually remain at the peaks of the
mountains they are trying to ascend are starting to melt
because of global warming.
This poses grave dangers to mountaineers
because the cascading waters could endanger their lives,
as well as of those living along the slopes.
Macainan, on the other hand, said she
encountered difficulties in her latest ascent to the top
of Island Peak because of the slippery slopes and
overflowing waters brought about by the melting ice.
The mountaineers said they spent more
than one month in
Island
Peak
before they reached its zenith.
They said their conquest of Island Peak
is in preparation for their attempts to scale the
14th-highest peak in the world that will last from five
to seven years.
The three estimate they would need a
budget of some $10,000 for every mountain they will
scale.
The seven peaks are in Mount Kilimanjaro
in Africa, Mount Denali in North America, Mount Elbrus
in Europe, Mount Aconcagua in South America, Puncak Jaya
a.k.a. Carstenz Pyramid in Oceania, Mount Vinson in
Antartica and Mount Everest in Nepal. |
