Mountain-climbing hazards

Now what? The Himalayan Database and the China-Tibet Mountaineering Association have both confirmed that it is Dale Abenojar who can claim to be the first Filipino to have reached the peak of Mt. Everest, and that he accomplished this feat on May 15, 2006, a full two days before the other claimant of the honor did. The confirmation of the Himalayan Database was published by the American Alpine Club.

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Remember Abenojar? He was that ragged-looking guy who limped home from his lonely climb with several toes so frostbitten that they had to be amputated. He came with two of his Sherpas (Himalayan guides) who were just as severely injured, and who were almost dying from gangrene. They were only saved because operations were performed on them in a Manila hospital, for which the sympathetic Taipan, Lucio Tan, footed the bills.

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But few believed Abenojar who did not have any spin masters to build up his story. In fact, many attempts were made, some of them successfully, to paint him as a ne'er-do-well who has a record for making up stories. So more people, including the President, unfortunately, believed the claims of the noisier ones, and they were the ones lionized and given awards, the latest of which was the Lakandula award which, I understand, is reserved for those who have done heroic things. What's heroic about making questionable claims?

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But Abenojar seems to be a simple and humble man. He has expressed great happiness at being vindicated, and only said he was hurt, not resentful, of the honors and acknowledgements given to the others. And, despite the injuries that he suffered on that climb, where he chose the most difficult approach to the top, he still hopes to go and seek more challenges. I haven't heard anything more about those Sherpas, but they must be home now, grateful for the kindness of the Filipinos, and especially Abenojar, who did not forsake them.

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In the meantime, what about the very well-publicized and very well-funded group that had backed the other claimants to the mountaintop accomplishment? The latest reports coming out is that they are having an even more difficult time unraveling the records of their collections from fund-raising and the expenses they had incurred, not only for the climb, but for "other matters" right in Manila. And one of their biggest problem, reports say, is that they one who is supposed to give this accounting has left in a huff without giving any indication of doing so. What is more reprehensible, another official said, is that this person asked for more money (P1 million?) to go to the U.S. to hold a road show to raise funds, and came back with only US$6,000!

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The complaining official claims that this person has not submitted any receipts or authorization to disburse funds, and there are several misrepresented or overstated amounts in the alleged "liquidation" summary. He also gave a list of some 13 donors whose funds were not disclosed to the group. The list of the alleged donors is like a who's who of some of the country's top businesses and corporations. And this official said that his questionable member of their group actually had no role in organizing the climb, only in "fund-raising". Talk about throwing the turtle into the water!

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Anyway, that is for the mountain-climbing organization to resolve, and, the way it sounds, we may soon hear about "legal actions" being taken since the case is of local interest to Bacolod and Negros Occidental, too. As for Mt. Everest, it is soon going to become even more prominent because the people of Nepal are planning to remove the image of their much-disliked monarch from their currency and replace it with the picture of "Sagarmatha", which is the local name of the mysterious mountain, before a certain foreigner named Everest scaled her.*

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