Sir Edmund’s death saddens Pinoy conquerors of Everest

Filipino conquerors of the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, expressed grief over the death of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man who scaled the mountain.

Dale Abenojar, the controversial Filipino who said he first reached Mt. Everest summit last year, a claim doubted by many, said Hillary’s pioneering achievement served as an inspiration to countless mountaineers and sportsmen all over the world to test their determination and courage by climbing up the “Roof of the World.”

“I salute the magnificent achievements of this man.

But his demise also serves to remind us that life on Earth is very temporary and the pursuit of God and His eternal purposes are ultimately really what matters in life,” Abenojar said in an e-mailed statement to The STAR.

Hillary passed away at the age of 88 last Friday.

Abenojar was one of the four Filipinos who engaged in a virtual race to the top of Mount Everest, to clinch the title of the first Filipino to reach the mountain’s summit last 2006.

Abenojar was able to secure a summit certificate from the China-Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) that he reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 15, 2006 through the peak’s north slope, said to be the more perilous but cheaper route.

The distinction of being the first Filipinos to reach Mt. Everest summit was also claimed by Heracleo “Leo” Oracion and Erwin ‘Pastor” Emata of the disbanded First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition (FPMEE) team that cast doubts on Abenojar’s claim and even questioned the authenticity of his CTMA summit certificate, saying it was impossible for a person who had no high altitude alpine mountain training like Abenojar to scale Mount Everest.

Oracion and Emata reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 17 and 18, 2006 respectively, both on the summit’s south col or south slope.

A fourth Filipino mountain climber, Romeo Garduce, was also able to reach the summit on May 19, 2006, also through the south col. – Rainier Allan Ronda