Moab Adventure beckons sturdy Pinoy slickers

They sported skins toned to almost bronze-like and faces burnt to a glow one gets out of an R-and-R in a beach hideaway. They, too, moved and sounded, and spoke and laughed as if they had just been through a lot of fun, and are wanting for more.

"It wasn’t any competition at all," beamed Nathaniel Benares, one of two Filipinos who had most of the fun in the Marlboro International Adventure Camp in the Czech Republic and who are now bound for where more fun and adventure awaits the Marlboro Adventure World Team Camp in Moab, Utah, from Sept. 15 to 27.

"Not only did we enjoy, we got to meet new friends, those you say you can instantly trust as friends," said Andrew Chinalpan Jr., whose ponytail got equally popular as he and his teammates in the challenging and picturesque Czech National Park at the heart of Zichovice.

The 22-year-old Benares, Chinalpan and five other Filipinos were among a field of 89 from close to a dozen countries who were in the camp that would determine who would link up with other teams from elsewhere in the world for the Moab adventure.

Benares, the rescue-paramedics specialist from the Big City, and Chinalpan, the 28-year-old Bontoc adventure pride who, like his buddy once earned a living guiding treks and who are products of the Life Support Training Institute, displayed to the hilt their knowledge in 4x4, ATV (all-terrain vehicle), exploring, mountaineering, team building, rafting, rock climbing and rappelling, and came out with tickets in their pockets to Moab.

"There was apprehension at first, apprehension that the challenge in Czech would be tougher than we expected it to be," narrated Chinalpan, beaming. "But once we got off the plane, right after we were noticed in our red, black and white Marlboro uniforms with Philippine flags proudly patched on our arms, and right after the other participants and the hosts started making us feel comfortable, right there and then we knew we were in the right place."

There were others on the team headed by Philip Morris Philippines assistant brand manager Francis Magbitang, namely, Heradio Oracion, Juan Carlos Anton, Emmanuel Torralba, and Allan Nino Chiongbian.

All, including the two Moab-bound whom brand manager Jasper Evangelista will lead, were culled out of the rain-drenched yet adventure-packed national finals staged in July in Lian, Batangas. Out of the Lian adventure, all would have been potentials for Moab, only the slots for team Philippines had to be no more than two.

"I would say the judges, the hosts and even most of the participants were close to have gotten mesmerized about how skilled and how capable the MAT Philippines members were," said Magbitang. "There was this judge, and a Philip Morris official at that, who told me: "You (Philippine team) are very good."

Very good indeed for at certain instances in the camp, especially in rappelling, exploring and mountaineering, Benares’ role was transformed right there and then from participant to adviser and safety expert. Chinalpan had experiences similar to Benares, and so did the four other Lian veterans whose spurs sharpened out of the Batangas nationals were hardly matched by those from the other countries.

"Our MAT team members turned out to be a match for the rest of the guys," Magbitang said proudly.

The Lian experience was a compact three-day nationals where 24 who bucked a list of 200 then frolicked in the unrelenting rain off Batangas Bay and up Mount Tigbalang to advance to the Czech experience. Of the 89 in Czech, of which a dozen were women, 24 advanced to Utah. The Philippines sent six although some of the countries, like Mexico, had close to 30.