RP expedition team drops North Face in Everest quest

The North Face, distributor of mountaineering apparel, is no longer a sponsor of the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition Team.

Sources said the all-Filipino crew headed by Art Valdez had severed its ties with The North Face because the latter is also sponsoring rival climber Romi Garduce, who is hoping to overtake the squad in scaling the world’s highest peak.

Roel Chan, brand manager of The North Face, Phil., was obviously disappointed by the recent development since the North Face has been helping the team from the moment the daring campaign was launched two years ago.

It provides the squad with mountain climbing gears like bags, shoes, shirts and equipment used by the team’s pre-Mt. Everest climbs.

"It’s really disappointing because The North Face has been there for the team from the start," said Chan.

"But of course, we’ll continue to support the climbers as much as we can despite what happened."

Chan said the team wanted the North Face to be its exclusive sponsor, which he said couldn’t happen.

"It’s the sponsor who demands exclusivity, not the other way around," he said.

Garduce has captured the imagination of the local mountaineering community by hoping to become the first ever Filipino to reach the peak of the 29,035-feet (8,850 meters) mountain, called in Tibetan language as Mt. Chomolungma — which means mother goddess of the universe.

In fact, Garduce hopes to accomplish it this year, ahead of the other squad, which will do it in the summer of next year following years of rigid training and preparation.

And Garduce has already surpassed FPMEE in many ways.

For one, Garduce tamed Mt. Cho-Oyu, the world’s sixth highest peak at 27,064ft. (8,201m), Sept. 26 last year — the highest scaled by a Filipino.

Located in the borders of Nepal and Tibet, Mt. Cho-Oyu is known as the death zone for the alarmingly increasing casualties caused by its dangerous alpine conditions.

On the other hand, FPMEE’s biggest accomplishment so far was at Mt. Muztagh Ata, No. 34 in the highest peak list at 24,757ft. (7,546m), located between Pakistan and China last year. - Joey Villar