Now, who’s really first on Everest?

If he can prove his claim right, mystery climber Dale Abenojar could be the first Filipino on top of Mt. Everest.

Liza Abenojar claimed in a press statement that her husband Dale made it to the peak of the 29,035-foot (8,850 meters) peak, the world’s tallest, last Monday, or days ahead of Heracleo "Leo" Oracion, Erwin "Pastor" Emata and Romeo "Romi" Garduce.

She said Abenojar reached the summit at 8 a.m. (10 a.m. in Manila) Monday via the North Col route despite harsher weather conditions compared to the more popular South Col, the trail used by Everest pioneers Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal in 1953.

Abenojar, whose claim to fame was when he became the first to reach the peak of Mount Pinatubo using a Land Rover, reportedly returned to base camp at 9 p.m. (Tibet time) three days later.

"Dale Abenojar is one of the four Filipino climbers on Mt. Everest. But unlike the others, he climbed independently and without any sponsors or network backing him up. He left last April 1 with meager resources," said Liza Abenojar in a statement.

Liza said climbing Everest, or Chomolungma in Tibetan language meaning mother goddess of the universe, is her hubby’s lifelong dream.

In fact, Abenojar was the first Filipino to publicly announce his intent on climbing it way back in 1994, or exactly a decade before the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition team headed by Oracion and Emata launched its ambitious campaign.

"But it’s not important at this point who was the ‘first’ on Mt. Everest as all four Filipino summiteers are equally deserving of honor and admiration. It showcases the Filipinos’ will, skill and determination to achieve greater things.

"All four of them dreamed and pursued it — and each has his own genuine spirit and inspiring character," she said.

But unlike Oracion, Emata and Garduce, Abenojar’s claim of reaching Everest’s summit was undocumented.

Officially, Oracion reached Mt. Everest at 3 p.m. (Nepal time) Wednesday, Emata on Thursday morning and Garduce the day after.

Both Oracion and Emata were climbers from ABS-CBN while Garduce from rival GMA 7.