Belarmino to retrace Mt Everest camp trek

MANILA, Philippines - Lady mountaineer Janet Belarmino returns to the site of her greatest triumph as she shares the experience of traversing the challenging trek to the base camp of Mt. Everest.

A fitness instructor, tennis coach, triathlete, and a member of the University of the Philippines Mountaineers, Belarmino is best remembered as part of the trio of Filipino women first to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain on May 16, 2007.  

Along with her, the troika also included Noelle Wenceslao and Carina Dayondon, all three of them are members of the Philippine Coast Guard, and the first women from around the world and from Southeast Asia to reach its peak.

Five years after, Belarmino will be without her two partners, and instead, is heading a trek to the Mt. Everest Base Camp from May 3-19 along with other climbers.

The 17-day travel will see Belarmino and her contingent trekking the base camp that has a peak of 18,000 feet above sea level.

Belarmino said in yesterday’s PSA Forum at Shakey’s UN Ave., the climb is open to everybody, especially people who loves nature.

“It’s actually really for tourist, and not for hardcore mountain trekkers,” she said in the same session presented by Smart, PAGCOR, and Shakey’s.

Belarmino added, “you don’t need to be a superwoman to join it. As long as you have a regular regimen of running and swimming, then you can do it.

Basta `yung physical attributes mo are consistent, then walang problema. The experience is actually more of an endurance base.”

The trek will be passing by lovely villages along the Solu Khumbu area, giving the climbers opportunities to immerse with Nepali brothers and sisters.

Belarmino said the main focus of the climb is to raise awareness and help organizations in the development of tourism at par with international standards, responsive to cultural, environmental, and social concerns that incorporate elements of culture, history, geography, sociology, nature, and eco-tourism that will generate investments, foreign exchange, and employment to mold and enhance sense of national pride for all Filipinos.