'Project Pango' rises: Filipino climbers proudly conquer 'El Capitan'
FONTANA, California – When Filipinos migrate to other countries, it usually to seek greener pastures. But two Filipinos found theirs atop one of the planet’s most formidable mountains.
Fifty-three-year-old Gerry Egbalic and 29-year-old Ivan Cataluna conquered El Capitan — the “Mecca of Modern Rock Climbing” — in Yosemite, California earlier this month, through the fabled “The Nose” climbing route.
The two made the climb from May 13-16, and they claim to the first Filipino team to complete one of the most famous trails in the world.
But surprisingly, the climb to the top started at the beginning of an earlier, less “fun” climb en route to El Capitan.
‘Lukso ng dugo'
The two climbers met at a climb during the pandemic. Egbalic was climbing by himself at the Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas, when he saw Cataluna with another climber.
During his ascent, Cataluna saw a brown-skinned, dreadlocked-haired Egbalic, and during that time, the two were thinking if the other was a Filipino.
The short answer: Yes.
“From that moment on, sobrang saya ko kasi simula nung nag-start akong mag-climbing, wala pa akong na-meet na Filipino. Siya ang unang-una na Filipino na nakilala ko, kasi sa Utah, ibang-iba ang mundo doon dahil wala gaanong diversity, panay puti, and wala masyadong Filipino,” Cataluna told Philstar.com in an interview.
“Kaya, nung may nakilala akong Filipino na rock climber pa, doon talagang sobrang saya ko nung na-meet ko si Kuya Gerry,” he added.
Egbalic, for his part, said it was “meant to be.”
“We just made that eye contact and parang, ‘Uy, Philippines!’ But it was just instinct. Parang nagkakahiyaan pa kami,” he stressed.
From that point on, the two exchanged numbers and social media accounts, and it set the stage for one fateful climb.
Back in 2022, Cataluna was on his way to Yosemite from Utah, where he resides, with another climber.
And on his way, he found out that he will be climbing El Capitan with someone he described as “prejudiced” toward minorities, and from that point on, he did not enjoy the climb.
“Hindi ako makapaniwala sa sinabi niya [about minorities.] Sa isip ko, nakalimutan niya ba na isa akong brown, isa akong minority, bakit niya sinasabi ito? Kaya, hindi ako makapaniwala na I’m doing this trip with a person na prejudiced,” Cataluna said.
“Sabi ko na lang, tapusin ko na lang itong one week long climbing trip with him… So, pinagpaliban ko na lang yung sinabi niya, but I can’t help myself but [feel bad,] hindi ko na-enjoy ang buong trip hanggang matapos,” he added.
“The whole time I was there, I hated every single moment. I didn’t want to be there anymore, I just wanted to get it done.”
That was when the two reached out to each other, with Egbalic inviting Cataluna to his van, which also serves as his humble abode.
“The whole time [sa climb,] naho-homesick ako. Yun ang first time na ma-feel kong homesick ako sa camping trip. And the, yung moment na dumating ako sa van ni Kuya Gerry, naamoy ko yung ginisang onions ng corned beef and rice, we shared a meal together. Yun lang ang moment nung trip na yun na I felt very safe,” the younger climber said.
“At that time we were sharing meals and na-share ko kay kuya, ‘Alam mo Kuya Gerry, tayo naman ang susunod [na aakyat ng El Capitan.] Let’s try it one day. But, it was just an idea… I kind of just hinted na it would be cool if we could raise the flag on top of El Cap. And I think that idea started it all,” he added.
A feature, not a bug
It was there that the dream, which they dubbed as “Projek Pango,” started.
Pango, of course, is a Filipino term which means “snub-nosed”. It is usually used to tease Filipinos, but this time, it was a rallying call for the duo to conquer El Capitan through the legendary “The Nose” route, as they aimed to shed off the negative connotation of the word.
“It’s an obvious reason why I chose Projek Pango [as the name of our project]. Yung ‘pango’, I feel like growing up in the Philippines, has been a negative connotation. And it's like a putdown,” Egbalic said.
“And I think naming this ‘Project Pango’, for one, it's one of those, if you know, you know. Kung Pilipino ko alam mo, you know what that means. But also this is more of a statement na we... It's a very general statement na the beauty standards sa Pinas, it's not the authentic beauty standards that we have… So it's more of a proud identity statement,” he added.
“All this time, ang word na ‘pango’ has been negative. I hope yung message is ma-realize ng mga Pinoy na it doesn't have to be negative. It's a good thing. Kasi natural, that's our natural features,” Cataluna said.
“And sana ma-realize natin lahat na matanggal na natin yung colonial mentality na natin na kung hindi siya Pinoy, maganda. Like imported stuff, beauty standard. So it's about embracing our own. Kaya yung pangalan niyo sabi ko sa kanya, I'm all in kuya. I'm all about embracing our own authentic Filipino self.”
The meetings started in 2024, and after things happened, a group of four became just Cataluna and Egbalic.
The two bared that they attempted the feat for the first time last year, but they were not able to reach the top of the mountain — which is over 3,000 feet of sheer granite — because of terrible weather and very narrow windows of availability.
They were able to reach Dolt Tower, but they had to descend from that point. They attempted a second time around, and while the weather was better, the challenge was not necessarily easier.
Challenge: Accepted
“So when you get into climbing, may bouldering, may sport climbing and may traditional, usually ganun nung trend… So when you get into big wall climbing, parang isipin mo, kailangan mo ipagsanib lahat ng disciplines in one discipline,” Cataluna said.
“Kasi ang big wall climbing, you have to free climb. You have to incline. You have to also know how mag-haul ng bag which is you need pulley system, mechanical advantages. And you need, parang maging safe, eventually you'll have to learn rescue. And then on top of all those skills, the technical skills that you have to learn for rock climbing, you also have to have endurance and strong base fitness and mental fortitude,” he added.
“Kasi the higher you go up sa wall, makikita mo yung exposure. Pag sinabi namin exposure, you're looking at the wall and then you see yung view, kung gaano kataas yung lula, mafe-feel mo yung lula. And then mayroon kami tinatawag na matadal ka sa isang mataas na lugar na matarik, nadidrain yung mental mo. So parang na-burnt out ka sa exposure.”
Aside from these, there is also the challenge of the natural elements, and because the climbers are traversing the smooth side of the rock formation, they would need to sleep on the side of the formation.
And since it takes a few days to complete the climb, there is the need to bring “everything” — bed, food, water, gear, emergency kit, and even where you would need to go to the bathroom, Egbalic said.
It was a taxing few days, to say the least.
The worst came on the second day, Egbalic recalled, when he realized that the six gallons of water they brought was in the bottom of their bag.
And because they just could not open their bag just anywhere, they had to get to one of the safe pitches before they called it a night, which forced them to hike until midnight in pitch-black darkness.
But, slowly but surely, they climbed up. Pitch after pitch. And it was all smooth sailing, until it was time to summit.
“I think nung when we were at the very last pitch, my sense of urgency to top out did not matter anymore. I knew that we're gonna top out regardless of what happened. So I feel like I was taking my time. I was enjoying the views, I was enjoying Ivan coming up, we were singing, we were making jokes. So we were taking our time,” Egbalic said.
“We both knew we were gonna top out, we were gonna summit from that day. I think after, and it took longer than I thought. The very last part, again the tricky part about it is getting the hall packs up there safely. And I think what's going through my mind,” he added.
He looked back at the time when another climber climbed by himself, and his haul pack got stuck at the very last pitch. And as the climber tried to get his pack unstuck, he fell to the ground.
But eventually, the mission was accomplished.
“Wala akong masyadong naramdaman sa summit. Pero yung lahat ng emotion ko naramdaman ko yung the morning before we summit. Yung nag-camping kami sa Camp 6. Actually, naalala ko nagreklamo si Kuya Gerry doon kasi ang likot-likot ko raw, kasi nagising akong sobrang aga,” Cataluna said.
“Paggising ko, pagdilat ko, nandun yung next pitch, tinitingnan ko yung tinatawag na pitch na Changing Corners… So tinitingnan ko yung pitch above us na gagawin namin. Tapos tumingin ako sa kaliwa which is yung bangin, pati yung view. Nandun yung sun, paangat na… Na-realize ko na, na this is our last day. Dun ko na-realize na abot-kamay na ang pangarap na inaasam-asam namin,” he added.
Sweeter the second time around
It was technically his second time to climb El Capitan, but Cataluna said this time “felt right”.
“When I did it the first time, it felt really wrong. Nothing was right. Kahit pangarap kong ma-climb ang El Capitan, kahit ito yung all-time dream ng lahat ng climbers, and then that first trip I was actually doing a dream of mine. Yung kasiyahan pala, yung feeling na hinahanap ko, hindi lang lahat nang gagaling sa climbing,” he said.
“Hindi lang sa movements, hindi lang sa idea na nag-climb ka ng bundok, hindi lang sa idea na nag-climb ka ng isang malupit na bagay na pwede mong may pagyabang sa buong mundo. Hindi ko actually na-imagine na ibang tao ma-climb ko kundi si Kuya Gerry lang sa second attempt ko,” he added.
“Hindi ko actually na-imagine na ibang tao ma-climb ko kundi si Kuya Jerry lang sa second attempt ko. Dahil I vowed sa sarili ko na that moment na binigyan ako ng corned beef ni Kuya Gerry in his van, doon ko talaga secretly, quietly, inisip na one day pag ready na si Kuya Gerry susuportahan ko no matter what to make this dream of ours happen.”
Egbalic, for his part, said that the experience was second to none.
“I climb with non-Filipino climbers. I have a lot of friends that are non-Filipinos. I climb with them and I have fun. It's a great feeling to have fun with them. Pero to climb with another Filipino, we have almost the same migrant history. We share the same background. We speak the same language. We eat the same food. We have the same humor. We have the same asaran. Kakaiba,” he said.
“It makes climbing a lot different and a whole new level. I could have climbed ‘The Nose’ with another friend of mine that's not Filipino that I don't speak Tagalog with. I'm sure it would have been great. Pero to climb that with Ivan who shared the same passion that I do, who have the same background, that's what made it even more special. If I climb the nose again, I'm pretty sure it won't be the same exact experience that I have.”
For now, the two will focus on other endeavors, with Egbalic setting his sights on community building and mentoring, and Cataluna trying to build his future.
- Latest
- Trending
