Live your dream

MANILA, Philippines - Between the lowlands and the mountains, I prefer the high ground and its cool weather any time. I took to the mountains in Negros Occidental at an early age when I was still a Boy Scout. And Baguio was second home to me. For years, my family would often go to Baguio for the summer, Christmas and Holy Week breaks.

Later in life, I spent memorable moments camping with my son, and trekking a part of the Appalachian Trail in Vermont, and savoring the mountain highs of America’s West, Alaska and British Columbia with my family.

In the armed services, I also found myself trudging the highlands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao in the name of peace and order; for unit training, civic action or to simply commune with our men and women in uniform.

But real mountain climbing came to me only much later in life in the Lopez Group, and after I crossed over to the senior’s side of the line three years ago. I owe that to Oscar M. Lopez (or OML), patriarch of the Lopez Group. Honestly, I never imagined that I would be cresting with him the country’s tallest peaks, and most recently, Mt. Kinabalu in Sabah, Borneo, about one and a half hours south of Manila. But then again, this is about “walking the talk” the OML way, on being well and staying well – both business health and personal health which are inextricably linked – and never giving up.

Climbers negotiate the risky descent down Low’s Peak, where rains create instant waterfalls.

Kinabalu was for him another dream come true, one that lodged in his subconscious years ago from a book where a photo of Sabah’s rooftop caught his eye. That dream gradually took shape in the past three years as he scaled the heights of Mt. Kanlaon at 8,000 ft; Mt. Pulag at 9,700 ft; and Mt. Apo at 10,000 ft. His latest feat, Mt. Kinabalu, stands at 13,500 ft above sea level. The next stop might be somewhere in Tibet at 18,000 ft. Aiming high reflects his legendary journeys in business and his family’s pioneering ways.

His will power and gung-ho spirit energized his party and inspired those who heard of him on the slopes, who went out of their way for photo ops. His journey to the top, however, was earned the hard way. It took years of preparation – in Bhutan, Bavaria and Japan; Mts. Sto. Tomas, Arayat, Pinatubo and Pico de Loro; the hills of La Mesa, Antipolo and Baguio; and, his daily stairs climbing as well as treadmill regimen.

Of the 23 in his party, five were senior citizens, with OML at 81, and the rest in their early 60’s. With him were Cary Lopez, Piki Lopez, Jay Lopez, Raffy and Pia Abello, Eric and Bea Puno, Rina Lopez-Bautista, Angela Lopez-Guingona; Art Valdez, Fred Jamili, Dr. Ted Esguerra, Pastour Emata, Janet Belarmino, Carina Dayondon; Art and Vicky de Guia, Ben Liboro, Bernie Cavida, Larry Ruales, Ricardo Balido, Rico de Manzana and myself. As in OML’s previous major climbs, the First Philippine Mt. Everest Team was on hand to guide, advise and regale.

To combat altitude sickness, Doc Ted, the Mt. Everest expedition doctor, prescribed Rhodiola in the morning, Gingko Biloba at noon and Cetamid at night, at least three days before the climb – and everyday thereafter until the summit was reached – to help the brain, blood and lungs adjust to the thin air. Altitude sickness could not be taken for granted. Afflicted climbers would have to be escorted down when breathing, dizziness, headaches, vomiting and difficulty in movement occurred.

Mt. Kinabalu with its summit shrouded in clouds.

We took off from Kinabalu Park’s Timpohon Gate on May 17 and returned on the 21st. Sutera Sanctuary Lodges provided excellent overnight accommodations at Kinabalu Park and at Laban Rata, 6 kms away from the gate and 2.7 kms away from Low’s Peak. Because of their extended period on the trail, Park authorities graciously allowed our party to stay in their huts in Layang-Layang at the 4-km mark, and at Sayat-Sayat at the 7-km mark.

We received royal treatment from Datu Tengku Adlin, chair of Sabah’s Tourism Board, and impeccable service from John Lo of Carlota’s Borneo, assisted by Laura Bazan and Bryan Lo. We were among 139 climbers allowed daily on the trail by park authorities to avoid overstretching the capacities of rescuers, porters and the lodge at Laban Rata, which provided comfortable accommodations, hot food and beverages. Hot showers, however, depended on the sufficiency of power supply.

Whenever electricity supply wasn’t enough, guests had to make do with freezing water to wash up and bathe like polar bears. At an elevation of around 10,800 ft, the temperature fluctuated between 4-5 degrees Celsius; worse, the “soft” water made rinsing out the soap difficult. On our return trip from the summit, we persuaded the staff at Laban Rata to provide buckets of hot water to thaw our freezing bones and forestall any possibility of hypothermia (Piki Lopez was on the verge a few nights earlier).

On the day we crested Low’s Peak (May 20), we awoke at 2:30 a.m., ate an early breakfast, put on our cold weather gear and headlamps, and moved out from Laban Rata with our walking sticks at 3:45 to catch up with OML and 14 others who stayed at Sayat-Sayat, which was just 1.5 kms away from the summit. He would not be denied his day, reaching the top an hour before we did. All his previous struggles boiled down to this one moment in time when he touched the marker and looked every inch a winner.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: OML and his family rest at Low’s Peak.

The climb to Low’s Peak was difficult; even the Mt. Everest Team said so, and to think that they routinely ran marathons at those heights. In my case, with my left knee missing a meniscus, I struggled up the final two-km stretch from Laban Rata and back for almost 12 hours like an old mountain goat. As we descended, a heavy downpour turned Kinabalu’s granite wall into a massive water feature. Instant waterfalls cascaded directly at those of us still on its steep slopes while dangling on rope with freezing hands.

The daily rains that drenched us were contrary to the rosy forecasts that May would be dry and pleasant. Throughout our journey, we ran the risk of pneumonia. Our thin plastic ponchos may have kept us from getting wet but the lack of ventilation turned us into walking steam baths. On our second day at the trail, lightning caused the power lines alongside us to spark. Thankfully, by the grace of God, we had an accident-free climb that took 5 days, 4 nights; 17 kms and 14,712 ft., from start to finish.

On my desk is a glass container with this inscription: “Live Your Dream. Climb any mountain and believe without a doubt that you will succeed. That is the power of the human spirit.”

The author is president of Lopez Group Foundation Inc. and heads the Lopez Lifelong Wellness System, a corporate initiative of Oscar M. Lopez, chairman emeritus of the Lopez Group.

The whole party before embarking on their climb.