Triumph!
Written by Major Tom
Filed under: Earth & Environment
May 18, 2006
I have been climbing mountains before (not only trees as some of you know by now), way back in my college days and so therefore I hadn’t gave the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition much attention and had very little interest in it that whenever the news on television mentioned it, I had instinctively pressed the remote control buttons in order to surf some other more worthwhile items on the boob tube (pressing that darn gadget like a panic button). I had thought, “What’s the big fuzz about this expedition?” In my mind, so many nations and nationalities have already achieved the feat before and as a frequent mountain climber in the past, I felt that even I myself could do it given the right physical conditioning and climbing gears and that maybe it’s not such a enormous feat after all.
But when an unanticipated television news update announced yesterday that one of the Filipino mountaineers finally reach the summit of the legendary Mount Everest, I felt an immense and refreshing emotion enveloping me and suddenly felt proud that the Philippine flag was finally flying at the top of the world (and no pun intended there).
This a triumph of spirit and the first Filipino to reach the world’s topmost point, Leo Oracion—as well as the rest of the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition team—should now be considered as legends and fabled heroes by our countrymen.
(Visit the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition website HERE.)
it would have been much more significant for me if the expedition didn’t seem to look more like a race between two warring networks to prove which one of the two is better.
honestly, i dont think the expedition wouldhave made such an impression if it wasn’t for the competition, considering there were already thousands of people who was able to reach the top including handicapped,a blind person, a 15 year old, a 75 year old! etc. nevertheless, im always proud to be a filipino.
Comment by rudyman — May 18, 2006 @ 10:33 am
Congratulations to Leo Oracion and his team!
Comment by Sidney — May 18, 2006 @ 1:57 pm
Indeed, they should be congratulated for their feat. Too bad though, that this expedition is being used by two rival tv stations as a ‘contest’ on who can reach the summit first.
Comment by snglguy — May 19, 2006 @ 1:01 am
To rudyman: A blind man eh? Anyway, still…It something that we can talk about. I never realized that before (the seeming contest between the two TV stations)–this is perhaps what we mean by shameless commercialism.
To Sidney: Despite of the hassles, they should be thoroughly honored.
To snglguy: Yeah, there’s seems to be a contest betwen the two TV giants. I say shame on them. Looks like they just stained what ought to be purely heroic and altruistic. Tsk,tsk…GMA and ABS-CBN should be publicly reprimanded for turning this whole event into childish bickering.
Comment by Major Tom — May 19, 2006 @ 4:11 pm
Just the thought of climbing a mountain as high as the altitude a passenger jet travels sends shivers down my spine. The Everest isn’t a 29,000 feet mountain with a lush of vegetation and a 25 deg Celsius temperature where you could sing your favorite song as you pull yourself up into the heights - it is a frozen rock, with temperatures much like the God-forsaken expanse of arctic tundra. When I can’t even bear the thought of walking half a mile in a -10 deg weather, I sure respect ANYONE who could climb a frozen, 6 mile high mountain with very little air to breath. I’m not sure what these climbers are up to, but sure as hell you can count me out. You can have your glory - I’ll stick to my beer and nuts.
Comment by bw — May 22, 2006 @ 8:08 pm