More mountaineering
groups and individuals nowadays attempted to scale difficult mountains to which
for me has become a mandatory part of the evolution of mountaineering in the
Philippines. We always look at how tough those mountains are and we try hard to
scale them one by one.
In our pursuit to climb
highly-technical mountains in the Philippines, LOGSAC power duo Noel Bartolome
(Pawiks) and Henry Gapula (Pagong) successfully scaled Mt. Guiting-Guiting in
Romblon last April 11-13, 2015; making yet another history to the already-checkered
existence of this mountaineering club. This climb was a conclusion to a failed
summit attempt of the same mountain last year by Pawiks, Irvin Joy Alcoriza and
Danrev Broñola.
“We were blessed with a
good weather condition this time, that’s why we climbed all the way to the
summit with our given itinerary,” said Pagong. G2, as fondly called by the
mountaineering community, has its own character to which mountain climbers
should adopt. The assault to the summit via the dangerous knife edge entails a vigorous
physical and mental strength. Others even said that climbing G2 is only for the
braves. The long boat trip from Batangas to Sibuyan Island is another chapter of
the expedition to endure.
Mt. Guiting-Guiting forms
part of the country’s knife edge trilogy, the other two being Mt. Halcon in
Mindoro Oriental and Mt. Mantalingajan of Palawan. These are the very mountains
also that are considered the most difficult mountains to climb as there are portions
where a 90-degree assault have to be done and a mandatory mountain hugging
through that “face-the-wall” track should be surmounted.
When asked about his experience
of the knife edge, Pagong echoed without hesitation, “if you are careless you
will die, that is how difficult this mountain is,” referring to the high cliffs
visible down opposite the rock formations prior to reaching G2’s summit.
In the 8 year history
of LOGSAC, I can safely say that this is perhaps one of the most ambitious
climb ever done by two of our veteran members. It also sets a new milestone of
our young club that will always be remembered by the rest of the group members.
My only note is that no matter how difficult a mountain is to be climbed, it
can always be done easily through proper planning, hiring of competent guide
and coupled with a good weather.
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