Filipino on Everest Summit
Cebu-based triathlete Leo Oracion is the first Filipino to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak. The 32-year-old climber reached the top of the 8,848-meter mountain at 3:30 p.m. Nepal time (5:30 p.m. Philippine time) Wednesday. ( source ) Manila's two largest broadcast networks have splashed out for hefty sponsorship deals and deployed crews which gave blow-by-blow accounts of the race to the summit, which 32 year-old triathlete Leo Oracion won hands down on Wednesday. In a country where no mountain reaches 3,000m and the only ice is inside freezers, Oracion, his teammate Erwin Emata and rival climber Romeo Garduce were hailed as heroes as they labored up the southern slope of the 8,848m mountain. Filipinos monitored the teams? progress online as well as their televised preparations. ( source ) The team was slowed down considerably upon reaching the Hillary Step, a 40-foot wall of rock around an hour to the summit. “This is a big accomplishment for a cou...