The Philippines finally puts on record a historic feat in the elite adventure sport of mountaineering. This after renowned Filipino mountain climber Romi Garduce officially set foot atop Mt. Vinson Massif in the Antarctic Region on January 5 at 6:45pm, Antarctica time (January 6, 5:45am, Philippine time) – officially completing his historic “Seven Summit” quest after long 10 years.
According to a recent blogpost by mountain climbing and trekking guide service Mountain Madness, Romi’s team summitted the 16,067-foot alpine mountain lying in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains amid a cold -26 degree Celsius weather.
GMA Network, tagged as the “home of Filipino champions,” takes pride that the first Pinoy to ever complete this elite globe-trotting expedition is a homegrown Kapuso. Romi is one of the pioneer hosts of the award-winning wildlife and environmental program Born To Be Wild.
Romi now stands next to Filipino boxing champ Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao with his own world record title.
In all, Romi summitted “eight of the seven highest mountains” in seven continents, conquering all mountains in both Bass and Messner mountaineering lists. These summits include Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa (September 2002); Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina (January 2005); Mt. Everest in Nepal (May 2006); Mt. Elbrus in Russia (August 2007); Mt. McKinley or Denali Peak in North America (June 2008); Mt. Kosciuszko in Australia (December 2008); Mt. Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia (July 2011), and just recently, Mt. Vinson Massif in Antarctica (January 2012).
Find more about Romi’s triumph as GMA Network, the broadcast leader in adventure sports coverage, airs the “Pito Para sa Pilipino: the Seven Summits Expedition” on GMA and GMA News TV.
Feeds about his most recent summit can also be seen on all GMA-7 and GMA News TV newscasts and bulletins.
