In 2007, three Filipinas made history reaching the highest peak of the Earth, though they claim they did not “conquer” Mt. Everest, but rather the mountain allowed them. 

For them, and their expedition leader Art Valdez, Everest was not only a peak to conquer, but a symbol of how even the most impossible becomes attainable once empowered by faith, unity and effort.

Years later, their story is retold in the newly-launched book, Live the Dream 2. 

Symbolic climb

In the book launch held on Sunday at Rockwell Center in Makati — the same venue where, 21 years ago, the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition was announced — Valdez highlighted that Everest represents mountains to climb in your life, whether in your career, profession, studies, or any dilemma that can be won gracefully not by mere luck, but determination. 

“It [Mt. Everest] is a privilege that mountains bring us through humility and prayer. Only when you’re humbled, the mountain here rises,” Valdez said. 

The 2007 All-Female Everest Team Noelle Wenceslao, Carina Dayondon and Janet Belarmino went through three years of training before they set foot to the climb from Tibet and the descent to Nepal.

The Everest expedition costs tens of thousands of dollars per climber, ranging from $50,000 to $70,000, mostly shouldered privately. The former expedition leader cited some countries that conducted an expedition funded by the government such as Indonesia and Malaysia, and he hopes for the Philippine national team to be funded by the government as well. 

“A nation that cannot produce trailblazers, discoverers, inventors, innovators, can never be a great nation, because nations are born out of dreams… if we’re capable of doing that, I think that’s a reflection of a great nation,” he said.

After reaching its peak, Valdez and the team went around the country to visit universities, colleges and high schools to share to students their story, even visiting some isolated communities to show what Filipinos are capable of during their mission to the sea in 2017, sailing the Balamgay from Maimbung, Sulu to China. 

Paying the price

The climb to the top will always come at a hefty personal cost physically, emotionally and financially.

Valdez hopes the book will show young Filipinos that it ultimately takes hardships, discipline and sacrifices to get to the victory of the summit. 

“There’s the story of Karina,” he said. “She came from a family of 14 children. They were really struggling. But it didn’t stop Karina from pursuing her own dreams. In the end, all of them were able to finish their studies. So, for the kids, I think it’s important that they see that nothing is impossible. But are they willing to pay the price?”

Purpose-driven climb

Following the death of Filipino mountaineer Philipp “PJ” Santiago II last 14 May, several critics question the value of risking lives to climb Everest. 

Santiago, 45, died at Everest’s Camp 4 while preparing for the last push to the summit. 

“As I said, Everest is symbolic. It can be crossing the ocean. It can be doing other things that are extraordinary… Everest will always have a risk. It could have happened to us. But your quest must be methodical and calibrated,” Valdez noted. 

For the three Filipinas who stood in the summit in 2007, the climb began long before they reached the peak, with every hardship they had to endure even upon preparation, and it still continues to date, in every place they give their talks, and every reader who will pick up their story.