In the eyes of many, it seemed as if it was a race. Was there really no jealousy between Leo Oracion and Pastour Emata, the first and second Filipinos respectively to reach the world’s highest peak?
Sir Art made everything clear. “I kept on saying about sacrifice. If they would climb together, there would only be one attempt. If the weather becomes bad then it would take around 2 weeks to mount another attempt… They had to go one after the other so I had to make the decision kung sino.”
He continues, “Pastour suggested Leo should go up first. Nag-sacrifice yan eh… (referring to the then blushing Pastour). Leo was carrying the flag, if he had fallen down, Pastor would be behind him to bring it up. But when Pastor climbed, it doesn’t mean that he’s less physically fit. He climbed it on record time, one of the fastests.”
Mr. Valdez painstakingly organized the Expedition Team to make this honor possible for every Filipino. Cynicism and lack of funds did not stop him from pursuing the goal.
While they were already training in Nepal, Pastour shares, “Si Sir Art naghahagilap pa rin ng pondo namin. Sinabi namin kay Sir, ‘di mo man naakyat ang Everest, pero ‘yung paghanap mo ng budget is more than Mt. Everest. Grabe talaga ang sakripisyo ni Sir Art.”
“I had to do something to restore back our faith on ourselves. To do an unimaginable, to do an extra-ordinary, that is climbing Mt Everest.
So when I was organizing it, nobody believed me. Napakalaki ng gastos. Sino ang maglalagay ng pera sa ganito? Even the climbers, hindi sila maniwala matutuloy (laughs) until naka-training na sa labas, they felt that aba mukhang totoo na ito.”
Pastour expresses, “Hindi pa kami nakaka-abot iyakan na. Para kang asong tumatahol sa buwan… dati inambisyon mo pa lang yun…”
Sir Art emphasizes, “Lei, you cannot just imagine ang hirap namin even to put up every expedition that we have. What you saw is the end product… No wonder it is unbelievable. Every expedition namin ganun ka hirap eh. Minsan umaalis na ang grupo, ‘di pa kumpleto ang pera namin, hinahabol ko pa yan na mabayaran…
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