Carina Dayondon

Last updated
Carina Dayondon
Born
Carina Dayondon

(1978-07-15) 15 July 1978 (age 45)
Nationality Filipino
Education Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan
Occupation(s)Mountaineer and adventurer
Employer Philippine Coast Guard
Known forThe first Filipina to reach the Seven Summits; second Filipina to reach summit of Mount Everest

Carina Dayondon (born 15 July 1978) is a Filipina mountaineer, adventurer, and Philippine Coast Guard officer who was the first Filipina to reach the Seven Summits, the seven tallest mountains in every continent in the world, and the second Filipina to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Contents

Dayondon, along with fellow female mountaineers Noelle Wenceslao and Janet Belarmino, reached the summit of Mount Everest on 16 May 2007 as part of an all-women Philippine expedition that climbed from the northern route and descended via the southern route. She has also reached the summits of Denali (2006), Mount Elbrus (2013), Mount Kosciuszko (2014), Kilimanjaro (2015), and Aconcagua (2017). In 2018, she reached the summit of Vinson Massif in Antarctica, thus completing the Seven Summits.

Early life

Dayondon was born and raised in Don Carlos, Bukidnon, the fourth out of 15 children of retired bankers. Her mother worked operated a lodging service from their home while her father worked at the local agriculture office. [1] [2]

She studied at the Don Carlos Central Elementary School and at the San Isidro College High School in Malaybalay for her basic education. She was a member of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines in elementary school. In high school, she was a class auditor, a member of the Booklovers' Club, a platoon leader in the Citizens' Army Training, and the Filipino editor of their school publication. She went to college at Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan in Cagayan de Oro, taking up Bachelor of Science in Business Management and joining the Xavier University-Ateneo Mountaineering Society (XU-AMS). [1] [2]

Due to financial difficulties, Dayondon supported herself to school by working part-time as a climbing instructor, as a salesclerk for an outdoor shop, as a babysitter, and sometimes, selling lottery tickets. It took her nine years to finish college as she participated in numerous adventure racing sports in between studies to earn extra income to support her siblings. [2]

At 17, Dayondon successfully completed her first climb to Mount Kitanglad in Bukidnon, the fourth tallest mountain in the Philippines, as part of an XU-AMS expedition. [1] She later reached the summits of Mount Kalatungan and Musuan Peak, both in Bukidnon. [2]

Climbing Mount Everest

2006 Philippine Mount Everest Expedition

In 2004, while still completing her studies, Dayondon was invited to join the first Philippine Mount Everest Expedition organized by then Transportation and Communications undersecretary Art Valdez. [3] As one of the top female adventure racers in the country, she was a natural choice for the organizers. She joined fellow female mountaineers Janet Belarmino and Noelle Wenceslao in advanced mountaineering training along with the male expedition members at the Western Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Manali, India. [2] [4] [5] During the training, she scaled the Baralacha Pass (4,890 m) near Manali and Kyorang Peak (6,300 m) in Ladakh. [5] [6]

In April 2005, Dayondon went with the expedition to New Zealand for a 10-day preparatory climb, in which she summitted Mount Aylmer (2,699 m) and Aoraki / Mount Cook (3,724 m) in the Southern Alps. [7] [8] After New Zealand, she joined the expedition in China's Xinjiang Region in August 2005 to climb Mustagh Ata (7,509 m). [7] [9]

After Filipino mountaineer Romi Garduce announced his solo attempt to climb Mount Everest in the spring of 2006, the expedition decided to fast track their preparations to get ahead of Garduce. The expedition organizers decided to prioritize the ascent of two of their most experienced climbers, Leo Oracion and Erwin Emata, who would later become the first and second Filipinos to reach the summit of Mount Everest on 17 and 18 May 2006, respectively. The organizers decided that Dayondon, Wenceslao and Belarmino, would make another attempt to summit Mount Everest in an all-female expedition the following year. [4] [5]

Successful 2007 Mount Everest attempt

To prepare for their Mount Everest attempt during the 2007 spring climbing season, Dayondon, Wenceslao, and 2006 Philippine Mount Everest Expedition spokesperson Reggie Pablo, decided to fly to Alaska on 19 May 2006 and climb Denali, the tallest mountain in North America at 20,310 feet (6,190 m), which they summitted on 23 June. [10] [11] Following this successful expedition, Dayondon, Wenceslao, and Pablo flew to Tibet in September 2006 to climb Cho Oyu, the sixth tallest mountain in the world. The group backed out on 7 October 2006 at 8,100 metres (26,575 ft) due to bad weather. [12]

During the spring climbing season the following year, the all-female Philippine expedition led by Valdez and composed of Wenceslao, Dayondon, and Belarmino, began their attempt to ascent Mount Everest. Their plan was to ascend the mountain via the northern route in Tibet and then descend through the southern route in Nepal. On 16 May 2007, at 6:10 a.m. Nepal Time, Wenceslao, along with Pemba Chhoti Sherpa, reached the summit of Mount Everest, thus, becoming the first Filipina to reach the summit. Dayondon, along with Lhakpa Gyalzen Sherpa, reached the summit 10 minutes later at 6:20 a.m., thus becoming the second Filipina to reach the summit of Mount Everest. She was 28 years old at the time of her ascent. Belarmino, along with Pasang Nuru and Ang Phurba Sherpa, reached the summit at 9 a.m., two hours and 40 minutes later, thus becoming the third Filipina on top of Mount Everest. [13]

Climbing the Seven Summits

Having summitted Mount Everest and Mount Denali, Dayondon set her sights on completing the Seven Summits. In 2013, she summitted Mount Elbrus in southern Russia's Caucasus Mountain Range, which is tallest mountain in Europe at 5,642 metres (18,510 ft) in elevation. [14] [15] [16] The following year, she summitted Mount Kosciuszko in New South Wales, Australia, which is Oceania's tallest mountain at 2,228 metres (7,310 ft). [14] [15] [16] She summitted Africa's tallest mountain, Kilimanjaro, which is 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) in height, in 2015. [14] [15] [16] She completed the Seven Summits in 2018 with back-to-back climbs to the summit of Aconcagua, which is South America's tallest mountain at 6,961 metres (22,838 ft), and Vinson Massif, which is the tallest mountain in Antarctica at 4,892 metres (16,050 ft). [14] [15] [16] By completing the ascent of the Seven Summits, Dayondon became the first Filipino woman to ascend the Bass version of the Seven Summits. [14] [15] [16]

Upon completing her ascent of the Seven Summits, Dayondon was honored by the Senate of the Philippines through Senate Resolution 985, which was filed by Senator Nancy Binay and recognizes Dayondon for having "displayed the brilliance and excellence of Filipinos despite insurmountable odds that brings immense pride and honor to the country." [17]

Personal life

Outside of mountaineering, Dayondon is an officer of the Philippine Coast Guard with the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. She works in the agency as a training officer and uses her story to inspire the next generations of Coast Guard cadets into serving the agency and the Philippines. [18] In 2019, she was honored with the Conservation Hero Award by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) for her role in spreading awareness on environmental conservation through her speaking engagements with the WWF about her Seven Summits ascent. [19] In the same year, she was also named among the Most Inspiring Filipinas, a recognition given by American toy manufacturer Mattel, the makers of Barbie dolls, and its Philippine distributor, Richprime Global, as part of the Dream Gap Project for International Women's Day to inspire young girls with women role models. [20]

In May 2018, during a break between her ascent of Mount Aconcagua and Vinson Massif, Dayondon participated in the journey of the Philippine Balangay Expedition, also organized by Valdez and participated in by members of the 2006 and 2007 Philippine Mount Everest Expeditions. She made the journey from Manila to Quanzhou, China in a traditional balangay, a wooden seafaring boat used by precolonial Filipinos in trading with neighboring civilizations. The journey was conducted to celebrate the precolonial ties between the Philippines and China. [2] [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Everest</span> Earths highest mountain

Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation of 8,848.86 m was most recently established in 2020 by the Chinese and Nepali authorities.

The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. On 30 April 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the summit of all seven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reinhold Messner</span> Italian mountaineer, adventurer and explorer (born 1944)

Reinhold Andreas Messner is an Italian climber, explorer, and author from South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplemental oxygen. He was the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders, doing so without supplementary oxygen. Messner was the first to cross Antarctica and Greenland with neither snowmobiles nor dog sleds and also crossed the Gobi Desert alone. He is widely considered to be the greatest mountaineer of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junko Tabei</span> Japanese mountain climber (1939–2016)

Junko Tabei was a Japanese mountaineer, author, and teacher. She was the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest and first woman to ascend the Seven Summits, climbing the highest peak on every continent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Viesturs</span> American mountain climber

Edmund Viesturs is an American high-altitude mountaineer, corporate speaker, and well known author in the mountain climbing community. He was the first American to climb all 14 of the eight-thousander mountains, and the 5th person to do so without supplemental oxygen. Along with Apa Sherpa, he has summitted eight-thousanders on 21 occasions, including Mount Everest seven times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Hall</span> New Zealand mountaineer (1961–1996)

Robert Edwin Hall was a New Zealand mountaineer. He was the head guide of a 1996 Mount Everest expedition during which he, a fellow guide, and two clients died. A best-selling account of the expedition was given in Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air, and the expedition has been dramatised in the 2015 film Everest. At the time of his death, Hall had just completed his fifth ascent to the summit of Everest, more at that time than any other non-Sherpa mountaineer.

Romeo Roberto "Romi" Garduce, sometimes nicknamed as "Garduch," is a Filipino mountaineer, a scuba dive master, an environmentalist, writer, motivational speaker and works as an IT professional. He began climbing mountains for a cause in 1991 as a member of the UP Mountaineers. Aside from being a mountain climber and IT professional, he became one of the host for the GMA Network public affair shows Born to Be Wild and Pinoy Meets World. He also hosted the GMA News and Public Affairs special entitled Pito Para sa Pilipino with Richard Gutierrez.

Leo Oración is a Filipino mountaineer and sportsman widely recognized as the first Filipino to reach the summit of Mount Everest on May 17, 2006, at the age of 32. He reached the summit at 3:30 p.m., together with 15 other climbers.

Erwin "Pastor" Emata is a mountain climber and a runner from the Philippines. In 2006, he became the second Filipino to climb Mount Everest. His achievement was recognized by then Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when she conferred Emata with the Order of Lakandula with the special class of Champion for Life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Mount Everest expeditions</span>

Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at 8,849 metres (29,031.7 ft) above sea level. It is situated in the Himalayan range of Solukhumbu district, Nepal.

Samantha Larson is an American mountain climber from Long Beach, California. On May 16, 2007, at the age of 18, she became temporarily the youngest non-Nepalese woman to summit Mount Everest. By reaching the top of Everest, she also became temporarily the youngest person to have climbed the Seven Summits, the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. She and her father, Dr. David Larson, became the first father-daughter team to complete the Seven Summits. In August 2007 they climbed Carstensz Pyramid, thereby also completing the "Messner list" of the Seven Summits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Philippine Mount Everest expedition</span>

The 2006 Philippine Mount Everest expedition is a Filipino mountaineering expedition that made a successful attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest via the traditional southeast ridge route in May 2006 during the spring climbing season in the Himalayas. It was the first national expedition organized by the Philippines to reach the summit of world's highest mountain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Czerwińska</span> Polish mountaineer (1949–2023)

Anna Czerwińska was a Polish climber. She is known for being the then-oldest woman to summit Mount Everest, doing so at the age of 50. She also published several books about mountaineering.

Krushnaa Patil is an Indian climber. In 2009, at the age of 19, she became the youngest Indian woman to successfully ascent Mount Everest, earth's highest mountain.

Rhys Jones is an English mountaineer and was the youngest person to climb the Seven Summits, and reached the summit of Mount Everest.

Samina Khayal Baig is a Pakistani mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest in 2013, all Seven Summits by 2014, and K2 in 2022. She is the first Pakistani woman to climb Everest, K2 and the Seven Summits. She climbed Mt. Everest at the age of 21.

Danielle Fisher is an American mountain climber who in 2005 became the youngest person to complete the Seven Summits and the youngest American to climb Mount Everest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anshu Jamsenpa</span> Indian mountaineer

Anshu Jamsenpa is an Indian mountaineer and the first woman in the world to scale the summit of Mount Everest twice in a season, and the fastest double summiter to do so within five days. It is also the fastest double ascent of the tallest crest by a woman. She is from Bomdila, headquarters of West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh - the state that holds the most north-eastern position in India. She was awarded India's fourth-highest civilian award the Padma Shri in 2021.

Charlotte Conant Fox was an American mountaineer and the first American woman to reach the summit of three eight thousander peaks. She survived the 1996 Mount Everest disaster as a member of Scott Fischer's Mountain Madness expedition. She died of head injuries on May 24, 2018, after falling over a stairway railing at her house.

Noelle Christina Wenceslao is a Filipina mountaineer, adventurer, and Philippine Coast Guard officer who, on 16 May 2007, became the first Filipina to reach the summit of Mount Everest. She, along with fellow female mountaineers Carina Dayondon and Janet Belarmino, reached the summit of Mount Everest as part of an all-women Philippine expedition that climbed the tallest mountain in the world from the northern route and descended via the southern route.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Bukidnon's Carina Dayondon: 2nd Pinay to reach Everest's peak". MindaNews. 25 May 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Torib, Yashika (30 September 2020). "From the mountains to the sea". The Manila Times . Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  3. Villar, Joey; Beltran, Nelson (15 March 2006). "RP climbers gear up for Mt. Everest". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  4. 1 2 De Jesus, Marinel (16 November 2018). "A Brown Face on Everest: Filipino Climber Regie Pablo Defies the Norms". www.browngaltrekker.com. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Fernandez, Jayvee (7 June 2007). "Regie Pablo of Globe Telecommunications Summits Mt. Everest". A Bugged Life (blog). Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  6. "Regie's Success Story". Ven Going Places (blog). 21 October 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  7. 1 2 "Philippines Everest quest update: A matter of profession?". ExplorersWeb.com. 26 April 2006. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  8. Villar, Joey (22 April 2005). "RP Mt. Everest team passes test in New Zealand, India". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  9. Villar, Joey (8 September 2005). "Climbers endure harsh conditions, scale peak". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  10. Crisostomo, Sheila (5 July 2006). "Pinoy, 2 Pinays scale world's coldest mountain". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  11. "RP climbers scale North America's highest peak". The Philippine Star. 5 July 2006. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  12. "Himalaya autumn 2006 expeditions: FPMEE Philippine team: Back in the Himalayas". www.mounteverest.net. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  13. Hawley, Elizabeth; Salisbury, Richard. "Ascents - Spring 2007". The Himalayan Database. Retrieved 3 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Marquez, Consuelo (21 December 2018). "Carina Dayondon, 1st Filipina to complete 'Seven Summits' climb". Philippine Daily Inquirer . Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "Carina Dayondon is first Filipina to conquer world's seven highest summits". CNN Philippines . 15 January 2019. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Lasco, Gideon (20 December 2018). "Carina Dayondon successfully ascends Vinson Massif in Antarctica, completes Seven Summits!". www.pinoymountaineer.com. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  17. "Senate honors mountain-climber Carina Dayondon after scaling 7 Summits". ABS-CBN News . 28 May 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  18. "The First Filipina to Conquer the World's Seven Summits". www.gridmagazine.ph. 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  19. Quadra-Balibay, Aurora (15 November 2019). "World Wildlife Fund honors Everest climber Carina Dayondon as Conservation Hero". www.goodnewspilipinas.com. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  20. "Maine Mendoza, Carina Dayondon, Charo Santos chosen by Mattel's Barbie as Inspiring Filipina awardees". www.goodnewspilipinas.com. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  21. Lavallee, Guillaume (2 November 2017). "Filipina Everest conqueror to sail for China on a balangay". Rappler . Retrieved 3 June 2021.