After Everest, Filipina aims to finish climbing rest of Seven Summits

After she scaled Mount Everest in 2007—joining a small and exclusive club of women climbers to have reached the world's highest peak—Carina Dayondon became inspired to reach the top of the other Seven Summits, a goal she is still in the middle of achieving.

The Seven Summits is a grouping of some of the world's highest mountains, consisting of the highest peak on each of the seven continents.

Dayondon, 37, was born and raised in Bukidnon, where she grew up with an affinity for sports and outdoor activities.

In 2004, an opportunity to be part of a team to climb Mt. Everest came. "I just graduated college so I was torn between finding a job to help bring home the bacon, or head to Manila to join the team," Carina said.

She opted for the latter, and began a three-year preparation to conquer the Himalayan peak.

"[I]t was not an easy feat due to budget constraints," Carina recalled. "We needed more sponsors to finance our training...Some members of the team had to shell out personal money to support the team. Some of us joined races to win to have funds for our training. That’s pure dedication."

Her family's financial problems challenged this dedication, but Carina and a colleague won a race that enabled her to send money to her family and stay with the team.

Carina finally achieved her Everest dream in 2007. The three women in the team—including Carina—were recognized as the only three women in the world to scale the heights of Mt. Everest by traversing it (going a lateral route up a mountain).

To date, Dayondon—a LTJG/1st Lieutenant with the Philippine Coast Guard and assigned to the Officer Basic Education Training Center at Bagac, Bataan as a Tactical Officer—has already climbed four more of the Seven Summits: Denali in Alaska (the highest peak in North America), Mt. Elbrus in Russia (Europe), Mt. Kosciuzsko in Australia and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (Africa), which she climbed in October 2015.

She has to climb two more peaks to achieve her goal: the 6,961-meter Mount Aconcagua in the Argentinan Andes and the 4,892-meter Mount Vinson in Antarctica.

However, according to a press release from Primer Group, which provided Carina with climbing gear, she is no longer yearning to be known as the first Filipina to cross all the seven summits. Instead, she hopes to use her passion for mountaineering to "[inspire] the youth and empower fellow Filipinas that they can reach their own summit." — BM, GMA News

For logistical and financial support to help Carina Dayondon and her team, contact her at carinadayondon@yahoo.com or 09175208085 and 09399175104.