Carina Dayondon, The Woman Who Reached the Top of the World
January 2019
Dayondon catches her breath during her attempt up Alaska’s Mount Denali, the highest peak in North America. A testament to human fortitude and a role model to Filipinos, Dayondon achieved the seemingly unachievable. Photograph © Carina Dayondon
On the 16th of December, 2018, Catriona Gray took to the stage as a symbol of pride to Filipino women all over the world. That very day, however, thousands of miles away atop a snowy peak down in Antartica, a woman stood proud, sun bright in her eyes and tears running down her cheeks as she carried with her the dreams of her country and all dreamers like her as the first Filipina to ever summit the tallest mountains of each of the seven continents.That woman was Carina Dayondon, and hers is a story of epic scale and spirit.
Carina stands at the summit of Mount Denali. She summited Denali in 2005 as part of her training for Mount Everest. Photograph © Carina Dayondon
A Dream for the Filipino People
Coming from a big family living in provincial Bukidnon, opportunities were short for Dayondon to even leave the country. She was a member of the girl scouts in her youth and began climbing during her college years. By 2004, opportunity arrived with an invitation to join the Everest Team – the jump-off point of her fourteen-year endeavor to summit the world’s tallest mountains.
Training started with a climb up Mount Denali, the highest peak in North America, in 2005. Her climb up Everest came the following year, which she made alongside two other Filipinas and a watching support team. She returned from the climb not as among the first Filipinas to not just summit, but cross, the world’s tallest mountain.
“What’s more important for me is we showed to the Filipinas, the young ones, there’s nothing impossible if you’re determined, focused, and if you believe in your dreams,” says Dayondon, a soft smile on her face. “It’s okay to get a record but does it have a point? Did you inspire anyone? Did you touch anyone’s heart, inspire them to do something like that? That’s what’s important to us. The message is there, to inspire the kids and the Filipinos.”
With Denali and Everest summited, Dayondon made for the remaining five mountains – Mount Kosciuszko in Australia, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Elbrus in Russia, Mount Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Vinson Massif in the snowy reaches of Antartica.
The Denali trail, looking back from the summit. Despite their beauty, says Dayondon, mountains, and all of nature, should be faced with humility. Photograph © Carina Dayondon
Humility Before Nature
As both a mountaineer and a member of the Philippine Coastguard, Dayondon treats nature with reverence, going so far as to ask the peaks for permission to climb. Should the weather not permit, however, or should her body be in unfit condition to climb, she does not mind backing out of a summit attempt. Such was the case with her first attempt at Mount Aconcagua, Argentina, in 2016.
“I took a loan back then [to fund my trip.] The climb wasn’t successful, though,” explains Dayondon. With almost 40 kilos strapped to her back as she commuted from Argentina to the Andes, she prepared for what was to be her sixth summit. Difficulties kept her from reaching the peak, however. “I went home without a summit and I was thinking of resting,” she says. “I didn’t have the money and it’s hard to find a sponsor.”
“There will be a time where you can’t summit, because your body or the weather will not permit it,” continues Dayondon. Experienced both as a mountaineer and as a member of the Philippine Coastguard, Dayondon knows the dangers of being overconfident in the face of nature. “It’s not just mountains. It’s even the sea. You submit to it… If the mountain will not allow you up, then you wait. There’s always another time to go up.”
“You don’t conquer a mountain. They’re very mighty,” adds Dayondon.
Dayondon returned to Aconcagua in 2017, now supported by WWF-Philippines. She was able to reach the summit on her second attempt.
A frostbitten Carina is wrapped up and armed with a supply of oxygen. Despite the size of the feat before her, Dayondon managed to reach the world’s highest peaks. Photograph © Carina Dayondon
Against the Odds
“I had so many challenges, so many mental disturbances. I was scared. I wanted to give up,” says Dayondon as she recounts her experiences travelling alone through Tanzania for her Kilimanjaro climb in 2015, having realized that the team waiting for her in Africa had gone on ahead. Her dream to summit the highest mountains was dogged by trouble the entire way, says Dayondon, but she never gave up.
Solo hikes were the least of Dayondon’s problems. In 2017, as she was preparing for her final hike up Vinson Massif in Antartica, Dayondon encountered an eye problem that threatened to keep her from climbing.
“[The doctor] said, your eye won’t fall out, but you’ll go blind. I said, fine, whatever. I said, I’ll climb.” Despite what was happening with her eye, Dayondon insisted on summiting, and she trained and tested her body to make sure she could handle the trip. “The climb was to be 4,800 metres, so I tested it at 5,400. Luckily my eye didn’t get worse. I could feel the pain and the blur, but it was okay, no blood came out,” says Dayondon, laughing.
“You can’t complain, you know. You just have to look for a solution,” reminds Dayondon. With the odds stacked against her, Dayondon could have given up at any moment. She pushed forward, however, committed to her goal – and on the 16th of December, 2018, she became the first Filipina to summit the world’s tallest mountains.
As she prepares to reach the peak of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, Dayondon stops to pose for a photo, smile wide. Extraordinary as her feats may be, Dayondon reminds everyone watching her that she is as ordinary a person as anyone else. Photograph © Carina Dayondon
The Fortitude of an Ordinary Filipina
“It’s so cold up there. The view is beautiful. You can’t stay long up there, otherwise you’ll run out of oxygen,” says Dayondon as she narrates the morning she made the summit of Mount Everest, the first peak in her 14-year journey.
“You can’t explain the feeling,” she adds.
With the seven climbs now behind her, Dayondon is now eyeballing a break from snowy summits. She plans on returning to her work as part of the Coastguard. She says she might make an attempt at the North Pole in the future, though.
“Don’t think of me as an idol. I’m no different to you,” says Dayondon. addressing the people of the Philippines whom she hopes to inspire. “You can do something like this, too.” A champion of physical feats and an advocate for the environment, Carina Dayondon is an otherwise normal Filipina who has done extraordinary things. The coming years may or may not hold more adventures for her, but with what she has achieved, she is an inspiration to future generations who will reach equally extraordinary heights.
For more information, please contact:
Communications & Media Manager Mr. Dan Ramirez (dramirez@wwf.org.ph)
