“Walang imposible maabot sa buhay (nothing is impossible to reach in life) as long as you have focus and determination, and as long as you believe in yourself and believe in God.”

After successfully ascending the Vinson Massif in Antarctica last December 2018, Carina Dayondon was able to claim the title of being the first Filipina to reach the world’s Seven Summits – the highest peaks of each of the seven continents.

While considered an extraordinary feat, Carina’s quest to reach her dreams to summit the world’s tallest mountains was not easy, and she struggled with enormous challenges in trudging different mountains in her own life.
Even at the stage of conception, she already fought to live in this world. When her mother was on the fourth month of pregnancy, her mother experienced profuse bleeding and nearly lost the baby in her womb. A complete bed rest was ordered by the doctor for the whole duration of pregnancy. Her mother chose to keep her in spite of the difficulties. Her mother took the risk and gambled her life to protect and save her. The strength and courage her mother showed perhaps ignited her to hold on, see the world and discover what was in store for her.
Carina believes she is strong because she was brought up by a tough woman. She was undaunted because her mother conquered her fears first. She learned how to be brave because her mother showed her what it was like.

Carina came from a family of 15 siblings, where they lived in the agricultural town in Bukidnon. Her parents had modest work enough to feed them and send them to school. Carina looked forward to graduating so that she could help in sending her siblings to school. But fate had a different plan for her. Her father’s business went bankrupt and they were forced to stop schooling. It was the peak of her sport climbing career as a member of the national team. She ended up working as an outdoor shop sales clerk and sport climbing instructor. In tough times, she worked as a babysitter and a lotto sales clerk to earn money for next school year. When she got back to studying again, she used her extra time getting fit by biking and running so that she could join adventure races during sembreak. The proceeds of her winnings were used for tuition fees. And as a working student, she used her extra time making handcrafted friendship bands and sold them for allowance. Continuously, she joined adventure racing. That not only made her earn money but also the recognition in the advent racing community in the Philippines as one of the strongest female competitors.

In 2004, she was selected to be part of the first Philippine Everest Team. While training for the ascent, Carina broke from training to face another mountain in her family’s life — the bank was threatening to seize their family’s home. Against all odds, she continued to join the race and was praying that God may do the rest. There was one day that her prayers were answered when she and her teammate Pastour Emata won Php1,000,000 after finishing a high-profile multi-disciplinary race. She then sent her share home to save her family’s home. Months later, Carina got employed by the Philippine Coast Guard, where she sent her earnings to her family as financial support. This made her stay and pursue her journey to the top of Mt. Everest. She continued her training after and in 2007, successfully reached the summit of Mt. Everest. But Carina didn’t stop dreaming from that point- in 2013, she started working towards her goal of reaching the Seven Summits, which she completed in 2018.

Through her story, Carina hopes to inspire young Filipinos and women. In spite of her recognition and success, Carina remains rooted on what’s most important. “Did you inspire anyone? Did you touch anyone’s heart?” The Philippine flag is a symbol of our unsinkable spirit – that’s what’s most important to us.”

Stories from Carina’s The Quest for the First Filipina to Climb the World’s Seven Summits