You've heard of many types of climbs. There's a fun climb where the difficulty in trekking is overwritten by the extent of the fun. Some clubs have diagnostics differentiating those with potentials and those who are better off left behind in the malls.

But have you ever come across a cultural climb with a civic dimension? That's what the Ateneo (High School) Outdoors Club initiated through its moderator Jay Hernado in the town of Gregorio Del Pilar's Tirad Pass. Spike's Peak, the wall near the campsite is 8 hours away from Cubao by bus, two hours away from Candor Ilocos Sur, four hours away from the Plaza by trekking and 1,490 meters ASL high. Jay, a history teacher by profession who was with fellow moderator and counselor Jigger Cunanan described the climb as a retracing of the connecting journey of President Emilio Aguinaldo in December 1899 in Central Cordilleras from Ilocos to the Cordillera. It is in this route at 900 meters ASL that the young and brilliant strategist Gregorio Del Pilar was shot by a sniper to his death while holding on to the link from the penetrating American troops.

Their club was a conduit to expose this vaguely known trekking route to the general climbing community of Luzon. It offered to promote this remotely accessible little town and to raise interest to a donation drive providing a small public high school with laboratory equipment. The town, through its town mayor, Mayor Ciriaco was more than willing to share its natural attractions like the rivers, hot springs, limestone formation and particularly the historic Tirad Pass.

Imagine Tirad Pass to be the most important gateway of the Central Cordilleras in the 1800’s. Negotiated by foot, it takes several weeks to traverse from zero altitude to over two thousand plus meters above sea level. A prominent landmark is a shrine of Goyo in a horse at 900 meters ASL

Today over a hundred years later with the modern highway network and new political geographical divisions, the importance of the gateway has diminished. This route remains as the link negotiable and still only by foot. What takes longer then may now be completed in days.

The dubbed Tirad Pass open climb on 30 November to 1 December is appealing. Other than the cultural significance, which coincides with the 102nd death anniversary of a young Philippine hero on 2 December, it is a nature's wonder. The wide area plateau where the town sits surrounded by the Cordillera mountain range is like the setting of the spaceship landing in the movie "Close Encounter of the Third Kind." At the top, it is the undeveloped Sagada without the pine. For most Luzon trekkers, the destination is new. To the trail seekers, the thought of connecting Ilocos directly to the Mountain Province is enthralling. Does it really connect to Sagada?

15 joined the trek, 3 from Globe Adventure Club, 2 from PSI and 2 from PAL MC and freelancers. The rest were from the school. In the socials when reasons for climbing were asked, none of the cultural reasons came up. Aiel, Paul and John said their reason is for peace of mind, the more senior ones cited to recharge and to get away from it all. After several rounds of talks and questions and answers, it all boiled down to the same: appreciation for God's creation including man and each other's company.

At the start we were in the company of strangers. Towards the end faces now have names. Linked not by the devotion to the gallantry of the general to his cause but for the love of the wilderness. Discovering this in one of the most interesting socials we regular climber ever had, we counted our blessings and they were plentiful. To list a few were: the hospitality accorded us by the folks of the town, the reception and the merienda of the mayor and his staff, the assistance of our high school hosts, counseling of the school’s guidance counselor, the stories of the Bulacan artists who are to do an on-the-spot drawing, Hob, our alert jeepney driver, good food, cold nights and the company of fellow trekkers and the grandeur of sunrise, stationary clouds and the place. There were all testaments to the goodness drawn from each one by the experience.

We said we wanted to get away. The company, stories, events and socials made us go in. That to me is the most we can get out of a climb. Not any different from what a respected mountaineer John Muir once said "I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out 'til sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in . . .”

Chito 30-31 January 1999