We climbed Mayon in May of 1963, twenty-one years after that day in the Occupation when I first caught glimpse of it. Our little expedition was organized by Mr. Luis V. Sison, and it included his three brothers (Fernando, Cesar, and Victor) as well as Mr. Ricardo Chua Torralba, Mr. Bibiano ("Bobby") Sabino, Mr. Benjamin Ledesma, and myself. Mr. Antonio Mapa was to have formed one of the party, but he got into a motor accident the previous week and had to remain in a cast for several months. We came by different routes to Legazpi, meeting there on the morning of the 21st. We spent most of that day looking for guides who would take us up the mountain. It was a difficult thing, because some years previously, the local men had consented to act as guides to two European climbers. The Europeans returned to Manila, but the guides were not heard from. Their bodies were eventually found high up, near the mountain-top. Since then, very few men would dare climb the mountain, and it was only the presence of a priest (for I was in cassock) and my assurance that the guides would be paid properly and would return home home safely, that finally persuaded three men to go with us. Even then, I had to make a solemn assurance in the presence of the barrio captain and in the hearing of the entire barrio that the men would be returned safely to their homes, and that they would be properly paid. In other matters, the presence of Bobby Sabino, who comes from Naga and who speaks the Bicol language well, greatly helped to smooth over many a difficulty.

We spent the night in the deserted rest-house some 2,000 feet up the slope, and before sunrise of the following morning -- after Mass and breakfast -- we set out on our journey, bringing along our ropes and some sandwiches and water, but leaving behind our blankets and other camping equipment. We wanted to travel light, thinking that we could get to the top by noon and be back in the rest-house by nightfall. As it turned out, this proved an overoptimistic calculation.

In the first place, it took us much longer than we had expected to get through the forest up to where the lava-flow of previous eruptions had hardened to provide a kind of natural staircase up the mountain slope. In the second place, one of our party sprained his knee and another was not in condition to take on some of the more arduous spots. The result was that our ascent was much slower than we had expected.

The ascent itself was not difficult, and only in one place did we have to use ropes, and this only for safety, to prevent slipping. No rappelling was necessary. There was however one mental hazard that we had not encountered in the other mountains. Because Mayon is a "perfect" cone (perfect if seen from afar), there is nothing to block the view downwards. As one climbed higher, one could see clear down to the plains below and out into the sea. To a person suffering from acrophobia, this would have been extremely dangerous, as one had the impression that one little slip of the foot would send him tumbling down seven thousand feet into the sea.

Our guides had agreed to take us only as far as the lava, refusing to climb any further. They would wait there for our return. So we went ahead, walking up the steep slope along the trail made by the hardened lava. By noon, the vanguard of our party, Benjie Ledesma, was a few hundred feet below the peak. Dick Chua and I were next in line, some two hundred feet behind him. The rest of our party were strung out farther down. It became clear to me that we would all get to the top only in late afternoon, and we would have to spend the night on lava. We had left our camping gear behind, and there was always danger of suffocation at night, if the wind should change and send smoke from the crater downward instead of up. So I made a decision which was relayed upwards to Benjie Ledesma, and downwards to the rest of the party: we would continue climbing until one o’clock. At one o’clock precisely, no matter where we were, we would begin the descent. It was a heart-breaking decision to make, but in the interest of safety it had to be made.

As it was, we started the descent none too soon. We were caught by nightfall in the leech-infested forested, and the sprained knee of one of our party had become much worse. We eventually got to the rest-house in the darkness, and we broke up camp that same night: some went to Legazpi, others to Naga, and our three guides were restored safe and sound to their families.

But whatever illusions of success we might have felt were shattered three months later when Mr. Alejandro Roces, who was then Secretary of Education, organized a very large party that climbed the mountain from the opposite side. It took them three days and, of the many who started the climb, only three (including Roces himself) got to the peak. It was a splendid achievement, and he described the adventure in one of the local magazines (The Mirror, 31 August 1963). I was seriously ill at the time, and Anding Roces came to visit me in the hospital. A copy of his article came to my hand later. It contained a flattering reference to me, but it also told the awful truth: "Not many have climbed Mayon. Father Miguel Bernad, that intrepid Jesuit, has failed to climb it."

So there it is. After announcement by no less a person than the Secretary of Education, how can I ever brag that I made it to Mayon?

But we ourselves did not look upon our adventure as a failure. We rather thought of it as a success. It had been a good climb. In spite of the sprained knee and other mishaps, there were many incidents that enlivened the journey, and there were many photographs to bring home to the wives -- for all the members of the party, except two, were married, and only with difficulty had they been able to wangle their wives permission to attempt the climb.

We broke up camp therefore elated with our success. We had finally grappled with the most beautiful mountain in the Philippines. We had broken through its deceptive facade -- for it looks beautiful and serene from afar, and only those who have tried to climb it can know how rough and how challenging it is in reality. 

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