Reach for the Summit

ON MOUNT EVEREST'S NORTH SIDE BASE CAMP...4 UNITED STATES CITIZENS WERE ARRESTED BY CHINESE AUTHORITIES AS THEY PROTESTED LAST THURSDAY THE PLANNED 2008 BEIJING OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY ROUTE PASSING THROUGH MOUNT EVEREST...AND CALLED FOR TIBET'S INDEPENDENCE.

SHORTLY AFTER....KAZAKHSTAN CLIMBING TEAM MAXUT AND VASSILY MOUNTED THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO SUMMIT EVEREST THIS SEASON....

BUT RETREATED BACK DOWN TO ADVANCED BASE CAMP WHEN FACED BY BITTER WEATHER CONDITIONS.

OUR OWN 2007 KAYA NG PINAY EVEREST EXPEDITION HAS PROBLEMS OF ITS OWN...

AS TWO SUPPORT CAMPS SET UP ON BOTH THE NORTH AND SOUTH BASE CAMPS.

A 3,000 U-S DOLLAR ADDITIONAL CHARGE WAS SLAPPED ON THE GROUP BY THE CHINESE TIBET MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION...FOR THE HISTORIC TRAVERSE PUSH.

The following is a transcript of my live report in Studio 23's News Central:

JOINING US LIVE FOR UPDATES FROM NYALAN, TIBET IS STUDIO 23 CORRESPONDENT VINCE RODRIGUEZ....

WHO TELLS US THE GIRLS HAVE SET THE DATE FOR THEIR SUMMIT ATTEMPT. VINCE?

Tricia Chiongbian: Hi Vince!

Vince Rodriguez: Hi Trish.

The Kaya ng Pinay Everest Team is done recuperating at the Chinese Base Camp tomorrow morning, May 1, the team will again go up to Advanced Base Camp which is at 6,400 meters which will be the launchpad for their climb to the summit of Mount Everest. From the Advanced Base Camp, the women will take 3 days to swing up and down the mountain and then rest again for a few more days. Then, on May 8, if conditions are good, the women will attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest. If everything goes according to plan, the women will wave the Philippine flag on the summit of Everest on May 11 so that is the target the team is working on.

Earlier, we also reported that one of the team members Noelle Wenceslao suffered from altitude sickness - this is normal even for seasoned climbers. After going down to Chinese Base Camp which is the only remedy for altitude sickness, she is now feeling well and is ready to go back up to abc. According to Dr. Ted Esguerra, because of Noelle's physique, she is much more, she is chunkier than the two other girls, so she has a lot more oxygen and that is why she is slower in acclimatizing. But now, the doctor is giving her the green light to go up and reach the summit of Mount Everest together with the two other girls hopefully on May 11. Trish?

Tricia C: Vince, can you clarify also the issue on the additional fees by the CTMA, is that $3,000 each of the climbers?

Vince: Ok, the Chinese Tibet Mountaineering Association imposed an additional $3,000 fee we still do not know whether this is for the team or per person. That fee is called a traverse fee, as the women will be crossing from tibet to nepal. Co-expedition leader Art Valdez flew to Lhasa yesterday, the capital of Tibet, to meet with the association and ask for reconsideration for the imposition of the new fees. Valdez is arguing that you know they're midway through the expedition and they didn't know that the fees would be charged so it was unexpected. But according to the CTMA, the fees were imposed by Beijing so they cannot do anything about it. Although the CTMA is committing that it will help in whatever way to make sure that the 3 women reach everest and come down safely. So they will do anything - they will help in any way they can. Trish.

Trish: Ok, thank you very much for the update, Vince. And we'll be praying for the three girls on their summit next week. And we'll be hearing more of the updates from you, I'm sure.