Rising 20,320 feet (or 6,194 meters) from sea level, Mt.
McKinley is the tallest peak in North America. Called Denali (or The Great One)
in Alaska, the ice-covered mountain is considered to be one of the coldest
places on earth. It also happens to be another mountain conquered by Born to
be Wild's resident mountaineer, Romi Garduce.
After his successful Everest climb in 2006, Romi lives up to his reputation as one of the country's finest mountaineers. For two consecutive Wednesdays, July 9 and July 16, viewers will be treated to never-before-seen footage of Romi's Denali summit on the GMA-7 show Born to be Wild.
This is Romi's fifth mountain summit out of the seven highest peaks in all seven continents, known as the Seven Summits. This is a feat no other Filipino has previously made.
When news broke out that Romi had scaled the heights of Denali, cheers and shouts of victory were heard from his friends, colleagues, fellow environment advocates, and fans. Romi, coming home "wrecked and burned" as he described, also brings back stories of a triumphant mountain ascent that mimic a Hollywood movie sequence.
Only this time, the snowstorm isn't fake ice coming from blowers, the deadly slips on the mountain's cliffs aren't shot in a studio, and the emotions of a group of mountaineers in their pursuit of greater and greater heights are all too real.
In Born to be Wild's documentary series titled The Fifth Peak, the IT systems manager for a multinational company regales us with tales of his amazing moments in Denali. Watch clips of Romi Garduce conquering Mt. McKinley in the late-night show Born to be Wild, which airs after Saksi on Wednesdays.