‘Freedom Climb’ breaks world record

BAGUIO CITY—More than 6,000 climbers scaled 70 Philippine mountains during the annual “Freedom Climb,” fulfilling a quest to break a world record on Sunday, according to the event’s organizer.

Although no official pronouncement had been made, the Philippines became the new record holder for the biggest number of mountain climbers who scaled multiple summits within 24 hours, said Jade Acidre, president of the Alliance of Filipino Mountaineers (AFM).

AFM began the event in 2009 as part of activities celebrating the country’s independence.

The central monitoring team for the climb, which was stationed at Burnham Park here, said around 8,000 people signed up for the trek.

But heavy rains prevented many groups from completing the validation process because bad weather disrupted the transmission of audio or video evidence of the summit treks by text message, radio or email, Acidre said.

At 5:10 p.m. Sunday, 1,844 people had been documented to have climbed 10 mountains, according to staff members of Mayor Mauricio Domogan, who was designated the official arbiter by the Guinness World Records.

That figure alone meant the country surpassed the record held by the United Kingdom and Ireland, when 600 people scaled 112 mountains there on Sept. 10, 2000.

But reports received by AFM showed that at least 6,700 people had reached the peaks of various mountains, from Mt. Iraya in Batanes to Mt. Apo in Mindanao. Participants planted a Philippine flag at the peaks of these mountains.