THE GREAT OUTDOORS

I was fortunate to have signed up for the Basic Outdoors Class organized by no less than Coleman, Philippines last 9 July, 2016. I came across it from a post by my friends Rheeza and Jonathan Hernandez on Facebook and I took the time to visit the Coleman store in Glorietta, Makati.

I was at the venue of the seminar a few minutes prior to the 8:00a.m. call time and was conveniently seated at a table that had a great view of the Bonifacio Global City grounds and American War Memorial. I was told that the previous seminar was conducted at the penthouse of 24/7 Building where the Coleman Corporate Offices were. But the venue was changed at the last minute so there we were at the 15th floor. Ten minutes prior to the start of the seminar, we were provided with cookies, sandwiches and coffee so we could at least listen with full attention without the grumbling hunger pangs after having had no breakfast.

Sir Reggie Poblador

The seminar on the Basic Mountaineering course was handled by Mr. Reggie Poblador. Our trainor's background is very impressive as he, along with Edgar Garduce were able to reach the summit of Mt Everest in 2014. He was formerly with the Ayala Mountaineers in his early years in mountaineering and has since moved on to achieve that rare feat among Filipinos to have been to the highest peak on earth. The other resource person's name is Billy (i forget his last name) who gave us basic knot tying lessons which we can use on our next climb. I'd like to go into the details of both seminars but I'm afraid I can't ruin the experience for inexperienced weekend climbers who need this basic training before they can even go on a camping trip. I must urge interested parties to sign up for the Coleman Basic Mountaineerng course because the lectures and seminar will give them basic knowledge and do's and don'ts in case they want to hike up a mountain on their down time.

Sir Billy

The module 2 of the basic mountaineering course had many participants of different persuasions and age ranges. But most of us were there basically because being out doors was a passion. I for one, started hiking in my twenties while I was working with the Ayala Museum as their gallery specialist. I have since moved on to other endeavors and have lost the opportunity to do climbs until I became a Mabuhay Guide. I have since been able to guide guests up to the Banaue Rice Terraces up in the Cordillera mountain range and to Baguio and Sagada ad also to Taal crater island. This is the reason why I felt the urge to re-discover my inner "mountain man" to be better equipped to guide guests whenever another opportunity arises. I didn't regret going. Some modules were familiar as these guys follow the LNT tenet - Leave No Trace. Good practice to save our environment!

Needless to say, it was a half day that was well spent. After this, there will be a camp out somewhere in Zambales so the participants of this course can actually practice what they learned from the seminar.  At the end of the seminar we were presented with certificates of completion with the end in view of purchasing gear from Coleman on our next adventure. I've got some gear laying around the house from my hiking days so I just need to spruce up on my current gear and go somewhere...