DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 2, 2013) – The Department of Tourism and the Municipal Government of Santa Cruz in Davao del Sur province will hold the International Mount Apo Boulder Face Challenge this month to further raise tourism activity and awareness on environmental protection for the Philippines’ highest peak.
“The protection of the environment is a major thrust of tourism. Our 21st century tourists are more discerning and tend to patronize destinations with sustainable practices. The Davao region boasts of many unique offerings and attractions – the exotic (fruit) durian, waling-waling (orchid), Philippine Eagle, and the Mount Apo. Top that with the community’s active advocacy for protection, and we will have more desirable tourists appreciating these natural assets,” Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
The third international installment of the race and its sixth overall spans 113.3 kilometers – 47.8 kilometer of biking, 50 kilometer of trekking, 3.5 kilometer of water tubing, and 12 kilometer of road running.
Any team of three, composed of two racers and one logistics crew who are all above 18-years old, can join the race. “For regular climbers, it takes two days to climb the peak of Mount Apo and one day to descend. This competition invites participants to do a 24-hour climb of Mount Apo and back,” DOT Region 11 Director Arturo Boncato said.
He said 40 teams participated in last year’s Boulder Face Challenge with 11 foreign teams from Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. The race’s winners were brothers Corporal Cresenciano Sabal and Private First Class Gerald Sabal, of the Philippine Army, who clocked a record of 15 hours and 38 minutes. They are hoping to defend their title this year.
“One of the municipalities with best practices is Santa Cruz because it trains its community members to be vanguards of the forest. That is why we made this as the entry point of the competition because it is a model local government unit,” Boncato said.
Santa Cruz Municipal Councilor Fernando Ugdoracion said the organizers gave equal footing in terms of distance covered in the road running and mountain biking parts of the race. “Last year, there were only 20 kilometers required for mountain climbing and then almost 80 kilometers were allotted for trekking,” he said.
The race is also part of the municipal Pista sa Kinaiyahan (Festival for Nature), which was first organized in 2001 during a heightened call for the protection of Mount Apo. The event has been espousing environmental protection awareness through tree and mangrove growing, clean-up climbs, recycled material art exhibits, and fashion show activities.
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