Looking beyond Mountaineering
By Mark Salcedo

As my membership to Metropolitan Mountaineering Society (MMS) ticks to over a year as of this writing, I am beginning to feel less enthusiastic about its activities. It even came to a point that I contemplated on quitting and affiliating with another outdoor club, not particularly mountaineering. The lure of diving and other established outdoor groups are too tempting to brush aside. Then, it dawned on me to reflect on this dilemma by subrogating into the shoes of my predecessors who became less active -- or worst, dormant -- after a year of membership. Perhaps, they were flexing their niche in their careers, minding their studies, or indulging in something that satisfies them. In retrospect, after a close scrutiny of my reasons for giving up, it boiled down into the realization (or the lack of it) of my expectations from the group. Personally, my expectations from this group transcends not only mountaineering per se but also social responsibility to the community and habitat we frequent to in our climbs. We are happy about the many wonderful things we acquire when we climb. We develop friendships and intimate relationships. We bask in the awesome view that reels atop. We feast at the indescribable sensation that only the mountain breeze and clouds could give. We are amaze with the discovery of ourselves, our possibilities and limitations, and our oddities and beauty. Sometimes, it even gets to a point when we experience a spiritual high. With all the acquisitions we have had as a consequence of this hobby, what have we done to bring back the many blessings it gives us? Have we shown any appreciation? Perhaps a little -- on those occassions, when we reluctantly pick our garbage at break camp as we prepare for our descent. This little act of kindness to nature is even carried out, most of the time, with a wrench in the heart. As a concerned mountaineer, I want to address our iniquities to nature by suggesting and promoting environmental projects. These are projects particularly geared towards the restoration and protection of the venues we visit. We could take off by planting seedlings. Each climb, each participant must bring a seedling and plant the same on a denuded area in the place. The seedling could be sourced in many ways. It can be uprooted from our backyard. It can be solicited from the folks in the vicinity. It can be bought from seed banks in our community. I am sure this will inconvenience most, if not all, of us. It might even get in the way of our schedule. But, if we have infused this habit into our system, it can be as simple and automatic as brushing our teeth after every meal. Another is through clean-up drives. This can range from clean-up climbs to information dissemination such as signages and lectures to installation of garbage bins wherever applicable. Another is through vigilance. I believe in the ability of this group to identify environmental abuse if they spot one. However, I have doubts in its ability to put up a fight for what is environmentally right. My first climb at Mt. Romelo, Famy, Laguna was my first gripe with complacency. In the duration of our stay, I could hear the sound of chainsaw and trees dropping in the forest floor. With a self-disciplined mind, I was able to successfully ignore the burning ideals inside me. I could have spied on them. I could have taken pictures and informed the authorities and media about it. After the climb, I buried the memory but not until I set foot to the same mountain early this year. It slapped to my face the sorry state of the mountain's vegetation. At this time, I can hear no sound of chainsaws and trees dropping but I can see spots of denuded areas that must have caused us most of the hardships vis-a-vis erosion in our ascent. In relation, I wonder how Mt. Talamitam in Batangas looks now. Lastly, we can affiliate with other groups for medical missions to far-flung areas where we have been to or are familiar with. Or we could conduct tutorial sessions to the out-of-school youth by coordinating with the Sangguniang Kabataan of the area. I believe there are a host of civic groups who wish to serve but does not have the capacity to do so. If we can fill a need to complete a cause, we must do so gladly. I am sure that, apart from what I have mentioned, there are many creative ways we can concoct to bring back favor to nature. It would be nice to discuss them sometime in our meetings. But, in order to keep the fire burning, we need fuel. I believe that many of us is willing to serve but is hindered financially. Honestly, I have qualms of shelling out my hard-earned money into these projects. On second thought, if I have to lose some in order to win some, I may do it. Funds can flow from the members. Funds in the form of penalties, fees, dues, and dole-outs can be sourced from within. And this should come as a commitment from the members themselves. Apart from the funds available within the group, we can launch fund-raising activities for our projects. One way is by facilitating nature trips of outside organizations or by simply becoming tour guides. Most of our members had been to a lot of natural sanctuaries. We can charge a fee for our services and subsume the proceeds after expenses to the fund. Another is soliciting donation through ticket stubs. Cheap pricing and worthy cause would make it easy for us to sell tickets to donors. Also, aside from cash, we can solicit garbage bins, signages, and seedlings from public and private institutions. What I thought only as a state of mind in Sibuyan Island may actually become the solution to my ambivalence in remaining with the group. (I seriously thought of this when we got stranded in Romblon.) And maybe -- just maybe -- this civic aspect of our hobby may tingle and resurrect our dormant brothers and sisters whom, though many of us have not met yet, we deeply missed.