I still remember my very first mountain climb in Cavite with my son. It was meant to be a simple trek—but it turned out to be the most challenging climb I’ve ever done. The rain poured non-stop during the first three hours, soaking us to the bone and turning the trail into a slippery obstacle course. We started at 2PM and only reached the summit at 8PM. That experience taught me firsthand just how tough the mountains can be—and gave me a deep respect for professional climbers.
So meeting Jeno Panganiban, a true adventurer who conquered Mt. Everest, was nothing short of inspiring. Hearing his story up close reminded me that what these athletes do is far beyond physical—it takes heart, grit, and relentless spirit. You have my highest respect, Jeno.
Almost two decades after the last Filipino summited Mount Everest, Jeno Panganiban, along with two other mountaineers, has made history, putting the Philippine flag back on top of the world.
A graduate of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at De La Salle University, Jeno developed his love for hiking when he was a third-year college student. In 2016, encouraged by friends and classmates who posted their hiking photos on social media, Jeno set out to climb his mother mountain, the first mountain that a hiker summits, Mount Talamitam in Batangas, at 21 years old.
Nine years later, he is the youngest male Filipino and the 11th Filipino mountaineer to summit Mount Everest.
“It’s not a light undertaking, and it’s not for everyone,” shares Jeno as he recounts the challenges he experienced throughout his climb. For him, preparing for a climb that fewer than 10,000 people on Earth have accomplished requires years of hard work and dedication.
He resigned from his position as a software engineer and started his own distribution business that supplied healthy fruits and vegetables across Metro Manila to fully dedicate himself to his passion. Unbound to the routine schedule of corporate life, Jeno now had more time to pursue the ambitious climbs that few mountaineers could only dream of.
He first visited the Mount Everest Base Camp, the first of the five camps and the lowest elevation camp of the mountain, in 2022, when his aspiration to reach its summit began.
Since then, Jeno has dedicated his training to climbing Mount Everest. His first test that helped him prove his ability to achieve his dream was reaching the top of Mount Manaslu in Nepal, the 8th highest mountain in the world with a peak of 8,163 metres, in September 2024 and two weeks later, climbing a more technical expedition requiring rock climbing, ice climbing, and fixed-line ascent, Mount Ama Dablan in Nepal.
In April 2025, he returned to Nepal and began his ascent to the world’s highest peak with the full support of his family, loved ones, friends, and Century Tuna, along with Filipinos across the country.
From Everest’s Base Camp to Camp 4, he encountered numerous life-threatening challenges that tested his physical limitations and mental capacity.
“You have to be comfortable in being uncomfortable,” says Jeno. “So every day, we made sure that our bodies were in the right condition. I made sure my body and mind were ready for the push.”
The first challenge that every Mount Everest summiteer faces is the Khumbu Icefall, a treacherous shifting terrain of seracs (towering ice columns), deep crevasses, and unstable ice blocks that can fall into deep snow cliffs at any time.
As Jeno and his expedition team forged higher up the mountain, they faced increasingly freezing temperatures and high altitudes that pushed their bodies to their limit. With the lack of oxygen from the thin mountain air coupled with raging winds, some mountaineers experienced various combinations of altitude sickness symptoms, including migraines, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, fatigue, and lack of appetite.
Relying on his training, Jeno rallied through these challenges while experiencing snow blindness and intense sun exposure. He recalled powering through losing the feeling of his fingers and toes at various periods during the climb because he was determined to reach the top, a dream that is, finally, within his reach. He did not want his fellow Filipinos to wait another 20 years for the Philippine flag to be raised on the highest global stage. This journey was more than just about reaching the summit, it was about showing every dreamer back home that with courage in the heart and perseverance in the soul, even the impossible can be within reach.
And when he finally stood at the top of the world, that dream took on a breathtaking form, witnessing the astonishing curvature of the Earth was unlike any other experience in his life.
“It’s an incomparable feeling. At first, I didn’t register that I was already there. But when it sunk in, I realized that I was on top of the world. I was higher than any person or any animal in the world,” recalls Jeno.
For most, conquering the summit of Mount Everest would be the end of a lifelong journey, the peak of their mountaineering career. But for Jeno, climbing Everest was a pace setter. He is already planning his next climb. He has set his sights on summiting K2, nicknamed The Savage Mountain for its extreme climbing difficulty and dangerous conditions, located on the border between Pakistan and China. Eventually, he plans to finish climbing the 14 mountains on Earth with peaks above 8,000 meters, known as the “8,000-meter peaks.”
Jeno has more summits to conquer and he hopes that someday he can pass on the lessons he learned along his climbs to the next generation of Filipino mountaineers who will continue to wave the Philippine flag on top of the world.
