Missing mountaineer in Mt. Maculot found dead

Victor Joel Ayson, the mountaineer who went up Mt. Maculot on Easter Sunday and went missing, has been found thirteen days after, on the day of his birthday on April 13, 2013.

Reports say he left his rucksack at the mountaineers’ stop-over owned by Mang Manuel on March 31 at around 2:30 AM. Then he was seen buying a bottle of mineral water in a store up the mountain around 9:00 AM the same day.

Biki, as he was fondly called by family and friends, had just been to a Mt. Guiting-Guiting climb with some of his friends over the Holy Week. They were heading back home on the eve of Easter Sunday, but he had other plans. From the Batangas port, he went to Cuenca, Batangas to do a solo hike of Mt. Maculot.

After going up, however, he never went down to claim his bag at the mountaineer’s stop over.

His girlfriend, family and friends got alarmed as Biki said he’d be back home by noontime Sunday. It could have been possible since a hike up to the Rockies of the said mountain only takes about an hour, and going down to the jump off usually takes less time.

Mang Manuel started receiving calls asking for Biki Monday night. And when the mountaineer still didn’t show up on Tuesday, search and rescue operations were started. Several mountaineering groups volunteered to help. A foreign climber even brought his group along with their gears to search the walls of the Rockies.

After days of unsuccessful operations, however, not even a single lead was found. The family of the lost eventually had to call off the search, but his friends resumed looking for him, hoping to find him alive since his birthday was coming near.

And true enough, on the date of his birth, Victor Joel Ayson showed up in an area at the foot of the Rockies, lifeless.

He was found by Mt. Maculot guides Ramon Puso, Christopher Puso, Eduardo Puso Jr, Richard Puso and Javier Mercado on Saturday morning. The group set off around 6 AM to that area at the foot of the Rockies because someone told them that part has not been searched yet. Upon reaching the area, they noticed a not so pleasant smell. That smell led them to the remains of Victor. They were able to report it around 11 AM that day.

Meanwhile, a hiker who was doing a cleanup climb with his group on Easter Sunday, posted a photo of a lone mountaineer who caught his attention. The person in the photo, believed to be Biki, was sitting at a very dangerous part of the Rockies, a part not frequented by mountaineers without ropes. In this case, the man in the photo doesn’t look like he’s protected.

Facebook uploader Ahrold Fampulme captioned the above photo with: “This photo was taken in mt. Maculot, in rockies to be exact. Kung makikita nyo e may isang lalaki na nasa larawaan kung saan talagang delikado ang pwesto nya. Sya e may kamera na dala duon kasi halos nung nakaakyat na kami a rockies e kita mo yung lalaki. I posted this pic kasi nga dun sa nawawalang lalaki sa mt.maculot na napapabalita.”

He then posted another photo with a better lighting, although the person in it was still not identifiable.

It was captioned with: “Eto mas malinaw na kuha, di ko sure kung sino tong lalaki na to, pero sana makatulong kahit papano sa mga naghahanap dun sa nawawalang lalaki. :) march 31,2013 sunday.”

Now here’s a photo of that portion of the Rockies I found in my memory card, taken last January. I put an arrow to where the man in Ahrold’s photos was sitting.

Meanwhile, Ahrold’s mention of the man in the photo having a camera leads one to believe it was Biki because he loved taking pictures as evident in his Facebook page. Even the silhouette of the head could very well be his, judging by his hairstyle in his recent pics.

And if the man in the photo was indeed Biki, those two taken by Ahrold could be his last pictures before he fell off.

Death is always a sad news, and one as tragic as this gives scare to those who share the same passion as the one that took the person’s life. But then I’m sure Biki is happy, as he spent his last hours doing what he loved best.

My heart goes out to his family and loved ones. And to Biki, happy birthday. May you rest in peace.

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Mountaineer goes missing in Mt. Maculot

Another mountaineer has gone missing.

Victor Joel Ayson went on a solo dayhike up Mount Maculot on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013. It was 2:30 AM when he left his bag at Mang Manuel’s store.

He successfully reached the Rockies campsite because he was seen buying a bottle of mineral water at the campsite store (which mountaineers fondly call 7-11) around 9:00 AM.

After not being in contact until Monday, his friends and family started getting alarmed. Search and rescue operations have been organized since Monday night but all were unsuccessful in finding him.

According to Mang Manuel, an experienced Mt. Maculot guide and owner of the Mountaineer’s Stop Over & Store in Barangay Tico, there have really been instances when even the locals would get lost in Mt. Maculot due to engkanto or the entities that we do not see with our naked eyes.

I have personally traversed the said mountain twice and has done four solo climbs of the Rockies campsite, and I must say I believe in what Mang Manuel suspects of what happened to Victor.

But the news didn’t say if the missing mountaineer only climbed up to the Rockies or did the traverse. Did anyone know of his exact plans that day? The Rockies is just a one-hour hike and if he climbed at 2:30 AM alone and was still at the campsite at 9:00 AM, he might have found a company (made a new friend or bumped on a mountaineer that he knew) for him to have lasted such long hours up there. That, or he’s a better loner than I am.

Next point, did he buy a big bottle of mineral water? If he did, it could be that he was preparing for a traverse. I’m sure, however, that someone has noticed where he went after the campsite. Aside from the fact that it was a Sunday, and an Easter Sunday at that, the campsite store only operates whenever the place is crowded. And with a crowd at the campsite, someone could have noticed where he headed.

The “barangay” should check with the mountaineers that are on the log book from Black Saturday to Easter Sunday. And just to be sure, ask those that have climbed on Monday, too.

The Rockies can be very dangerous especially with strong winds. And I only stayed at the campsite during those times I was alone. Why? Because I could have easily slipped and fell and disappeared without anyone knowing. Falling to the waters of Taal Lake would be a “better” accident if you knew how to swim, but falling towards the forested area several meters down below would be very tragic because (correct me if I’m wrong) that is an unexplored area (read: no one goes there).

But what if he did the traverse. Alone. That instantly gave me the goosebumps. Why? Because going back to what Mang Manuel said, those entities are indeed true. Read about my scary traverse of Mt. Maculot here: http://profoundbliss.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-do-maculot-romelo-and-manabu-have.html

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photo: Victor Joel Ayson’s Facebook