After Garduce announced his solo bid to ascend Mount Everest, the national team decided to accelerate their preparations and move their ascent of Everest to spring of 2006 in a bid to be ahead of Garduce. Instead of the original plan of ascending Mount Everest from both the north and south cols, the team prioritized the ascent of its strongest and most experienced members, Oracion and Emata, via the traditional south col route that pioneer Everest summitters Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay originally took in 1953.