Ain't No Mountain High Enough

The Team ( l - r ) : Ron, Cat, Sam, Wei Mei & Man

Many of us have our 'to do' list and I'm no exception. On 23 April 2011, I have the great satisfaction to strike out item number 3 on my list which is Climb Mount Kinabalu.

On 22 April, the five of us started our climb from the Mesilau trail at 9.50am after a short briefing by our guide cum porter, Nizam. This trail is more scenic than the Timpohon side but 2 km longer. It was gentle jungle trekking and then it rained and our raincoats came in handy. Climbing with raincoats can cause quite an impediment as I kept stepping on it. Before long, the sides got shredded and torn. The rain poured heavily until pathways looked like cascades. My shoes and socks were totally drenched. With a little bit of luck, it stopped when I reached the intersection of the Timpohon trail. From there on it was another 2 km of uphill. Without much difficulties, I finally reached the Laban Rata Resthouse at 3.55pm. This is where we stayed to regain our strength for the second part of the climb.

The White Rope

The Laban Rata Resthouse is a dormitory type of accommodation. The worst drawback was the absence of hot water. To avoid falling ill since I've been walking in the rain, I forced myself to wash my hair in 20 degree C weather. Our team occupied a 6-bed (3 double decker) room. If you're thinking of losing some weight doing the climb, you can't be more wrong. The resthouse serves 3 buffet meals for climbers namely dinner ( 4.30pm to 7pm ), supper ( 2am to 3am ) and breakfast ( 7.30am to 10.30am ). Menu for all meals vary slightly. There were chicken, beef, lamb, burgers, spaghetti, fried mee hoon, fried rice, vegetables, fried eggs, one type of soup, sweet dessert, toast bread, coffee, tea, juice and water. In addition there were 2 packed lunches which climbers carry with them, one each during ascent and descent. Bedtime was early at around 8pm. At 1am, we were up, 2am supper, 2.40am briefing and at 2.50am, was the start of the climb to the peak, the tougher part.

It was dark and the cold was between 9-10 degree C. We had our headlamps on. We passed many wooden stairs and bridges. Then came the toughest part of the climb. We had to hoist ourselves up a steep rock surface using the available dangling rope. Shortly after this obstacle, the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint came into view. From here on, we only climbed on rock surfaces following the white rope all the way to the top. As we go higher, our breathing got heavier. Just as I thought I still have a long way to go, the summit came into my view. It was 5.30am and I had reached Low's Peak (4095.2m). I waited till 6am for the sun to appear. To my disappointment the beauty of sunrise had been marred by some clouds. After snapping photos and really taking in the views, we made our descent.

Descent was much easier on the heart but very hurting on the legs and knees. Almost all climbers used the walking stick which reduced the impact on the knees. Now that everything is bright and clear, I can see the extraordinary scenery, that of a mountain, something that I've never really seen this close before. I returned to Laban Rata Resthouse around 9.10am and already the buffet breakfast needed lots of replenishment. With a short rest, our team checked out and started downhill at 10.35am. All guests have to check out by 10.30am or there will a RM100 per hour charge. The journey down was fairly smooth until we reached the Ibah shelter, 1.4 km away from the Timpohon Gate when the rain fell on heavy again. This is oddly the raining season in April. With raincoats on again, we plodded along the water soaked and flooded paths of the remaining distance and came out at Timpohon Gate with a feeling of great satisfaction, personal achievement and relief that the worst is over.

Peak Views

To sum up my climb, these are the times taken by me :

Mesilau to Laban Rata - 6 hrs 5 mins
Laban Rata to Summit - 2 hrs 40 mins
Summit to Laban Rata - 2 hrs 30 mins
Laban Rata to Timpohon - 4 hrs 30 mins

The Must-Have Photo