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Published: August 15th 2007
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Well we had 10 days to rest and relax before taking on the might of Mt Kinabalu. We spent almost the entire time lounging by the beach and swimming in the sea! We did manage to find time to do a bit of snorkeling and took the opportunity to try our hand at a tandem Para-sail!! The snorkeling was really good just off the beach with a very small collection of boulders providing a good number of fish in all shapes and colours. We did say we would try and get a bit fitter ready for our climb however this gave way to getting a tan, reading and listening to music!!
The para-sailing was a first for both of us and was absolutely brilliant!! For those who don't know what it is, you go out in a speedboat with a raised platform at the back, once out to sea the crew attach a parachute to the back of the boat and then attach you to the parachute. You then sit on the floor and get winched out while the boat speeds ahead. You then get pulled around in the sky about 40m up for 10 mins, every now and then
they slow down to dunk you into the sea and then pull you through the water!! It was fantastic fun and everyone should have a go if they get the chance.
The time flew by and before we knew it we were being picked up at 7.30am to drive to Kinabalu National Park. On the way to the park we stopped off at a village craft fair to look at some more tat!! Then we proceeded to the town of Poring to see the hot springs and do a canopy walk. The walk was cut a bit short as they are currently doing some renovation work to the walkway. It is very cool to be able to walk up in the tops of the trees but it is not the most stable thing in the world and Vicky found it a bit nerve racking (Paul - you would hate it!!). The hot springs are a natural sulphur supply piped into a network of large baths which you can relax in, unfortunately we didn't have long and the baths take ages to fill so I sat in about 5inch's of water and made a splash to try and make the
most of the hot water.
Upon arrival at the Park HQ we had to do our registering and check in for our nights accommodation at the HQ. The Lodge was very nice but didn't have any heating, now everywhere else we have been so far this would be fine but at the base of the mountain it was a lot cooler than we were used to so it did feel a little cold (although we would later discovery the true meaning of cold...). It was another early start and after breakfast we went to meet our guide for the climb and collected our pack lunch. It was then off to Timpohon Gate and the start of our ascent, the trail to the summit is 8km long and climbs from 4921feet to 13434feet above sea level. The first stage was to get from Timpohon gate up to Laban Rata the guesthouse for the overnight stop before the final ascent. This distance was 6km and the height of Laban Rata was 10450feet, so this meant for a pretty hard slog on the first day. We were told it would take between 4-6 hours depending on fitness (we were assuming 6hrs!!) the
climb up was very tough with some ridiculously steep sections and some very exposed and windy stretches. We stopped at various shelters on the way to eat and drink and finally reached Laban Rata after 5 1/2 hrs. At this height it was very cold (6 degrees) and it wasn't long before the rain came down!! We were both quite tired at this point and I had a bit of a headache from the altitude so we ate dinner at 5.00pm and were in our Hut for bed by 6.00pm. This leads us onto the hut...... it is a corrugated iron building with slat glass windows which let the 70mph winds in and all the moisture from the rain too!! It was very very very cold!!! To go to bed Vicky was wearing the following - 2 x socks, trousers, long sleeve t-shirt, vest top, 2 short t-shirts, fleece and woolly hat. This was then topped up with a silk sleep shirt, sleeping bag and 3 blankets, she was still cold!!
The reason for the early to bed time is that we were to get up at 2.00am and begin our ascent to the summit and to reach it
at sun rise, upon waking (although I'm not sure we were ever really asleep) we were greeted by howling winds and pouring rain!! So we donned our raincoats, gloves, ponchos and head torches and set off to meet our guide at the main guesthouse. He advised we wait a bit and see if the rain let up....... at 3.00am it was still honking down and while many people decided to go back to bed we thought we would make an attempt to climb... 1 hour later and with the rain getting harder and the wind getting stronger we had made it to within about 600m from the height of the summit, at this point we could go no further, up ahead of us, where the climb becomes a smooth granite surface at a 45degree angle with ropes to pull yourself to the summit, there was a flash flood of a river coming down the mountain at waist height. We were turned back by the guides and we had failed in our attempt to reach the top... We were really gutted at the time although it would have been too dangerous to continue so it was for the best. We had
reached a height of 11634feet so were quite proud of ourselves.
It was then back to bed for 3 hours to try and stay warm, even harder now that we were soaked to the skin!! We had some breakfast at 7.30am which was a bit of a subdued affair, we learnt from our fellow climbers that because of the severe weather conditions the last gate to the summit had been closed by the park ranger and so no one made it to the summit. We then set off down the mountain with the wind chasing us down it. The climb down was easier on the headache (my headache lasted for 24hours and not even 8 paracetamols could shift it) but harder on the knees and weary muscles. We made it down in 3 1/2 hours, had a lunch, collected our certificates and waited for our bus back to Kota Kinabalu.
All in all it was very, very hard (writing this blog 3 days later my legs still hurt!!) but very rewarding and we are glad we attempted the summit despite the wind, rain and cold!! We are now back in Kuala Lumpur for a couple of days before
heading down to Bali for a few weeks where we will hopefully do our PADI Open Water and spend some much deserved beach time!!
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Gill
non-member comment
Wish I was there
Hi there. We have had at least two days of sunshine and now it is raining again. The girls came round to my house last week because it was Shobha's birthday and we ended up having a chocolate fight - guess who started it - yes it was Sue. We were all covered in melted chocolate which resulted in many many moscito bites. Seemed like a good idea at the time. It is so brilliant to see your experience in photos and read your blog. Take care, miss you lots Gillxx