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Published: April 25th 2005
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Sunrise - Mt. Kinabalu
Photo taken from the sumit Mount Kinabalu stands as the highest peak in Malaysia and more impressively is the tallest mountain between the Himalayas and South America. Being the 'Mountain that anyone can climb' (according to the guide book) means it attracts around fifty people a day to attempt to climb to its rather impressive 4100m sumit.
We had booked our climb date in KK when we first arrived in Sabah, but due to the waiting list it ended up being the last thing we did before leaving for Singapore. We arrived at the national park headquaters the night before our climb and stayed in the park overnight ready for an early start. We began our ascent at around nine thirty am, it started as a rather refreshing morning stroll, oh if only we had known how much more there was to come!! The day was fairly warm and by the end of the first Kilometre we were down to our t'shirts and starting to remember what we went through in Nepal. The track is basically lots of steps carrying on relentlessly up the mountain side broken up by the occasional checkpoint where you can sit and wheeze for a while and top up on
your sugar and water levels.
We were finding the climb challanging but were in high spirits until about the three kilometre mark where we bumped into Saran coming down the mountain (she had gone up the day before). She was really struggling, both her knees where 'gone' and she looked in pain. "Don't do it, it's not worth it!" where her first words. Not sure whether she was joking or not, we laughed it off, wished her luck and off we went (we were to realise in the not too distant future that she was not joking and we too would be feeling the same way!) As our climb continued we passed through varying types of plant life and even managed to see 'Pitcher Plants' (the ones that eat flies!). The track was really beautiful when you took a moment to stop looking at your feet to enjoy it.
We would consider ourselves to be relatively fit, but at five and a half Kilometres we were feeling the burn in our legs and the lack of oxygen was begining to take its toll. It was only half a kilometre until we would reach our cabin for the night
Outside our Cabin
Rich contemplating the next stage of the climb. but that last five hundred metres was really hard. We were climbing for fifty metres and resting for two minutes all the way there. After what felt like the longest time we got the camp and after eating some food and chilling out for a while, headed to bed at around eight pm ready for our three am start to the sumit for sunrise.
Three am should only be experienced blind drunk with a kebab, not half asleep, freezing cold with the prospect of a two and a half kilometre climb! We use the word climb here as a large percentage of the time on this next stage was spent clinging to rocks on our hands and knees or pulling ourselves up rocks using ropes, all this by torch light (and all you guys at home thought we were having fun!). By around five thirty am there was about fifty metres to go, we could see the sumit and just wanted to get there. We rushed up that last bit a little too quick and I (B) ended up getting altitude sickness and spent most of my time on the peak with my head in my lap feeling sick
whilst Rich enjoyed and photographed the sunrise! Typical!
Coming down, the bit of a trek that you dream about on the way up is such a welcome break when it comes. With your fresh set of muscles you start your decent with almost the skipping stride of a small child! You always go too fast and inevitably end up twisting, tearing or compacting something within the first half an hour and then spend the rest of the time hobbling down with the aid of a stick. Rich and I having learnt from our time in Nepal took it slow and managed to keep our legs fresh until about two kilometres from the end, at which point muscles started to seize up and joints became useless. To make things worse the heavans opened and we ended up soaking wet and sliding back to base in the mud!
All we wanted by this point was a shower and some sleep so we jumped on a bus and headed to KK and went back to 'Lucy's' for some much needed rest. For the next four days Rich and I were sporting the 'Kinabalu Hobble' where every step was almost as challanging
Finally at the sumit
and there is the sign to prove it! as the mountain itself!
From KK we boarded a plane to Singapore where we were looking forward to clean streets and salad! I know most people think of Singapore and shopping but we are feeling the strain on the old cash flow at the moment so all we wanted was some R & R and some real food.
When we were in Borneo we met a lovely couple, Andrew and Kathrine, from Canada who are currently living in Singapore and teaching at the Singapore American School. Within minutes of meeting them we had an open invitation to their home in the city for the couple of days that we were passing through, so once we landed we headed to the school where we were due to meet Andrew before heading to their home. The Singapore American School is an amazing place with great facilities which seems to rub off on the children, they all seemed pleased to be at school!! That night we were invited to go along and see the schools 'Dance Showcase' which was a performance from students at the highschool. To say that we were impressed was an understatement. We had to keep reminding ourselves
Starting the descent
Looking happy again with the sumit behind us that we were watching school kids, it was really professional and great fun to watch.
That night we went out for a fantastic Italian meal with great wine (now thats what we have been missing!) and went back to the apartment for a great nights sleep. Our next fortyeight hours in the city consisted of walking around shops and looking at things we couldn't afford, eating food that we had missed out on for five months and visiting the world famous Raffles Hotel where, thanks to a gift given to us before we left the UK, we enjoyed a couple of Singapore Slings in the open air bar (thanks Gerry and Steve). We would have stayed for a few more but we had to rush and get to the airport for our flight to Sydney.
B and R
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Katie Bruton
non-member comment
Climbing Kinabalu
Hi I really enjoyed reading your account of climbing Kinabalu. My husband and I are heading over to Borneo in a month's time and are booked in to Laban Rata for a night around the middle of April. I was just wondering whether you had any tips to pass on. We are debating whether to do the climb in walking boots (solid and comfortable with ankle support - good for descent) or more lightweight trainer type shoes. the former obviously will have less grip on the granite but I don;t know how important it is to have waterproof footwear. We are reasonably experienced walkers and have done a bit of rock climbing too - Kinabalu seems an ideal mix of the two ! Any suggestions you have would be appreciated. Especially how cold it was at the top and how much water you carried with you. Did you need gloves, hat etc. My email address is d-k.bruton@ntlworld.com and I look forward to hearing from you when you have a minute. regards Katie Bruton