I would like to share the Mount Kinabalu climb challenge made by my sister and her hubby in November 2014. This publication is for information and reference for those who plan to challenge this mountain.
My husband and I, both age 48, have just summited Mt Kinabalu in mid
November. As I so appreciated the available material when I was
researching online, I thought I would write about our experience to help
others. My brother is the owner of this blog site, and he also made all
of our climb arrangements. I hope you will enjoy this read.
No doubt about it, Mt Kinabalu is a challenging climb. As much as we prepared ourselves by reading everything online, and we are relatively fit hikers, there were still times when I thought maybe I couldn't make it to the top. In addition, I am affected by altitude sickness. My throat feels pinched and closed in, and I get winded even after a few steps. This happened to me when we hiked Mt. Haleakela in Maui. So, prior to our trip, I went to my family doctor for a prescription of Diamox. If you have never done high altitude hiking before, definitely talk to your doctor.
Acclimatizing to high altitude by spending time at the high altitude is one of the ways to ease the symptoms. For that reason we decided to spend 1 night in Kinabalu Park prior to the climb, and 2 nights up at Laban Rata. This was a custom itinerary as most tour operators only advertise 1 night at Laban Rata.
We arrived at Mt Kinabalu headquarters in the early afternoon. We booked the Hill Lodge which is a 1-room chalet. The Lodge is very comfortable, with king bed, vaulted ceiling, private shower with full toiletries - everything from shampoo to shaving kit and toothbrush/toothpaste. There are also slippers and robes, and kettle for making instant coffee or tea(supplied). All Park lodges as well as Laban Rata accommodations are managed by the Sutera Sanctuary Lodges, hence the improved amenities.
Dinner is taken at the Balsam restaurant. It is buffet style, and includes soup, rice, noodles, curries, satays, chicken, beef and lamb. We were impressed with the quality and taste of everything. All meals are included in the climb package.
It is amazing how the forest comes alive after dark. The sounds of insects, bird and other animals were almost deafening! It was so nice to hear these sounds of nature and you really knew you were in the rainforest. You hear them clearly throughout the night so if you are a light sleeper you should bring ear plugs.
Breakfast is also at Balsam Restaurant on the day of the climb. Western
style food like eggs, sausages and bread/pastries, along with Asian
dishes are served. I purposely stayed with just toast and jam as I knew
the tough climb was ahead and I did not want a heavy stomach. My husband
on the other hand, chowed down on everything as he will need the energy
to carry our pack. Before we left, we were given our brown bag lunch
for the climb, which was a simple cheese & processed meat sandwich,
an apple and a bottle of water.
As we were staying for 2 nights at Laban Rata, we had to bring extra change of clothes. We also did not know if there were going to be toiletries and towels up there so we packed them too. The option to store any unnecessary items at Park Headquarters is available at RM$10 per bag, so we left some things behind. There is also an option to hire a porter to carry your pack at RM$10 per KG but the max weight is 10KG. Unfortunately with our extra clothes, our pack was close to 14KG and even thought they probably would have still taken it, my husband decided to carry it himself. Keep in mind that if you do hire a porter, he/she may travel ahead of you, so you may not have access to anything you might need. My husband is very fit so he didn't have any issues carrying the pack, I guess I could have paid him the porterage fee!
We picked up our climb permit which is a credit card sized plastic card with our name on it, clipped to a nice Mt Kinabalu keepsake lanyard. We also met our guide Bension - a 43-year old Dusun native. He has been a guide for 10 years and has summited 70+ times. All Mountain guides are local natives, all have passable English so they can understand the basics. You may luck out with one who can speak English well and can engage in a good conversation, otherwise they are basically pretty quiet. Mountain guides are mandatory for climbers, usually 1 guide to every 5 climbers. During low season you may find yourself with your own personal guide like we did, but at busy times they may group other climbers with you. Mountain guides always walk behind you. That way they are going at your pace. I thought it was funny that they all carry big golf umbrellas sticking out of their back packs and some of them are having smoke breaks at the rest stops while the climbers can barely catch their breath!
From Park Headquarters it is about a 10 minute shuttle ride to the Timpohon Gate where the climb begins. At the Gate, you sign a registry to officially start the climb. Ironically, the first few metres of the trail is downhill. When you return, you will be cursing this part as you will be going UPHILL to get back to the Gate. Someone was definitely being sadistic!
Signing the registration book at Timpohon gate.
The climb to Laban Rata is 6KM. The first 2 KMs
are moderate with alternating uphill and flat areas. You are hiking
under the forest canopy so there is no need for sunscreen or hat. I
started to struggle between KM 2-3, as the climb starts becoming steep
and the flat areas were all gone. The altitude now comes into effect and
even with the Diamox, I felt I could not breathe as easily. This was
when I felt a little worried, we weren't even half way yet...The trail
is a combination of rocks and built-in steps(some are high too), with
tree roots interspersed.
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We wore proper
hiking boots with great grip and ankle support, so they definitely
helped. Seriously, all it takes is one micro second of misjudgment and
putting your foot in the wrong place or lose your balance and you could
trip, twist and rip something. Bension said lots of climbers injure
themselves, and the cost for a porter to carry YOU down the trail is
RM$400 per KM.
Bension is ever so patient with us as we took our
dear time. We probably stopped to catch our breath every 5 metres
especially on the steep parts. He knew I understood some Malay so he
would say things like "Berjalan perlahan-lahan" - Walk Slowly.... and
always encouraging - "Just 50M more to the rest stop!" Believe me the
sight of the next rest stop or KM marker when it appears around the
corner is so welcomed.
It felt like such an achievement and it's a pat in the back saying you made it to the next level. That really kept me going. We had to really give ourselves that extra push on the last 500M though, it felt like the longest 500M ever! The rain was still coming down, and we were tired and weary. But we pushed on, and when Laban Rata appeared unexpectedly as we came out of the clearing, it was truly an OMG moment.
The next part was our well deserved reward. We had booked private
accommodations which means we get a private bath with hot water! This
alone was worth the extra cost. We felt like a million bucks after a hot
shower and changed into dry clean clothes. The Buttercup room has all
the comforts of a hotel, we were surprised to find full set of
toiletries again, even towels and slippers.
So, if you book the private
room, you don't need to pack toiletries or towels. There was even a hair
dryer and hot water boiler. There is an electric heater in the room
although it is on a timer and only comes on after 8pm for a few hours.
This was fine for us.
The buffet is a good spread, similar to
what we ate down below - curry, BBQ chicken, veggies, soup, and lots of
rice and noodles again to fuel you after a tired day. Coffee, tea and
water is available but if you want something else to drink, be prepared
to pay through the teeth.
Everything in Laban Rata is carried up by porters, the prices
are exorbitant.
End of Part 1
No doubt about it, Mt Kinabalu is a challenging climb. As much as we prepared ourselves by reading everything online, and we are relatively fit hikers, there were still times when I thought maybe I couldn't make it to the top. In addition, I am affected by altitude sickness. My throat feels pinched and closed in, and I get winded even after a few steps. This happened to me when we hiked Mt. Haleakela in Maui. So, prior to our trip, I went to my family doctor for a prescription of Diamox. If you have never done high altitude hiking before, definitely talk to your doctor.
Acclimatizing to high altitude by spending time at the high altitude is one of the ways to ease the symptoms. For that reason we decided to spend 1 night in Kinabalu Park prior to the climb, and 2 nights up at Laban Rata. This was a custom itinerary as most tour operators only advertise 1 night at Laban Rata.
We arrived at Mt Kinabalu headquarters in the early afternoon. We booked the Hill Lodge which is a 1-room chalet. The Lodge is very comfortable, with king bed, vaulted ceiling, private shower with full toiletries - everything from shampoo to shaving kit and toothbrush/toothpaste. There are also slippers and robes, and kettle for making instant coffee or tea(supplied). All Park lodges as well as Laban Rata accommodations are managed by the Sutera Sanctuary Lodges, hence the improved amenities.
The Hill Lodge chalets at Kinabalu Park.
Dinner is taken at the Balsam restaurant. It is buffet style, and includes soup, rice, noodles, curries, satays, chicken, beef and lamb. We were impressed with the quality and taste of everything. All meals are included in the climb package.
Balsam buffet restaurant at the park.
It is amazing how the forest comes alive after dark. The sounds of insects, bird and other animals were almost deafening! It was so nice to hear these sounds of nature and you really knew you were in the rainforest. You hear them clearly throughout the night so if you are a light sleeper you should bring ear plugs.
As we were staying for 2 nights at Laban Rata, we had to bring extra change of clothes. We also did not know if there were going to be toiletries and towels up there so we packed them too. The option to store any unnecessary items at Park Headquarters is available at RM$10 per bag, so we left some things behind. There is also an option to hire a porter to carry your pack at RM$10 per KG but the max weight is 10KG. Unfortunately with our extra clothes, our pack was close to 14KG and even thought they probably would have still taken it, my husband decided to carry it himself. Keep in mind that if you do hire a porter, he/she may travel ahead of you, so you may not have access to anything you might need. My husband is very fit so he didn't have any issues carrying the pack, I guess I could have paid him the porterage fee!
We picked up our climb permit which is a credit card sized plastic card with our name on it, clipped to a nice Mt Kinabalu keepsake lanyard. We also met our guide Bension - a 43-year old Dusun native. He has been a guide for 10 years and has summited 70+ times. All Mountain guides are local natives, all have passable English so they can understand the basics. You may luck out with one who can speak English well and can engage in a good conversation, otherwise they are basically pretty quiet. Mountain guides are mandatory for climbers, usually 1 guide to every 5 climbers. During low season you may find yourself with your own personal guide like we did, but at busy times they may group other climbers with you. Mountain guides always walk behind you. That way they are going at your pace. I thought it was funny that they all carry big golf umbrellas sticking out of their back packs and some of them are having smoke breaks at the rest stops while the climbers can barely catch their breath!
From Park Headquarters it is about a 10 minute shuttle ride to the Timpohon Gate where the climb begins. At the Gate, you sign a registry to officially start the climb. Ironically, the first few metres of the trail is downhill. When you return, you will be cursing this part as you will be going UPHILL to get back to the Gate. Someone was definitely being sadistic!
A small waterfall on the trail.
With the heavy rain, the trail in some areas
became a deluge of brown water running down on you. The one thing that
surprised us though is that the trail was not slippery.
A brief stop at a hut for lunch.
It felt like such an achievement and it's a pat in the back saying you made it to the next level. That really kept me going. We had to really give ourselves that extra push on the last 500M though, it felt like the longest 500M ever! The rain was still coming down, and we were tired and weary. But we pushed on, and when Laban Rata appeared unexpectedly as we came out of the clearing, it was truly an OMG moment.
Laban Rata Rest House
It took us 7 hours 45 minutes which is close to 3 hours
longer than average. We're fine with that, as we were not in a race to
prove anything. Our goal was just to make it up there, no matter how
long.
Buttercup Twin bed room
Amenities in the room.
As dinner was served, we witnessed a
spectacular sunset at 3,272M.
Buffet dinner.
The beverage price
list.
End of Part 1
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