The mountain has been closed since
the deadly 5.9 earthquake on June 5 claimed the lives of 18 climbers and
mountain guides and caused serious damage to the "climb" trails.
The repairs and restoration work had
been carried out over the last couple of months. This Saturday’s climb is to
assess the condition of the repaired trail and secondly, to ensure that it is
truly safe. According to Sabah Park, the trail
from Timpohon Gate to Laban Rata is practically intact, except at certain areas
that still needed to be improved for safety consideration. The rest of the
trail, however, is still undergoing repair and upgrading, considering that some
of them were no longer passable. The real challenge in the restoration efforts
is the extent of damage between Laban Rata and the peak, some parts of which
are now non-existent, full of rocks simply could not be removed. Restoration
work up to the peak had been completed, the routes will be even more
challenging, due to some changes.
The projected time to officially
open the mountain for climbing is still the first week of September 2015. However,
the number of climbers allowed to scale the mountain will be reduced by half of
its previous capacity, for better safety assurance.
Meanwhile, Sabah Parks director said
that the test climb on 08 August is only a day-climb, which would require
climbers to descend on the same day, to ensure hundred per cent safety of
everyone.
We hope the test climb will be successful so the reopening of the mountain will be realized.
We hope the test climb will be successful so the reopening of the mountain will be realized.
2 comments:
wow is it true? thanks for info!
The trails are cleared up to Laban Rata after the "test" climb on 08August. The summit trail is still inaccessible. According to the Authority, subject to the completion of installing new trails , the targeted date in opening the the climb to summit is 01 December 2015.
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