In recent days I had the pleasure of travelling to Sabah,
Malaysia. My boyfriend Roy and I made plans to visit the coastal city of Kota
Kinabalu but our main objective was to attempt climbing Mount Kinabalu, a world
heritage site and the highest mountain in the Malay Archipelago. Mount Kinabalu
is one of the youngest non-volcanic mountains in the world. It was formed
within the last 10 to 35 million years and the mountain is still growing at a
rate of 5 millimetres a year.
With a height of 4,095 meters (13,435 ft),
most hikers are recommended to split this climb into a two day hike, which
requires lodging at a midway point at a hostel known as Laban Rata. This option seemed too expensive and unnecessarily complicated. After talking to some friends and doing a bit of research we
found that it was in fact possible to climb the mountain in 1 day but we were
warned not to attempt this feat unless we were in ‘extremely good physical
condition.’ The caveat of taking this option is that you must follow strict
time requirements to guarantee suitable weather conditions and safety. If you
do not reach the summit by 1pm you must agree to turn around and promptly begin
your descent.
The day of the climb we arrived at the park office at
7:15am, paid 100 RM each for our climbing permit, and 70 RM for our guide named
Francis who would accompany us to the summit. We got into a brief argument with
the park staff who insisted we purchase ‘special insurance’ and eventually were
able to talk our way out of it. Next we had to pay a van fee of 25RM to take us
from the park entrance to the trail head at Timphohon Gate. The van took ages
to show up and as a result we did not actually begin hiking until about 8am.
Our pace was brisk from the beginning, fearing that our late
start would prevent us from reaching the summit. The trail quickly developed
into a very steep, endless staircase. At times we would climb over plenty of
rocks which proved to be more mentally gratifying, while other parts of the
trail were simply wooden steps as far as the eye could see. It didn’t take long
for me to begin hating the sight of these steps, which made the grueling task
all the more tedious.
We got warm quickly and stripped off our outer layers of
clothing. It was not long before the sun was beating down upon my neck and
bullets of sweat crowded my brow. The first two kilometers were especially
difficult, it seemed our bodies were still adjusting to the idea of climbing a
mountain. The higher in altitude we climbed, the more difficult it was to
breath. I would raise my hands behind my head at any opportunity to try to slow
and catch my breath, but it seemed impossible. We stopped every half kilometer
for a drink of water and I was constantly panting with exhaustion.
If we hadn’t been preoccupied trying to catch our breath I’m
sure we would have stopped to take photos because the trail was so beautiful.
We kept moving up over the jungle into the mist of the mountain. Below us was a lush rain forest home to
plenty of exotic creatures. The mountain has more than 4,500 species of flora
and fauna, wildlife ranges from mammals, birds,
fishes, amphibians and reptiles to insects and other invertebrates. On
the trail however, the only animals we came across were birds and squirrels,
blissfully unaware of our suffering.
We reached Laban Rata at 3,270 meters (10,730 ft) at 11am and I could not wait to sit down. Our guide,
ever attentive to the time, told us we could rest for ten minutes but had to
keep moving if we were going to make it to the summit before 1pm. It was
torturous seeing all of the two day climbers lounging around the lodge drinking
beer. We had some muesli bars to boost our energy, and then reluctantly rose to
our feet. By this point I was already doubting my ability to complete the climb
under the time constraints, but Roy wouldn’t accept my lack of enthusiasm and continually
offered his encouragement.
The trail soon turned to naked granite rock in which our
only compass was a rope leading to the summit. At many points the rock was so
steep you had to use the rope to pull yourself up. At first this seemed like a
nice rest for my legs but being so tired I feared there was a much greater risk
of injury. At certain points, if I were to slip, I would have rolled right off
a cliff into the clouds.
I tried not to look down and used all my mental energy
on just lifting one foot after the other. I was too close to turn back and I would
never forgive myself for giving up so close to the summit. With every steep
incline behind us, we hopefully believed we had reached the summit, only for
Francis to repeat that we were not yet there and we must keep climbing. The
time constraints, made the ascent incredibly stressful on the mind and body but
without them, we may not have had the urgency and determination to get to the
top.
When at last the summit was in view, I was so happy I nearly
burst into tears. My pace quickened, the hope of reaching the end filled my
body with energy I didn’t know I had. Roy was yelling down to me, “We did it!
It’s great! It’s great!” I pulled myself up over the last few rocks and I had
the biggest smile on my face saying, “Yes! Yes!” We made it to the top of the
world! By this point it was about 1:15pm but we convinced Francis to give us
some leeway.
After a short victory beer at the summit, we carefully
started the climb back down to Laban Rata.
I did slip and fall at one point but easily recovered. We took a lunch break
before descending the mountain which took us 4 long knee grinding hours.
The
steep trail was wet due to afternoon rain, and felt dangerous because we were
so tired. We both tripped a few times and were lucky to finish without any
sprained ankles. Despite the difficulty our moods couldn’t be altered. Nothing
could spoil the gratification of our accomplishment. When we finally reached
the Timphohon Gate it was 6pm and getting dark. We hurried off to find a warm
cup of Sabah Tea and share our tale with anyone willing to listen.
