THE CHALLENGE
What started off as a teasing about ‘old bones’ and challenge to go forth one more time turned into reality when my nature-loving friends and I finally decided to take up each other’s challenge to give Mt Kinabalu another go before we really become old bones.
So it was with a sense of excitement and nostalgia that we planned for another ascent of Mount Kinabalu – after 18 years! For some of us who have been up there before, we were young and very fit then. Now, all of us are married and with kids (and extra baggage in front for the guys! :D), we needed some training to get back in form. :-) This time, we decided our children will come with us. Aged 10-16, our kids were used to jungle trekking but this was the first long haul uphill trek for them.
So after only a couple of weekends of going up and down Batu Caves and Bukit Gasing (which weren’t really enough), it was on 8 March 2008 that the 20 of us flew off to Kota Kinabalu, with another 2 families of 10 having left the day before.
After a night in Kota Kinabalu town and another at the Sabah Park HQ, we only ascended Mt Kinabalu on the morning of 10 March 2008. (One family of three was not part of the climbing group and was just tagging along for a holiday.)
THE CLIMB
All sorts of adjectives (and expletives!) were used to described the climb up to 11,000ft by the members but for myself, I am very pleased with my form as I didn’t really have much problem going up to 11,000ft. While I was confident of making it up, I was a bit wary initially whether I am going to find it tough as it had, after all, been 18 years so I was rather pleased
that I did alright! :-) And I believe another two who felt the same were Siew Wan and Lenny.
The cool air and the scenery that greeted us at every corner of the climb were still as beautiful as I remembered it 18 years ago, especially from 9,000ft onwards. Despite the tough uphill climb I believed everyone of us enjoyed the climb, except for one or two of the younger kids who couldn’t quite appreciate nature yet asking, ‘what are we doing here? Climb, climb, climb only, no waterfall at the end, nothing to play, then tomorrow got to climb down again…..’. Poor kids didn’t know what they had let themselves in for ….
All said, we all made it up safely to 11,000ft in time to enjoy a very nice buffet dinner. However, some of t
he members were experiencing high altitude sickness. That evening, the temperature was only around 2C! Later that night, quite a number decided not to proceed with the climb because the high altitude was causing giddiness and nausea, especially among the males and some of the kids. The rest were just too tired and decided to give up. So it was with a tinge of sadness that out of the 31 of us (including one friend who joined us from Sabah), only 10 finally set off at 2:30 am the next morning for the final climb up Mt Kinabalu. However, only 9 made it to the peak. Where did one more go? ;-)
What started off as a teasing about ‘old bones’ and challenge to go forth one more time turned into reality when my nature-loving friends and I finally decided to take up each other’s challenge to give Mt Kinabalu another go before we really become old bones.
So it was with a sense of excitement and nostalgia that we planned for another ascent of Mount Kinabalu – after 18 years! For some of us who have been up there before, we were young and very fit then. Now, all of us are married and with kids (and extra baggage in front for the guys! :D), we needed some training to get back in form. :-) This time, we decided our children will come with us. Aged 10-16, our kids were used to jungle trekking but this was the first long haul uphill trek for them.
So after only a couple of weekends of going up and down Batu Caves and Bukit Gasing (which weren’t really enough), it was on 8 March 2008 that the 20 of us flew off to Kota Kinabalu, with another 2 families of 10 having left the day before.
After a night in Kota Kinabalu town and another at the Sabah Park HQ, we only ascended Mt Kinabalu on the morning of 10 March 2008. (One family of three was not part of the climbing group and was just tagging along for a holiday.)
THE CLIMB
All sorts of adjectives (and expletives!) were used to described the climb up to 11,000ft by the members but for myself, I am very pleased with my form as I didn’t really have much problem going up to 11,000ft. While I was confident of making it up, I was a bit wary initially whether I am going to find it tough as it had, after all, been 18 years so I was rather pleased
that I did alright! :-) And I believe another two who felt the same were Siew Wan and Lenny.The cool air and the scenery that greeted us at every corner of the climb were still as beautiful as I remembered it 18 years ago, especially from 9,000ft onwards. Despite the tough uphill climb I believed everyone of us enjoyed the climb, except for one or two of the younger kids who couldn’t quite appreciate nature yet asking, ‘what are we doing here? Climb, climb, climb only, no waterfall at the end, nothing to play, then tomorrow got to climb down again…..’. Poor kids didn’t know what they had let themselves in for ….
All said, we all made it up safely to 11,000ft in time to enjoy a very nice buffet dinner. However, some of t
he members were experiencing high altitude sickness. That evening, the temperature was only around 2C! Later that night, quite a number decided not to proceed with the climb because the high altitude was causing giddiness and nausea, especially among the males and some of the kids. The rest were just too tired and decided to give up. So it was with a tinge of sadness that out of the 31 of us (including one friend who joined us from Sabah), only 10 finally set off at 2:30 am the next morning for the final climb up Mt Kinabalu. However, only 9 made it to the peak. Where did one more go? ;-)THE FINAL CHALLENGE
Setting off at 2:30am on 11 March under the moonlit night armed with our torches and protected with 4 layers of clothing, I could still feel the chilly air made worse by the strong wind. The final assault was quite a challenge. The thinning of oxygen really drained us and it was just up and up and up. At one point, the lack of oxygen was causing some drowsiness and I was so tempted to doze off but pushed myself onwards. From 13,000ft onwards it was every man (or woman!) for himself. There was no waiting for friends or family members but the guides were very good in tailing those in difficulty, motivating them and making sure they kept on. For the rest of us, we just prodded on, looking only ahead and not stopping to rest for more than a few seconds lest we give up! We have to keep our own pace as otherwise we will lose our momentum and of course with the chilly air, you cannot wait for too long before your body temperature starts to go down, and picking up again will be more difficult. So it was at this point that I got further away from my husband and friends.THE PEAK
The last 500 meters was the MOST DIFFICULT part of any mountain climbing I’ve ever done! Seeing the peak at the distance but not seeming to be any nearer after walking and walking
was sheer torture and that was usually when we started to question ourselves what the heck we are doing, suffering up there. It was at this point, too, that I was glad I did not insist that my daughter come along as I was having difficulty motivating myself, much less her!But all was ok again when I FINALLY REACHED THE PEAK AT AROUND 6:30AM!
I was in time to catch the sunrise, which was beautiful, and Siew Wan was hot on my heels. One by one our team members arrived but the air was so cold up at the peak, we were trying all ways to keep ourselves warm while waiting for every team members to arrive to take a group photo. We waited in anticipation for my husband to appear at any time, and around 8:00 am we finally saw him, making his way up, inch by inch. With his arrival, we took the group photo and were quickly on our way down again.
(One of our young members decided to give up just before reaching the peak as she was feeling really drained but she still deserved a pat on the back for making it thus far and was later justly rewarded with a full certificate.)
The guide was hushing us to start moving down as we have to be down at 11,000ft by 9:00 am before it gets too hot or sometimes clouds may set in and it becomes misty, hence making it difficult to walk.
And the climb down was another story……
REFLECTIONS, REFLECTIONS ...
Our kids did pretty well to reach 11,000ft without too much problem considering the limited training that we had so we parents were very proud of their achievement.
Our kids did pretty well to reach 11,000ft without too much problem considering the limited training that we had so we parents were very proud of their achievement.
On our way up we came across two young men on their way down who were having difficulty due to muscle crams and had to ‘walk’ really, really, really slow and using sticks as walking aids. Another had to be carried down by 4 porters on a makeshift stretcher. And on our way down the next day, we overtook one guy who pulled a muscle on his back and was walking snail-paced and in so much pain, he was really a pitiful sight. Another who was just as bad was another man who broke his big toe nail and was walking, again very slowly, in his bloodied shoe. And then there is another one who was walking like a zombie for 16 hours straight, non-stop, except for a quick lunch at 11,000 ft! (Find out who is this gentleman in my write-up ‘Ooh, the Pain, the Pain: Part 2’!)
One of the few sights that really touched my heart were those of the porters, both males and females, young and old, who were at times carrying 4-6 mattresses in one go, or gas tanks, steel beams and what’s-not that you can think of up to the stop-off point at 11,000ft. And all this were loaded on their back with just a big plank and thick ropes serving as their
‘backpack’ – a vast difference from our Karrimorrs!!! Many of the guides doubled as porters (as ours did) and were carrying 4 backpacks at one go and we really marveled at their strength! These natives lead a really hard life and that was also one of the reasons why we decided to employ their services as porters as guiding and porter-ing are the only source of income for many of them.
Compared to our first trip 18 years ago, there were some differences that made our life a bit easier this time around:
- We paid extra to a few of our guides to double up as porters to help with the weight because some of the children are still young and not able to carry much weight, and (ahem) of course with weakening knees and muscles on some of the older ones.
- We do not need to carry and cook our own food as food was included as part of the package – and boy, were we surprised with the generous spread awaiting us up at 11,000ft!
All said and done, the climb was most memorable and nostalgic for those of us who have been up there before and it was good to see that not much have changed up at the peak, although the same cannot be said for the exorbitant price we had to pay for the so-called package now.
Few of us toyed with the idea of making another try in two years time when the children are bigger and this time making sure that they make it to the top! :-) Game, anyone?
One of the few sights that really touched my heart were those of the porters, both males and females, young and old, who were at times carrying 4-6 mattresses in one go, or gas tanks, steel beams and what’s-not that you can think of up to the stop-off point at 11,000ft. And all this were loaded on their back with just a big plank and thick ropes serving as their
‘backpack’ – a vast difference from our Karrimorrs!!! Many of the guides doubled as porters (as ours did) and were carrying 4 backpacks at one go and we really marveled at their strength! These natives lead a really hard life and that was also one of the reasons why we decided to employ their services as porters as guiding and porter-ing are the only source of income for many of them.Compared to our first trip 18 years ago, there were some differences that made our life a bit easier this time around:
- We paid extra to a few of our guides to double up as porters to help with the weight because some of the children are still young and not able to carry much weight, and (ahem) of course with weakening knees and muscles on some of the older ones.
- We do not need to carry and cook our own food as food was included as part of the package – and boy, were we surprised with the generous spread awaiting us up at 11,000ft!
All said and done, the climb was most memorable and nostalgic for those of us who have been up there before and it was good to see that not much have changed up at the peak, although the same cannot be said for the exorbitant price we had to pay for the so-called package now.
Few of us toyed with the idea of making another try in two years time when the children are bigger and this time making sure that they make it to the top! :-) Game, anyone?
1st pic on right: Beautiful view of Mt Kinabalu
2nd pic on right: The whole gang, all eager to go
1st pic on left: Way to go!
3rd pic on right: Nearly there....
4th pic on right: Beautiful view of Donkey Ears
2nd pic on left: My 2nd time!
5th pic on right: Yes, we made it!
3rd pic on left: Making way down from the peak
6th pic on right: Terrain at 11,000ft on the way down after the rain
VL
March 2009
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