Kinabalu - A Mountain Climbing Experience

December 16, 2017

Kinabalu - A Mountain Climbing Experience

Late last year, some of my school mates proposed to climb Kinabalu. I thought it was a great idea, as I had crossed the 40 year mark and mid life crisis should be approaching fast after that threshold. I need to do something. Anything. I thought of climbing a mountain and what better than climbing Kinabalu, tallest peak in South East Asia. That would be a nice feather on the cap, or so I thought.

I have never climbed any mountain before. Before going up Kinabalu, my friends and me had a series of climbs, mostly simple hills or medium distance jungle trekking. I had grossly underestimated this Kinabalu Climb. I read earlier that children were able to make it to the top of Kinabalu, so I didn't think too much about it. Until I made some research 3 days before my flight to Kota Kinabalu.

So the weather up there is going to be around 0 to minus 4 degrees Celsius. And rain (storm?) is anticipated. 0 degrees? What the..... Even 10 Degrees Celcius was something that disturbed me very much. I don't really like the cold and can't stand it. Uh Oh. How am I going to make it. I don't even have the gears to last the cold, what more the anticipated rain.

PANIC mode ON!

Buying last minute stuff at Decathlon. Luckily, this place has everything you need and the price is quite okay.

Down with funds, I had to borrow some stuff from friends. Luckily, Robin had spare jackets, climbing shoes and winter clothing to lend me. The rest of the stuff, I bought at either pasar malam (balaclava, raincoat, water bag, headlamps) or Decathlon sports store in Sungai Buloh. (internal t shirt that can store heat, gloves and a 40L backpack). My father was so kind to provide me 2 months worth of medicine for everything from sore throat to muscle sprain.

At KLIA before flight to KK

We arrived around 1am at Kota Kinabalu International Airport. Slept at the surau as the van that was supposed to take us will arrive at 6am. Don't think any of us had enough sleep.

Van driver took this pic before the 2 hour drive to Gunung Kinabalu

As the van approaches the base of Kinabalu, the size of Kinabalu begins to take a clearer shape and I begun to get nervous of its colossal structure and stood in quiet veneration of the magnanimity of it.

Troop: From Left: Jojo, Jita, me, Gadap, Aiman, Robin, Rahimi, Wong.

Sitting :Aszua, Mattop, Foo

I was groggy and lacking sleep. When we arrived at the base, everything needs to be packed quickly, the rest can be left there. That point of time is the most critical part, actually. One has to decide only the important stuff to be brought up. Bring too much and your backpack can be really heavy and carrying something for 6 hours can bog you down. Actually, to pay someone to bring your bag up and then down again is only RM 150. It is actually WORTH IT. I SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT.

But noooo. I thought I am quite capable of lugging a 7kg (25 liters) bag up until the stop point of Laban Rata. In retrospect, I should have just paid for a better hike up.

Other climbers wanted to join our photo session. I have no idea who they are.

After warm up and ready to go

Full Eyed Goggles : RM 6.50
Nike Long Sleeve T Shirt : RM 69
Looking like a lost pimp from the 70s : Priceless

Briefing.
TL;DH(too long, didn't hear)

I rented a walking stick from RM 10 because the rest had them and I don't want to be left out. That worked well, I guess. A walking stick really helps. I feel like Dr House at times.

This is a waterfall.

The first 10 minutes was easy.

The porters were carrying heavy stuff. It is almost always misty around the Kinabalu, so helicopters can't really bring stuff up. So, porters had to bring everything up, from mattresses to pipes to gas tanks. Superhumans.

After 10 minutes, regret starts to creep in. Why the f*** did I sign up for this?

Squirrels were all over but they were kinda the nice types.

Most of the journey looks like this. It was a waste to be tired and miss the beautiful scenery all the way up.

This is the view as I was approaching the Laban Rata stop. It was cold and the air was thin.

Why am I here?

"Regrets, I have a few, but then again, too few to mention" - Frank Sinatra

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True story. I sufffered thigh cramp in both legs after 1 hour and a half of climbing. Fortunately, I had brought salt packets from McDonald's, from breakfast that morning. Mixed 3 of those satchets into my water bottle and the cramps began to go away. But it actually came back. I didn't have enough to pay the porter to carry me all the way up. So, I had to make it. I went into a philosophical mode and thought about life, the universe and everything in between. I remembered the people I hate and I told myself, "If I didn't make it, they win". That kinda motivated me to walk. My thighs were painful. If this was a football game, I would ask to be substituted. But it wasn't. It was a mountain climb. It was a journey of self discovery, conquering self and all those quasi Coelho stuff. It had to be done.

Then there were songs being played by the porters on their radio which didn't help the situation at all.
"Holding onnnn, why is everything so heavy"
"When my legs don't work like they used to before....."

Mental. Life is mental. This climb is mental.

It was important to take short rests but not for too long. I guess this applies in life too.

There are weird but beautiful faunas as one goes higher and higher

I have a very terrible fear of heights. I can see myself falling and tumbling the whole way down from any heights. It's a matter of not thinking about what could happen but trudging along.

Three steps, rest for three quick breaths, then continue with another three steps. Then stopped for a quick breather. It was painful for both legs were cramped. For the last 2 hours, that was the hike pattern. I wanted to rest so much but resting means wasting precious time and the rain seem to be falling soon. So, I trudged. It wasn't even walking anymore.

So all of us managed to arrived at Laban Rata by around 2.30pm. We started the hike from the base around 7.30am that morning. And fortunately, it didn't rain at all.

Victim of AMS ( Acute Mountain Sickness). It is tough as AMS makes the victim wants to sleep the whole time (something like Marijuana, a friend told me). I was sleepy too after reaching Laban Rata.

After reaching Laban Rata and had lunch, I went straight to the dorm to sleep. I was awoken at 2am in the morning. It was time to start the climb to the summit. My whole body was in pain. I slept for 8 hours but I am still sleepy. The wind was howling. It was so cold. I told some that I am too tired to make it and I want to sleep back.

"You made it all the way here and now, just hours before reaching the peak, you want to sleep?" "Yeah, Yeah. Okaylah.

Set up my stuff for the morning hike. Headlamp caused a momentary panic because the batteries went out. Fortunately, I had spares. Didn't bring much things up on this summit attack. I didn't even bring my water pack. I thought I can just survive the climb up without water and just drank from the pit stops. I noticed that I didn't need that much water climbing up so I thought I can survive going up without having the extra weight of the liquid pack.

I had 3 layers of clothing. A thermal long sleeve t shirt, a t shirt and a jacket. It was hot when I started climbing so I took off the jacket. The walking stick was not too useful too so I tied it to my backpack.

Somebody farted.

The summit attack was quite okay. My legs though they were cramped the day before, were quite okay again. I think it was the packet of salts I took before I went to sleep.

I saw two couples hugging each other in the cold while climbing up. Wow. Envy.

I brought along a packet of Snickers mini chocolate bars that I ate each half an hour. That sugary sweet gave me some sense in the thin air when everything was cold and monotonous.

Around 6am, just in time for dawn, I reached the peak. It was very foggy and misty that we didn't see much of the world around us. But it was kind of satisfying. Like a small victory. Like winning something. I felt like I was on top of the world.

Feeling all powerful, accomplished, peaceful, excited, and calm. The sun shines right in my eyes and somehow it feels like a blessing. This climb may well represent my whole life, a snippet of daily struggles.

Every day, I climb a mountain and wonder how I’m going to survive this day. Every day, my anxiety exhausts me so much I consider giving up before the day has even started. Yet, every day I refuse to give up on myself and I try my best to get through the day no matter how exhausting it is. From an outside perspective, my life is a success; in reality, a struggle exists behind every single thing I do and I’m the only one who knows it.

It wasn't a solo success as it wasn't only my own effort that took me to the top. It was a collective effort and I wouldn't have done it without the help and support of my friends.

I'm on the top of the world looking down on creation

View from the top. Surreal. Of mist surrounding the mountain and hills.

It rained the whole way down.

Going down was no easy feat too. It was raining the whole 5 hours trek down. My right knee was hurt , probably from the strain of sudden extreme work and it pains me at every step I take. I limped, in the rain, for four hours. I was wet all over because it was so heavy and even the raincoat can't help.

Thankfully, we reached the base on time. Yes, there was a time limit to get the certificate. Bollocks.

Well, since we had 2 days left to go, Kota Kinabalu is such a good place to play tourist in. First things first, we had to go for the seafood. Most of us suffered from some kind of leg injury and walking together made us look like a group of retarded mental patients.