Mount Kinabalu Trip April 2012 (Itinerary)

Friday 20 Apr 2012

07:15      AM           Arrival LCCT

09:30      AM           Departure AK5104 (0930 hour)

12:00      PM          Est. Arrival Time @ Kota Kinabalu Airport

12:25      PM          Pick up by chartered Van

01:15      PM          Lunch at Kota Kinabalu *

02:00      PM          Final Shopping at Kota Kinabalu – Bottled Water *

05:00      PM          Arrival Park HQ & Check in Nephentes Lodge

Free and Easy

07:00      PM          Buffet Dinner at Park HQ (Included)

08:00      PM          Visit Kinabalu Park Museum

09:00      PM          Pre Climb Briefing

10:00      PM          Packing for hike to Laban Rata (we will be around to help organise) 

11:00      PM          Lights out – Overnight at Nephentes Lodge – Kinabalu Park HQ

Saturday 21 Apr 2012

06:00      AM           Rise and Shine, Watch Sunrise

07:00      AM           Buffet Breakfast (included)

08:00      AM           Registration for Climb, Hire Guides and Porter (Porter fee own expense)            

08:00      PM          Storage of Additional Luggage at Park HQ

(Storage is charged at RM 10 per bag, it is therefore more economical to use jumbo size luggage)

08:30      PM          Transfer to Timpohon Gate

09:00      PM          Start Ascent to Laban Rata

02:00      PM          Target Arrival time (5.0 hours) in time for lunch (included)

06:00      PM          Buffet dinner at Laban Rata Resthouse (included) 

08:00      PM          Packing for hike up to Summit 

10:00      PM          Lights out

Sunday 22 April 2012

02:00      AM           Wake up and Light snack breakfast

02:30      AM           Start Ascent to Summit 

06:00      AM           Reach summit

07:00      AM           Depart Summit

08:30      AM           Arrival at Laban Rata Resthouse & Breakfast (Included)

09:00      AM           Depart Laban Rata for Timpohon Gate

03:30      PM          Arrival at Timpohon Gate & Lunch (Included)

03:40      PM          Bus Transfer to Park HQ for Lunch

04:30      PM          Transfer to Kota Kinabalu
06:30      PM          OVernight at Promenade Hotel, Kota Kinabalu - Twin Sharing (Included)
07:30      PM          Seafood Dinner in Kota Kinabalu (Not included)
 

Free and Easy

Monday 23 Arpil 2012

Free and Easy day.. Breakfast not included *

01:45      PM          Arrival at KK Airport             

03:45      PM          Flight back to LCCT, AK5109

06:15      PM          Estimated Arrival Time LCCT

* own expense

Climbathon 2011 - Mission Accomplished !

Finally it is over..Mt Kinabalu Climbathon 2011. For the better part of 2011, my training has been geared towards this race.

Glad that I have improved significantly over last year's performance, eventhough I did not achieve my initial target of 3hr15min to summit and race completion 5hr15min... I managed to summit in 3hr28 min and complete the race in 5hr 25min..  just 10 min over shoot...

The contingent from Peninsular Malaysia is one of the largest this year. In our particular group, we have runners from Ipoh, Penang, Cameron Highlands, and KL/PJ. Most of them are part of Pacesetter athletics group.

Out of this group, a total of six of us made the summit and back down within qualifying time of 6hr 30 min. There is one person, AB Tan who has trained very hard for the race.. almost 4 months of dedicated training since June. You can read all about his story here: http://penguin-r2.blogspot.com/2011/10/mt-kinabalu-climbathon-2011-2.html

The Men's Open race was keenly followed by Skyrunners all over the world because of the anticipated rivalry between Kilian Jornet ( in white)  and Marco De Gasperi (in green). Two currently top ranked Skyrunners in the world at the moment.

After almost 2 hours 30min, they emerged side-by-side at Timpohon gate about 4KM to the finishing line!!.  Kilian narrowly won the race  by 44 secs... in 2 hr 37min 4 sec... that was all the time he took to go up and down Mt Kinabalu - Amazing !

25th Mount Kinabalu Climbathon

Big race coming! This saturday will be the race.. For men veteran category and women open. What makes the climbathon so tough is the almost ridiculous cutoff time of 3Hr 30min from Timpohon gate to summit , and another 6hr30min in total to make it back to the finishing line at park hq.

2011 will be my third year competing in this race. My first participation in climbathon was in 2009, the year I turned 40 and able to participate in the veteran category.(the cut off time for younger men is even more insane 2hr30min).I failed to meet the cut off that year. I was stopped by the race marshall on the summit plateau with another 1km to go.

Last year, 2010, I just manage to reach the summit in time, in fact exceeded the cut off... In 3hr 39min,.but usually a few minutes over the first cut off is ok...in total i manage to finish the race in 5hr45min. We have a huge contingent of runners from KL taking part in the race. And many thanks to Tony Quay, who has done all the arrangement and race registration for us. As well as giving us invaluable trainings and tips for this race. You can read stories of current and last year's Kinabalu Climbathon in "KC and the sunshine runners" blog.


So here i am again, with two more days to go before the race that I have prepared for the whole year...

This year may be the final year where competitors have to race to the summit. Beginning next year race organizer mentioned that it will no longer a race to the summit. This year, my target is to reach the summit in 3hr15min and back down before 5hr15min....

Next few days would be carbo loading,, bananas, pasta, rice, bread and plenty of water.


Edwin

Yes! You can make it !

I am so glad you have signed up and committed yourself to climb Mount Kinabalu! I can still recall the excitement and euphoria of summitting Mt Kinabalu for the first time in March 2002.


The scenery is totally unlike anything else you have seen, the bare granite rocks, the stunted vegetation, bonsai like trees struggling to survive in extreme conditions, standing above the clouds, and looking down on miles and miles of wilderness... no words can describe the wonderful experience !!

South Peak- (on RM 1 note)

View from the Summit

At this moment, the natural question is "Am I physically fit enough for the challenge ?" , "Can I make it to the summit ?", "Am I going to suffer mountain sickness?" Let me assure you with confidence that - "YOU CAN MAKE IT !"


The challenge...


We are using the Timpohon Trail which is about 8.72 KM long.. It starts from Timpohon Gate at altitude of 1866 m. The summit of Kinabalu - Also known as Low's Peak is 4095 meter. So the entire hike will be a total of 2230 meters altitude gain. We will start our hike at around 8 am ( 21st April 2012) and will reach Laban Rata around 2-3pm. Where we will put up for a short night. At 2:30 AM on Sunday (22nd April 2012) we hike to the summit, and will reach the Low Peak just before sunrise at around 6am.


There is another trail - Mesilau Trail which is about 2Km longer. In my opinion, Mesilau is much tougher compared to Timpohon, and will take at least 2 extra hours.


Preparation


If you maintain a regular exercise regime, that will be excellent. Most beneficial would be regular 2-3 times weekly cardiovascular trainings - such as jogging, cycling, hiking, swimming & brisking walking. As a gauge, if you can run/jog continually for 30 mins, or climb up a 20 storey without feeling extremely out of breath, you should be fine, and with some targetted training in February/March, it will be an enjoyable experience for you..


If you love the outdoors and are already hiking regularly.. that is even better...


If you would like to start hiking & trekking, and do not know where to start,  drop me an email, and I will point you to some mountain/hills nearby. Or you can even join me in any of my regular Saturday morning hikes.


If you have not been exercising regularly... why not start today ?


Group Trainings


Group training will only begin in early February. I will arrange at least 5 training session. Group training will in KL/Selangor/ Negeri Sembilan, and we will be hiking in various hills and mountains. The objective of having training in the mountains and hill is to help everyone physically prepared for the actual climb, and well as learning to move efficiently on uneven mountain trails.


I will give out the schedule for our trainings sometime in Janaury. Training will be at any of these mountain/hills:- Gunung Nuang, Apek Hill, FRIM, Bukit Tabur, Gunung Angsi, AHFR, Gasing, Gunung Datuk.


Shopping for Equipment


I will hand out a list of essential equipment in a few weeks time. For now, the moment your friends hear that you are going to climb Kinabalu, inevitably you will get bombarded with tonnes of advice on equipment, especially footwear ! And warm clothings..


My thinking about footwear is this:- Different people have hiked up mountains in different types of footwear. Just becuase someone moves easily and effortlessly up and down the mountain in a RM 5.00 Kampung Addidas and we struggle in our RM 500.00 Timberland.. It does not mean that the Timberland hiking shoe is inferior to RM 5.00 Kampung Adidias. More likely it is becuase that guy is more fit & efficient in tackling mountainous terrain. Therefore as far as footwear is concerned, it has to be durable and you must be comfortable wearing it during your trainings and eventually for the actual climb..


And here is my version of advice on footwear.


Trekking shoes ( with ankle support) are advisable if you have a tendency to roll (twist) your ankles, as hiking boots give excellent wrapped around protection, and basically locks your foot and ankle and prevents rolling of ankle. Disadvantage is hiking boots are expensive, heavy, slow to dry and not very flexible. Depending on outsoles, can be slippery around wet rocks.


Trail Running Shoes
Very much like jogging shoes, just a bit more hardy and offer a little bit of toe protection against rocks. Disadvantage - quite expensive, and does not have any ankle protection.
Advantage-  flexible and some have excellent grips. and more durable compared to running shoes. Can use it occasaionally for running as well.




Kampung Addidas
Extremely cheap, dries instantly becuase made of rubber.
Disadvantages - zero cushioning. -- ehhhh.. not very stylish...



Kampung Adidas



me
 and my wife, Sze Pei on a recent Kinabalu Trip(

About me
I have succesfully organised and trained participants for 6 Kinabalu trips. I hikes and runs regularly. I also participate in Adventure/Mountain Races occasionally, including the annual Kinabalu Climbathon.


You can read about the last Mt Kinabalu Trip that I organised here hilltraining.blogspot.com