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 !!
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| South Peak- (on RM 1 note) |
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| View from the Summit |
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...
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| Kampung Adidas |
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| 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
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