Climbing Mount Kinabalu – Difficult

Mount Kinabalu one of the majestic mountains in Malaysia and my husband and I had the good fortune of climbing right to the top. ( part of the 40th birthday wish)

We went through Amazing Borneo https://www.mountkinabalu.com where they took care of our pickup from the hotel and dropped us to the Kinabalu national park.

Quick Facts About Climbing Mount Kinabalu from the website

• Standing majestically at 4,095m (13,435 feet above sea level), Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea.
• 185 climb permits is the maximum daily limit issued per day by Sabah Parks for climbing Mount Kinabalu

• All climbers are required to apply Sabah Parks climb permits and Panalaban accommodation in advance.
• All climbers are required to engage a mountain guide. The ratio of climbers to mountain guides depend on the size of the group and the age of the climbers. One mountain guide is allowed to take a maximum of two (2) children aged below 16 years or a maximum of five (5) climbers aged 16 years and above in the same group.
• Timpohon Gate (1,866m a.s.l) @ Kinabalu National Park is the starting and ending points for all climbers.
• There are two summit trails starting from Panalaban to Sayat-Sayat; the Ranau Summit Trail (opened in 1 Dec 2015) & the Kota Belud Summit Trail (opened in 9 Dec 2016).
• Laban Rata Resthouse, Pendant Hut, and Lemaing Hut are the current accommodation at Panalaban base camp for climbers.
• The only restaurant is located in Laban Rata Resthouse and it provides buffet meals inclusive in the climb package.

For more information refer to the website https://www.mountkinabalu.com.

We got the view of mountain from the Kinabalu National park and from the park we were dropped in a van to the start of the trail.

The climb was rocky and rugged but beautiful.

We climbed and climbed , there were resting points along the way where we took breaks to drink water and chomp on energy bars and fruits.

Finally we took a stop for lunch provided by the operators filled with boiled veggies and chicken.

We then continued our climb after this not very interesting lunch but we needed the energy.

We continued the not so easy climb but took in the views that were absolutely breathtaking.

Finally we reached Panalban which is the 3272 meter mark where the Laban Rata guesthouse stood and we were joyous.

The guesthouse was lovely with a lovely eating area, loads of pictures filled the walls with motivational, positive quotes.

The view from the guesthouse was fantastic. We got to witness the sunset which was stunning.

Post an early dinner we hit the dormitory as we had to assemble at 2.30 am to climb to the summit.

We got a picture with one of our roommates Alexander too.

Next morning 2.00 am we were up, had a heavy breakfast and we hit the trail.

This climb wasn’t easy, over 900 meters in darkness, pulling our bodies up with ropes, steep cliffs and rugged trails.

But I pushed myself I wanted to reach the summit before sunrise as 5.58 am.

And I did , the husband followed a bit later but he reached the summit too.

It was an absolutely amazing feeling being atop the summit 13000 plus feet above sea level. The views were heavenly.

Got a picture with the Indian flag that I proudly displayed amongst the other climbers.

Finally the husband reached the summit and we got clicked again.

It was extremely cold atop the mountain. So we decided to climb down which was arduous too.

We had to jump a bit with the ropes. If we left the ropes , we’d all topple over.

The views going down were fantastic, it felt like you’d fall directly into nothingness.

With our guide

It was tiresome coming down the mountain but we enjoyed every bit of it.

Two days of climbing …. absolutely worth it! There are different packages but we opted for the two days 1 night package, even though challenging testing our mental and physical strength.

So I’ll just end staying that to climb mount Kinabalu you need legs of steel and a never give up attitude, as it can get tiring but climbing this mountain is worth every bit of sweat, ache and pain.

I fell in love with this mountain … the Majestic, hellish, heavenly Mount Kinabalu and May one day go back again.

#mountkinabalu #hiking