Climbing Mt. Kinabalu
      Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo, December 2001

Our native guide neither remembered nor had heard of any other Brazilian climbing Kinabalu, so we can conclude that I was the first. Or, at least, I'm the first to do it on a Christmas day.

Mt. Kinabalu (13500ft/4100m) is the highest mountain between the Himalaya and New Guinea. It is located in the Malaysian state of Sabah, in Borneo. It was first climbed (by a Westerner anyway) by the British Sir Hugh Low in 1851 (hence the highest peak being called Low's Peak).

The local natives from the Kandazan tribe believed the mountain to be a sacred place inhabited by spirits (Aki Nabalu meaning "place where spirits live" in their language). Nowadays that belief seems to have faded. Kandazan guides take dozens of tourists up the mountain every day.

Isa and Lianti Lungkim, our Kandazan guide at a rest stop

Geologicaly, the mountain is relatively young. It is not a volcano, but an intrusion of core volcanic rock swelling up from below and pushing its way through overlying rock. Because the mountain is located very close to the Equator, there is no snow and one climbing it can see the full range of vegetation from rain forest at sea level to bare granite rock close to the summit.

The lack of snow and the park infrastructure certainly makes climbing Kinabalu easier and safer than in other mountains of similar height in sub-tropical areas. But you should never underestimate (as the Lonely Planet guide does) a mountain 4100 meters high. At 13000ft, there is only about 50% partial pressure of Oxygen (AMS is a serious concern), the climb is much steeper than average in other mountains, there are dangerous sections above the tree line, and the mountain makes its own weather. True, there is no need for technical equipment and, with some luck, the climb may be easy. But you need to plan properly and be fit for the climb to do it safely.

At the base of the mountain, there is the Kinabalu Park (at about 4500ft) with complete infrastructure (several options of lodging, restaurants, souvenir shops, etc). You can order decent Nasi Goreng at either of the two main restaurants and there is a fitness center somewhere in the park.

To climb Kinabalu, you must reserve lodging (both at the base and on the mountain) in advance. Once you get to the park, you need to hire a guide, get a permit, arrange for transportation to the trailhead.

It is a shame, but Laban Rata (the lodge at 11000ft) has electricity, heating, running water, beds with clean sheets, showers with hot water, and a restaurant serving food from a 20-item menu. All supplies are carried up by porters. If you want to keep your dignity (I did not), there are more reasonable lodging available (the Sayat-Sayat hut doesn't have electricity, water or beds).

It rains every day almost all the time. There is a window between 3:00AM and 8:00AM when, sometimes, the sky is clear and you can see the summit from the base. You will almost certainly be climbing under rain at some point. Temperatures are 20-25C at base, ~10C at mid-mountain, close to 0 at summit.

The typical schedule is as follows:

Day 1: arrive at the park from Kota Kinabalu and make arrangements for the climb
Day 2: start at 7:00AM and make it to Laban Rata by 1:30PM, in time for lunch
Day 3: start at 3:00AM and summit by sunrise. Descend to Laban Rata, check-out and go back to the base of the mountain by 1:30PM.

Your equipment from the base should include:

• Light hiking boots with good traction and preferably waterproof
• 1 set of quick-dry shorts and shirt for first day
• 1 set of quick-dry long pants and shirt for summit day
• 2 sets of hiking socks and undies
• Backpack
• Headlamp or hands-free flashlight with batteries
• Mid-grade fleece jacket
• Rainwear. I used a light Gore-tex jacket and recommend the same, but you will see people wearing improvised garbage bags and plastic ponchos.
• Gloves. There are sections where you need to climb steep granite walls with the help of ropes and  woden ladders.
• Camera, Film
• Basic Toilletries
• Ziploc Bags. Everything should be ziplocked or it will get wet
• Money so that you can order noodle soup and fried rice at the restaurant

I did the climb with my friend Isa during Christmas of 2001.

We hiked from the base under dry conditions at a very fast pace. We were the first to start and the first to arrive at Laban Rata just under 4.5 hours. We were beaten only by the porter (a 50-year old Kandazan woman wearing sandals and carrying 30 pounds of rice and supplies up the mountain) who started at the same time - she finished about half hour earlier and met us again on the way down.

The sky was clear in the morning both on the day before and after our climb, but it rained non-stop on our summit day. At 3:00AM, the rain was very heavy and the situation was no-go. At 3:30AM, the guide said the conditions were bad and asked if we really wanted to try. We did leave at about 3:45AM. Leaving Laban Rata in the dark and under rain is scary. Most of the time you are climbing a steep bare granite wall that is wet and slippery.

The granite walls are steep and the climb require the help of ropes and woden ladders

We reached the summit around 6:50AM, just after the sunrise. Visibility was virtually zero and we did not spend much time on the crowded summit. 30 people summited on that day, about half of the normal.

Isa had problems breathing on the way up and got really bad AMS on the way down. I was feeling very well and I'm still to experience full-blown AMS.