THE CLIMB TO THE PEAK
After a
night’s rest, most climbers leave at about 3 am for the 3 hour trek (pending on
fitness level) to the summit and to catch a magnificent sunrise, weather
permitting. In the dark, you can see the beams of torch lights as the
processions of climbers trudge higher and higher. There are ladders, hand
railings and ropes to help you over the steeper slopes.
An hour
from Panar Laban, you will see the Sayat-Sayat Hut (3668 m), this is the
highest shelter on the mountain for park use only. From here, you will walk
across the bare granite slabs that stretch endlessly ahead, in an eerie moonscape
of stone. The vegetation’s are stunted shrubs and tough grasses in the
crevices.
By about 6
am, you reach your final destination; the highest point on Mt Kinabalu, the
summit of Borneo at 4095.2 m is Low’s Peak! As you wait in the cold, dawn
gradually creeps over the horizon, illuminating the darkness with the light of
a new day. In clear weather, you can almost see all of Sabah spread out below.
From this
vantage point, you will also see a dramatic drop more than 1000 m down. This is
the Low’s Gully . Expedition members
believe that it was not so much a “conquering” of the Gully, as an acceptance
by the mountain to let them through, perhaps due to the spiritual rituals
before and after the expedition.
A chasm
stretching 16km in length, it separates the summit plateau into the Western and
Eastern Plateaus. Other peaks on the mountain are Victoria’s Peak (4090 m),
Donkey Ears Peak (4054 m) , South Peak (3921.5) and St John ‘s Peak (4090.7 m)
on the Western Plateau . On the Eastern Plateau stand King Edward Peak (4086
m), Mesilau Peak (3801.3m) and King George Peak (4062 m) .These peaks are only
for experienced climbers as it is a challenging cimb.Special Permits from the
Park authorities is required.
It can be
very cold with strong wind at the summit. Hence climbers are advised to descent
as soon as possible. You may be lucky to have good mountain condition and able
to stay longer. It is advisable to descent before the swirling clouds could
obstruct visibility. It takes about 2 hours to descent to Panar Laban/Laban
Rata. Check out time is 10 am. The descent to Timpohon Gate takes about 4 to 5
hours. The slowest descend Record from Panar Laban to Timpohon Gate is 12 hours!
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