Climbing Mt Kinabalu, Sabah

• Woke up at about 6:45am, checked I had everything, said morning and then goodbye to a very sleepy Debs and then went through to the lounge to wait for the 7:30am minibus.
• Find out I am the only climber as the other people I am sharing the minibus with are going to visit a hot spring. Settle down for a pleasant 2 hour journey to the national park.
• Arrive at Kinabalu National Park at around 10:00am via a small market town, where I got my first good view of the mountain (looks very high!).
• Meet my guide Wilter and get given my climbing pass. I could have sworn my guide said his name was Walter, so that’s what I called him for the next two days. He, much to my annoyance and prompting, refused to call me anything but Sir!
• 10:30am get dropped off at the Timpohon gate (1866.4m) to begin the climb. Discover the first 70m is downhill, so we are off to a good start.
• Some idiot decided it was a good idea to cut steps into the trail; honestly some of them are nearly 2ft high. 1km in and my thigh muscles are already burning, my guide being a friendly soul has disappeared somewhere to have a chat! I continue unguided.
• 3.5km (2634m) decided that exercising my legs by walking to the restaurant/bar and my arms by lifting a fork/beer has not been great preparation for mountain climbing! My legs are protesting and I still have 2.5km and about 600m in altitude to gain until I get to the lodge.
• About 4.5km in and we make a brief excursion from the main trail to look at some Pitcher plants (very strange looking things). Somewhat strangely my legs have started to feel better, no sign of any altitude problems yet.
• The next 1.5km passes without too much incident, but the trail definitely gets rockier and steeper.
• After about 4 1/2 hours of hard slog, I arrive at Laban Rata Lodge (3272.2m); my home for the evening. Check into my room (sharing with 3 world champion sleepers from Japan) and have a very welcome shower.
• 3:30pm fall asleep in the restaurant with all the other climbers while waiting for the evening meal to be served at 5:00pm
• 5:00pm have a really good although very expensive evening meal (can’t really complain as my stay is all inclusive) and then watch a beautiful sunset from the balcony.
• 7:00pm say goodnight and head up to my room with the intention of sleeping as we have to be up at 2:30am to begin the summit climb.
• 9:00pm the heating cuts in and is set to roast! At one point the headboard on my bed is too hot to touch. Wide awake and sweating, I leave the room to cool down in the hall.
• Suffering from heat stroke brought on insomnia, I finally switch off the heater (ignoring the sign telling me not to!), on the off chance that I get 1 hours sleep as it is now 1:00am.
• 1:30am the noise of people getting up ends any chance of sleep, so I get dressed and join them. Am pleased to note that my Japanese room mates have slept like babies, oblivious to my plight.
• 2:15am a cheerful Wilter arrives to guide me to the summit. Incidentally, he has slept very well!
• 2:30am stuck in a very slow procession of climbers, as we negotiate the narrow steps on the first part of the climb. I eventually get past with a sudden burst of speed and start to make better progress.
• As we get onto the main part of the mountain we have to follow guide ropes and the path opens up and becomes wider. Really starting to suffer from lack of sleep and fitness!
• Still no headache from the altitude, but start to feel a bit nauseous as we pass the 7.5km mark (3668m). My progress has started to become very slow, beginning to wonder if I will reach the summit by 5:45am (sunrise).
• Through willpower more than strength, I reach the 8.5km point at about 5:00am only to be greeted by a steep climb to the summit of Low’s Peak.
• Decide that I can watch the sunrise from here. No reason to exert myself by heading up the last little bit!
• Decide that I have to climb that last little bit!
• 5:20am Arrive at the top of Low’s Peak and jostle for position with everyone else at the very small summit.
• True to my guide’s word, the sun does rise at about 5:45am and we are all treated to a truly amazing experience as the whole of Sabah lies before us.
• Have a photo session with Wilter, who miraculously appeared beside me. I hadn’t seen him at all for the last hour. We take in the view for a bit longer and then head down.
• The descent is more painful than the ascent, but we make good time and arrive back at the lodge for breakfast at 7:30am. Wilter suggests we leave the lodge in 1hr but I persuade him there is no rush and 2 1/2 hrs will be fine.
• 9:30am feeling better for the rest and food, I gather my belongings, check out of the room and begin my return journey to the Timpohon gate.
• I have the company of a very nice Australian couple on the way down so the journey goes relatively quickly. We make a brief stop to see some more Pitcher plants and then continue on our way.
• The steps have really started to hurt, with no strength left in my legs every one of them is jarring. I find myself wondering if getting down to the bottom might be a bit of a problem!
• I finally pass the 1km mark at 12:40pm and gain a little strength in knowing that I am nearly down.
• 1:10pm remember I said the first 70m were downhill? Well now it’s bloody uphill!
• 1:15pm slightly late for my lift back and thoroughly exhausted I find my minibus, which is parked as far away as possible and go to the park office to get my certificate.
• Certificate in hand, I say goodbye to Wilter, climb back in the minibus and doze through most of the journey back to the guesthouse.
• The climb had been an amazing experience and tougher than I could ever have imagined, but definitely worth it.
• The world record for climbing and then descending is 2hrs 36minutes and 59seconds set by Marco de Gasperi during the 2003 Mt Kinabalu Climbathon. If you take longer than 4 1/2 hrs you are automatically disqualified, so that rather leaves me out!