Up, up and awaaaaaayyy!
Trip Start
Nov 25, 2004
1
54
169
Trip End
Jan 26, 2005
Mount Kinabalu,
Malaysia
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
We spent a couple of hours sorting out the nitty gritty for the climb (permits, guides, etc) and then decided to go for a leisurely stroll on one of the trails near the Park HQ as a warm-up! It was all very organised and I conscientiously watched a slideshow about the climb, attended a briefing, packed my bag, etc - Mr Laidback himself prepared his business plan for when we get home!!
And another one...
! We spent the night in one of the park dorms along with 2 hyperactive kids - always good when you're trying to get a good nights sleep! We also got woken at 2am by an over-ambitious team (I can say this as they did the summit climb with us!) who were planning to do the ascent and descent in a day so were cooking a 3 course dinner!!!! Hey didn't even offer it around! Huh!So bright and early the next morning (ish!) we had a team breakfast! Our group consisted of Team Smedders (obviously), Sandra (my fellow Dutch climber!), 2 Ozzies complete with hats (without the corks unfortunately as this would have topped the stereotype off!) and our lovely guide Iman! We caught the bus to the gate where the summit trail begins and off we went...
It's really motivating as you leave the gate as there's a big billboard telling you how fast the mad 'Climbathon' runners do the ascent/descent in! The fastest man was 2 hours 40 mins!!! Hmmmm! Chances of that happening! For me, the first 2km were the worst as it was my legs getting used to doing exercise but once this was out of the way - the climb was actually really enjoyable made all the better for my fellow walking companion Sandra and Iman our ever-patient guide (who actually finished the Climbathon in the top 20 so must have been really happy going at our snails pace!!!) This was probably because I chatted to every single person that went past...any excuse to talk (and stop!) and found the whole experience abit of a bonding thing really
Sun peaking through!
! Anyway onto my not-so-fit husband who actually secretly is!!!! Wait for it...he managed to get up to Laban Rata (our resting place for Day 1) in.....2 hours 45 minutes!!!!! That's bloody fast and he was the first up there out of all the day's climbers! Hmmmmm...me and Sandra took a nice leisurely 5 hours 10 minutes! But we had a great time and saw lots of pitcher plants..oh and lost our voices from talking too much! It was quite nice though as Paul came trundling back down to the last stop before Laban Rata with sweeties!!! Mmmmm! The views from Laban Rata were unbeleivable! We were literally way above the clouds and the air was so fresh! The colours as the sun started to set were out of this world and even if we hadn't have made it to the summit, it would have been worth it just to see the views from here! To all our sunset fans, there's lots more photos to come!
2 o'clock arrived and the final push to the summit started at 3 in the chilly early morning air! So equipped with torches, dishcloth gloves and chocolate we headed for the top! Very bizarre climbing in the dark and following this long line of climbers all the way up! It was actually quite motivating though as we were the last to leave Laban Rata and due to our steady eddy pace, we must have been amongst the first groups to reach the summit
Sunrise at the summit! At last!
! It was hard going but we just kept trudging along and before we knew it, the last stretch was infront of us and we timed it perfectly as we got there just before the sun came up so didn't have to freeze too much waiting (especially Paul who climbed in his shorts and T-Shirt!) It has to be said, the whole experience was mind-blowing and even brought a little tear to my eye - neither of us have ever seen colours like it and it's such a great feeling to know you climbed the mountain! Even looking back at the photos now (we've got some crackers!), I get a tingle in my tummy! Awwww!And then in no time at all, it was time to head back down again and it makes you quite glad that it was dark when you climbed up as its bloody steep and quite hairy in places! We literally bezzed down to the bottom at a similar pace to what Paul climbed up! The last 2km were a nightmare and my legs were like jelly!!!! Paul was attempting not to laugh behind me as he'd never seen me push myself so hard before! (training for a team smedders 1,2 victory over team williams at Machu Picchu) He's so lovely! I just struggled to walk for the next 4 days!
We ended the whole experience in style at the Kinabalu Rose Cabin (we were actaully planning to move straight onto Sandakan that afternoon but all the buses drove straight past us happily waving!!!) Combination of great food, hot shower and comfy bed equalled very early snoozing! Woke up the next morning to great views of the mountain from the comfort of our bed...why didn't we think of this before! Turned out to be a great way to end our triumph over the mountain!!!
