Aiyaa I know it had been 6 months since we climb Mount Kinabalu but I thinks it is a shame if I don’t share my experience with all of u. So here it is :
Indeed it’s a thing to be believe in, the power of human spirit. Ths is a story on h
ow 49 people successfully conquer Mount Kinabalu not with their enormous strenght but wit their high spirit and motivasion. It all began on the 31 of August 2005 (a historic date 4 d country n 4 myself), d day we started our climbing from Tmn Kinabalu base camp. It was 9 am when we started moving but just b4 that I n 3 of d other participants was called by our guiders. eventually it is because we hv illness tht may prove fatal if we climb Mount Kinabalu. I, myself hv asthma and althought i havent hv a severe asthma attack for years and d fact that i trained hard to reduce it.
Still it makes me uncomfortable hearing that i may lose my life or critically injured myself in my conques to reach d top. After doing some thinking, i persuade myself 2 go on with d rest of d team. We all are divided into 4 major groups and each group are divided into smaller 2 groups. Each major group consist of 12-13 people with 5 men, 3 as a sweeper, 1 hold d 1st aid kit and 1 as a leader. Im with d last group which play a role as the main sweeper 4 d whole team. Along d route to labah rata they all are 7 pittstops or rest area and each pittstop to another is about 1 km far apart. The track partically was rocks and earth that lay like a long starcaise which are uneven, sometimes high n sometimes low. D 1st problem occur at checkpoint 2, when 1 out of d firstly 51 participant turn into semi parallised state caused by high altititude sickness where d lungs cannot breath normaly. Eventhought d others tried to persuade her to continue but she refussed and with that current state it was a good thing she did not. So a guider had to bring her down back to base camp and d rest of us make our way up d mountain. d rest of d journey to labah rata was quite fine with all 50 of us able to reach to our shack b4 3pm. Only a handfull of the participants which were all are girls hv trouble to reach there mainly because of lack of fitness, d high altitude and d low temperature. But with the help from d others, frequent ‘take 5′ and a lot of jokes along d way, i quess hv contribute to their success reaching labah rata on time. D activities at Labah Rata was to get as much sleep as possible and tried to eat as much maggi to regain strengh. At 5pm we all held a mast maggi cooking event and eat it together and after isyak prayer we all turn to sleep. I woke up at 12 am and go to d highest toilet in South East Asia. A once on a life time experience easing urself with near freezing water hahahaha. After that we all refill our tummy again b4 we continue our climb at 2 am. Ohh, 1 participant cant join us cause she keep throwing up maybe because her body cant stand d temperature or d air presure.
The painfull climb to Low’s Peak started here with ths part of mount kinabalu became very steep that we need to use rope to climb it. It was peach dark and the only source of light came from our torchlight. Tiredness started to bite in into every one of us. Soo 4 now on u climb at ur own pace n not with ur group that we hv formed earlier. This had 2 be done because if not the weaker participants will slow down d whole group n d other thing is there is a limit 2 how many person can be at d highest peak at that particular time. So rather then we have 2 wait 4 our turn its better 2 let who can reach there faster 2 go at their own pace n reach d peak 1st. Me myself at that time was having trouble…. My bag pack (only d boys carry bagpack which include food n drink 4 their group members) is dragging me down. Although I have lighten it when we stop at our shack but because d mountain is so steep, just 2 take a step forward is difficult. I was about 2 throw away my bagpack but thanks 2 my friend Cik Herda I still manage 2 carry d bag when she help me 2 carry d 1.5 litre flask which felt like it weight 15kg. Also at this moment d simpulan bahasa DEKAT DI MATA TP JAUH DI KAKI emerged. Yeah u can see with ur eyes clearly d peak but it felt like it take FOREVER 2 reach there. So I decide it is better 2 look down untill I reach d peak….After thousands or maybe millions of small steps I finally reach d highest peak in South Asia called Low’s Peak (I don’t know why d hell they give it that name cause it ain’t low) about 6 am. After taking several
snap I sit down n just let my emotion take over…Wow it really breathtaking 2 see d wonderful view from there….just imagine if u have supernatural eyesight u can even see peninsular Malaysia from there. D picnic at d highest spot in Msia was also amazing although we only had ‘roti kosong’ n hot milo but it was d best ‘roti kosong’ n hot milo I have ever tasted.
Now its time 4 d gruelling task 2 climb down back 2 base camp. If only they had create a lif or escalator then after ‘separuh nyawa’ climb up 2 Mount Kinabalu peak we can easly came down….muahaha but I still can ‘bgolek’ down but surely I will have a problem 2 stop. Like how we climb up its quite d same 2 climb down : EVERY PERSON 4 HIM/HER SELF…. I stay back 4 a while n decided 2 join d group at d back. At this time a problem emerged….my knee was killing me. The constant strain on my knees when we r climbing down is 2 much….So rather then changing 2 a
higher gear like some of my friend I have 2 change into a lower gear n go slow. Some of us is 2 tired 2 even open their mouth 2 speak but aint me…I sing my way down 2 Labah Rata 2 take my mind of my painful knee n still how far it is 2 reach base camp. About 10 am I reach Labah Rata….After finish packing my stuff we all gather 2 hear instruction on how we going 2 climb down 2 base camp. So we were regroup n this time d weaker members were put in d last group with all d still enegetic sweepers. I was put into d second last group n there r only 2 boys in my team….So I hv 2 be d group leader while my friend Ijan who was struck down with a flu at that time d sweeper. So at 11.30 am we start our journey 2 base camp from labah rata n this time I decided 2 take off my sweather n wear only my t shirt althought its 10 celcius at that altitude (hehehe then what d use of my extra fat still left hanging on my body). Half d way down then it started 2 rain….aiya so we have 2 wear our rain cloth. As d 2nd from behind group we also act as a sweeper so d weaker participants from d group infront of us that cant keep up with their group pace join us. I as d team leader choose d slow n steady method, we may go slow but we only stop at d pitstops n we decided 2 skip d last pitstop n walk straight 2 base camp. Exactlt at 5.30 pm we arrive at base camp….alhamdulillah althought we all r very, VERY tired we all came down safely. So d morale of d story is u may b phisically unfit but if u have ur friends by ur side helping u, giving u a hand or just cheer u on 2 lift ur spirit n made u mentally n emotionally stronger, then climbing Mount Kinabalu is not imPOSSIBLE….BELIEVE me I say this base on my experience…..Hey maybe we can even climb Mount Everest….who knows?
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