h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The following is a report from my #1 daughter who has done just that.

"CLIMBING MOUNT KINABALU.
For those who want the short version I made it up the mountain. First climb completed in 4h45m (6km ascent to 3200m) and summit at 5.51am the following day (2.72km ascent to 4095.2m) in just under 3.5 hours. It was a bitch but I did it! For those of you wanting the more graphic, dramatic and occasionally funny details read on...
I can’t remember the exact reason I decided I wanted to climb MK but obviously at the time I thought it was a good idea. I’m 2 days post climb and finally now able to write this before the full experience fades into the distant memory banks. It has taken me a full 24 hours to recover, the muscle soreness I expected but the emotional impact was something else altogether combined with the altitude sickness that hit me at 3900m ish. It’s been quite a few days! Here’s the story for those who are interested...
A stark and loud signal that the day was ready to start was announced to us by the local roosters at our homestay at the foot of MK...it was 5am. This is where our acclimatising began, enjoying the amazing views of the mountain literally towering over us. This was the first reality check that hit when we arrived seeing the mountain for the first time, in complete awe of its beauty but then realising...I was going to climb that. It was such a giant and I am so small...
Finally getting up we headed out for a short trek into the lower hills through the honey-pineapple gardens all growing on the slopes of cleared patches of the jungle, passing the ladies who work tirelessly for such little pay to retrieve these heavy, high maintainence special breed crops. Seeing the rubber trees and again the amount of work going into collecting the liquid from the trees and the little amount of money made by these farmers who are the poorest of the poor workers in Borneo. Light and refreshing relief came shortly after in the form of a wee dip and explore of a local swim hole at the river further down the rich green trail.
We were already about 1500m above sea level here. We’d had a couple of days of bad rain so an air of caution was being held by the locals and guides about our climb. Listening intently as you do to all those who appear to talk with some authority about the mountain. It left us with many unanswered questions and a fair degree of intrepidation between the group. Would the weather hold...what of this earthquake damage...it’s that cold at the top you say...Bigfoot lives where...haha just kidding but on the plus side there are no mozzies or leeches (allegedly).
We said goodbye to our homestay village and headed to MK national park and our hostel lodge to bunker down in the night before the climb. We have a pretty good group of folk on this trip, 9 of us, all but 1 British interestingly. Some bonding had begun, having the same emotional stakes between us, all with personal insecurities and feeling just as scared as the next person, but with an ‘in it together’ team spirit also emerging. A little trip around the botanical gardens on site was a useful distraction by our tour guide followed by a short but steep trek on one of the trails with my room mate as a bit of prep for tomorrow's climb.
An early night called so we could prepare our gear, bags, pray...all that malarkey. 7am rise on Tuesday 22nd May for breakfast where we met our lead guide Supinggi (the type of person you see in movies who has done it for 30 years, been up 6000 times, can sense the mountain's movements by sticking his finger in the air etc etc) and Edwin our second guide who was terribly hungover ....interesting combination for sure but I was slightly more reassured by our learned company. We headed off to the Timpohon Gate, the first check point for the climb at around 1800m. Altitude sickness had been the subject of most of the groups concerns over the last few days. I hadn’t really worried too much about it but my room mate kindly offered me some of her altitude sickness tablets so I figured it couldn’t hurt. The tingling had already started in my fingers so whilst not worrying I secretly feared I might be in for something.
Arriving at the gate it all suddenly became real, we were actually going to climb this thing with nothing but each other, our wits and personal strengths and an overnight bag. The first day’s climb was 6km, doesn’t sound much right, do-able right, a-hu! Surprisingly that first day was a great experience. With perfect weather! The trail is marked at every 0.5km which gave me similar reassurance as you get when seeing mile markers on a run and you can count down your progress. We had our briefing about the trail and what to expect. Where the danger zones were following the earthquake that had changed the look of the mountain and impacted on some of the trail...no stopping on those bits for long...just adopt an Indiana Jones type move to clear them and all will be fine...
Strangely our ascent commenced with a descent. A minor false sense of security as after about 0.25 km it was ALL uphill. Mostly steps (twice your normal size steps that is) with the occasional patches of boulders to navigate through. We quickly formed 2 natural groups reflecting our different speeds. I was with the front group which had hungover Edwin, sweating like a pig all the way through and encouraging us to ‘rest’ at each of the huts along the route. We weren’t very good at following orders though so he had to keep up with us, no hangover sympathy from us.
The first few kms, tough as they were seemed to go so fast! We were motoring with our progress and were chuffed with every extra 0.5km we were ticking off...this isn’t so bad I thought, I can do this! We took a wee break at Lowii about 2.5km for a quick sit down and snack. There were lots of hungry squirrels about clearly used to humans and being fed! How cute I thought, you all know I love my squirrels. I’d barely got one peanut M&M into my mouth when I was literally attacked full on IN THE FACE by a squirrel!! It clearly recognised the chocolate nuttiness that needed to be his! A very bizarre moment having a squirrel on your face trying to steal your M&M! One of my fellow travellers just stared in shock while the other quickly grabbed something to waft it away. I decided to keep the M&Ms in the bag from then on...I’m not an M&M sharer.
We sadly lost our tour guide at about 3km after he pulled a muscle which was such a shame for him and slight scary as it left us with 2 guides between 9 but we were getting on ok and our good progress was raising our confidence. At around 5km we got our first glimpse of the mountain side and the peak as the clouds cleared just enough for us to see it. The last km of the day was the toughest as it was pure rock/boulder navigation, foot eye co-ordination being quite important here! We reached our hostel Panalaban at about 1.45pm well before the rain came later that afternoon. The last of our group arrived at 3.30pm so we all made good time. There is fairly little to do in a hostel on a mountain side other than enjoy the views when the cloud clears for a wee bit, mingle with other climbers from all over the world and attempt a game of scrabble with a few folks for whom English isn’t a first language lots of laughs to be had.
We had an early to bed order from Sapinggi. We were all 9 of us sleeping in the same dorm, Walton’s style. We had our briefing at 5pm about the summit climb and what to expect, very different from today’s experience. Listening to the description my confidence levels started to waiver and then of course remembering that not only would we be facing a very steep ascent but it would also be pitch black, windy and cold. With the words of Sapinggi’s wisdom still ringing in our ears we settled in for bed about 7pm. It was anything but a peaceful night. One of our group fell foul of altitude sickness bless her and spent some of the little night we had throwing up (despite all this she still made it to the summit, amazing girl!) and our dear Chinese neighbours decided they needed to get up at midnight to get ready (ensuring we were all aware of this choice too with their slamming doors, loud talking and stomping between rooms). No one was leaving before 2.30!! I mean REALLY!
With such little sleep the prospect of the summit became that bit more overwhelming. It was just another 2.72km from the hostel to the summit, not that far right, do-able right, a-hu....not so easy this time. Sapinggi had told us to expect it to take 3 hours to get to the summit. 3 hours for 2.72km!!! it took 4.45 to do 6km the day before!! And then the same 3 hours back again of course. In the thick fog of expanding nerves we got ourselves kitted up and ready to go for it by 2.30am. With head-torches switched on and layers upon layers of clothing we set off up those stairs to heaven.
It was indeed pitch black. The only light source was from the head-torches of the other climbers. There were 104 22/05’s that day (your climbers permit was everything and had to be with you at all times!). The first part of the summit climb was steep muddy steps, we were one of the last groups to leave so were stuck behind a long trail of climbers, we weren’t going anywhere fast for a while! Not such a bad thing but still, it seemed to take forever to get up those stairs. As we started to clear the trees we began to get some cool night views of the town’s and could even see Kota Kinabalu all lit up like Christmas in the distance. The other amazing site was seeing the trail lit up in front and behind us with torch lights, it gave a slightly reassuring sense of direction, knowing both where you had come from and where you were going when all your other senses were kind of useless.
Our first milestone was reaching the check point at Sayat-Sayat just after 7km. The remaining few hundred meters to get here was more of the boulder rock to navigate, much more challenging in the dark! I managed to stumble just the once or twice like the steady mountain goat I am! Reaching the check point was a major relief. I was still feeling relatively ok although I couldn’t believe that what we had just done was just over 1km and the old fingers were now having a good pins and needles frenzy. We reached the check point at 4.10am well before our 5am deadline. Edwin was with us again, the same front group as yesterday and encouraged us to rest and hang on a bit as he was waiting for the remainder of the group. After a little rest he said we could go on if we wanted and this is now the decision I regretted the most. The 3 of us in the front group went on together to tackle the remaining 1.72km without a guide. Although a guide didn’t need to be with you all the time looking back now I definitely suffered with not having the energy conservation knowledge they shared with some of the others and of course their reassuring company! A lesson sorely learned by me!!
This last push was to be the toughest part of the whole climb. No more steps or boulders just the sheer rock face of the mountain, as steep as hell, never mind 1.72km I would have sworn that last bit was the equivalent of running 10 miles. Lungs on fire and ears popping painfully all the way. You were instructed to follow the rope which marked the route all the way to the summit. Negotiating an eastly direction first to line ourselves with the peak, we then commenced the immense ascent up the slope. It was at this point when I realised I wasn’t feeling so great. I felt quite sick and confused but just tried to ignore it (as you do when you think the big black cloud that’s just appeared over you will just pass over). I joined the other girls in the long ascent up the slope with the rope. Picking up and using that guide rope time and again was just so exhausting and led us to need to stop several times for a break. Later I would learn that the guides don’t actually use the rope they just walk beside it so as not to waste the energy! It was quite windy up there so not using the rope never really entered my mind but that is inexperience for you!
We reached the 8km sign, now at 3929m. We were 1km down and I was almost totally drained. My head was all over the place, the gaps between climbers had grown so you didn’t have that same sense of where you were going, it was pitch black sabe for your own light. The cutting sharpness of the wind now began to bite bringing a coldness that goes right to your core. I stopped for a few minutes to try and catch my breath and right myself. In that time my other group climbers had moved on and I when I looked up I realised I was on my own. It was so very easy in the train to lose people quickly in the dark. Being on my own shouldn’t have been a problem with all the training I had done on my own this last 6 months but never like anytime before did I really not want to be on my own. I pressed on to try and catch my group but the route was gruelling, following the rope you had to navigate crevass’ and sharp climbs, much of which would have been easier with a guide to steer you for energy conservation I’m now sure! I don’t quite know how I did that next 0.5km it is a bit of a blur but by the time I reached 8.5km and the base of the summit (which of course had to be another steep ragged sodding climb didn’t it!!) I was completely exhausted and in the full throws of altitude sickness. It is the weirdest sensation, the kind you only really see in movies like Castaway where something that seems so close and ordinarily achievable becomes so impossible right in that moment. The cold was also my enemy now, I was shivering quite violently and couldn’t feel my hands or toes at all. I clearly hadn’t considered that all my training had cost me the body fat I sorely needed on top of that mountain despite all the layers!
I had 2 choices now of course, collapse at the base of the summit and wait for the guide to take me down again, accepting were I’d got to or just bloody go for it. Of course those of you who know me know I’m not a quitter. And I knew that whilst I was in some dire straits, a decent degree of this was mental and it was that I needed to grasp and convert to get me up there. I had reached the base at about 5.15am and the next 36 mins were some of the mos excruciating of my life. I was looking upwards at this towering 0.3km of summit rock, seeing many other exhausted climbers going through their own personal turmoil to get up there, stopping and cursing along the way...some semblance of commonality with strangers there at least.
It was not so much a climb as it was a crawl up that rock, I really hated that rock, I cursed the rock, why did it have to be so cruel and steep right at the end. I cried at least 3 times as I crawled up that bloody thing taking numerous breaks for some self talk and to also work out the next move I had to make to get up this thing (the rope by the way is a guide here not the route, you have to figure out the best route for yourself on this bit!). At 5.51am I finally reached the summit, 4095.2m. Still on my own I was exhausted and my hands were literally frozen and mad with pins and needles. I mustered the energy to take a picture of the summit sign but never got one of myself with it. I missed the sunrise as I couldn’t gather the strength to climb to the other side of the rock to see it. As the light of the day increased I became half aware of the most incredible beauty around me at the top of that mountain. I only wish I had been ‘with it’ more to actually enjoy it. The lightness did bring some relief to the whole experience, at least I’d be descending in the light. When you go up a mountain you really do know your best pics will be at the top and put all your expectations on that...due to the state I was in I only managed to get 11 photos at the top, still pretty good if I do say so myself. Many of the photos here were kindly donated by my fellow travellers who made it in a better state than I.
The cold was now starting to affect me more than anything else so instinct took over and I knew I had to get down. I started making a move toward the base, trying to bumshuffle my way mostly as I was genuinely scared of keeling over if I stood up. Getting towards the bottom I encountered the second group just arriving and Sapinggi who had a little word with me (can’t actually remember what he asked me) and then he pulled me up and moved me to shelter inside a crevass from the wind and warm a little. I was shaking like I’ve never shook before. Sapinggi was talking to me but again not much was registering. He rubbed my hands and pulled all my hoods over my hat, tying the drawstrings tight and then radioed for Edwin to come down from the summit. It felt like an age before he got to me but it was so nice to see his reassuring and kind face.
Edwin knelt down in front of me and asked me if I was ok. My first answer was a pathetic little cry and then I said (between nonsensical blubbers) that I was scared to go back down, I didn’t think I could do it. He told me it would be ok and not to worry because he would be with me. And that was it he took my hand and literally led me all the way back to the checkpoint. I have to say the decent was a lot easier than the ascent as much of it could be abseiled and took a lot less effort. We took it slow because going backwards didn’t particularly help with dizziness (I definitely must have looked like a drunken idiot). Whilst being partially away with the fairies I was able at least to see the beauty of the top of that mountain and beyond which is just impossible to put into words, it really does feel like you’re on top of the world. By the time we reached the checkpoint I was beginning to feel better so Edwin ‘let me off the leash’. I still let him lead the whole way back to the hostel but he was brilliantly reassuring in a simple and unimposing way. I made it back there when I genuinely didn’t think I could when I was at the top and I’ll be forever grateful for help and kindness of our guides who were just amazing.
On return about 9am-ish I pretty much collapsed in our dorm until the whole group was back. We had to be off by 10.30 for the remaining descent down the mountain. I’d had about an hours sleep and it was amazingly rejuvenating. Just enough to give me what I needed for the 6km descent down. It is very different going down! You don’t use your lungs like you do when you’re going up. Listening to the panting from all the 23/05 climbers was quite strange having only been there and done that the day before. We chatted to many and shared wisdoms about what was ahead along the way. I had chosen to hire a stick for the descent which was a fantastic idea as it helped immensely although the lesson being it is really better to have 2 than 1 as my DOMS has only hit in my left leg. We reached the first check point (forgetting our last bit was the gift of the uphill steps at the beginning) at around 3.30pm. It was an immense relief! I was so glad to get off that mountain at that point.
The shadow of my bit of trauma didn’t stay on the mountain sadly as I was to discover that evening. We moved on to our next spot only an hour away, all exhausted and none of us in much mood for social eating so we got snacks and shortly after headed to bed. My evening was anything but peaceful and I joined my other fellow altitude sickness traveller most of the evening in synchronised trips to the bathroom to thrown up the contents of our stomachs. Not exactly the rest I’d hoped for. In between these bouts of sickness I struggled to sleep and kept flashing back to those dark moments on the mountain. This sort of after-effect is definitely not what I was expecting at all! The following day called for rest, relaxing in the VERY cold pool at the hot springs which was a godsend and eating nothing but ice lollies! Luckily it didn’t take more than that day to recover and I was quickly back to my normal self after a full nights sleep that night.
And that’s about it folks. I never really went into this thinking it was going to be easy but also really hadn’t contemplated what the hard would look and feel like so I was nowhere near prepared mentally for it. But, coming out the other side I’m wiser for the wear and know what I would have done differently. The things I have achieved this month have taught me a lot about the price and sacrifices that come with independence and stubbornness as well as their value of course. Apparently up to 50% of the people who book on this tour don’t make the summit!? Whilst I can understand it, it is no walk in the park, the figure seems oddly low to me. I’m pleased to say all of our group of 9 made it and with a combination of our amazing guides and team spirit when we were together it made all the difference. Would I do it again...now there’s the million dollar question. Ask me in a month when I’ve forgotten most of it.
Thanks for reading!"

Reposted with permission via possibly the proudest mother on the planet, and definitely the most scared.

Great story, well written. My daughter was up there a few years ago, pitying all those who were led down the mountain because of altitude sickness - without having reached the summit