Conquering Mount Kinabalu

Two more kilometers to go and we would reach the rest-house…not quite the summit of Mount Kinabalu but almost there. I could not believe I’ve embarked on this expedition and my mind flashes back to the morning I had coffee with Darrel (CM/BS/CE) in the college cafeteria. It all started with a causal conversation during which Darrel suggested the idea of conquering Mount Kinabalu with students – the rest as they say, is history.

The team was formed on 19 January 2006, and comprised of 4 staff and 12 students from the four Schools of ITE College East. After successfully obtaining funds from sponsors like Nestle, Senoko Power, Lee Foundation and National Youth Council, the team started its preparation. The training schedule involved physical sessions to prepare for the difficult trek, and technical sessions as the students were to fabricate and install a temperature display panel at the rest-house of Mount Kinabalu. The team would also be donating a weather monitoring station capable of measuring temperature, humidity, rain, dew, heat, wind speed and direction, and forecasting and graphing the local climate changes. This meant the engineering students had to fully understand the workings of the weather monitoring station in order to teach the park rangers its functions and maintenance needs.

The physical training was harder than I expected but I had only myself to blame as I was the one responsible for the training programme – we did 19 sessions in total. We started off with 5 sets of stair climbs at the business block (eventually increased to 10 sets), followed by 3.2km warm down run. Those doubting the difficulty of these sessions are invited to try it for themselves….

My breathing was getting harder as I forced my legs to move forward. The climb was getting steeper the closer we got to the rest-house which was about 3100m above sea level. Despite the physical training, I actually had to stop every 3 to 4 minutes to catch my breath…it did not help that I had just recovered from a bout of food-poisoning.

After four long hours we eventually reached the rest-house where we were fed simple fried rice that had cost us each eleven ringget…still it was worth the price as it was hard work by the locals to bring the food all the way up. While the rest were unpacking and resting, the engineering students started to install the temperature display panel at the front door of the rest-house, after which despite their fatigue, they went on to teach the park rangers how to use the weather monitoring station.

Finally, all of us had our rest after 8pm. We were all trying to get to sleep but were too excited about the summit climb. The students were up early, around 1:30am, as they were eager to get started and already dressed for the summit climb.

The team gathered at around 2:30am to start the final climb - the weather was a fine 10˚ Celsius and the moon was beaming brightly. Our team and groups of other climbers - about 100 in total - were climbing in a single line. We depended very much on torch lights to guide our path as the moonshine was insufficient and we were walking in darkness. The submit climb was steeper than our earlier climb to the rest-house and there were moments where we were relying on rope to pull ourselves up. It is not for nothing that Mount Kinabalu is included in the world climbathon circuit!

After walking for nearly two and a half hours, we finally reached the summit at 5:25am. There were already some climbers sitting at the summit waiting for the first light from the sky. We quickly settled ourselves too, finding the best spot from which to view the horizon. We waited nearly 45 minutes in the cold until the first rays of light blinded our eyes. It was a magnificent sight!

There are no words to describe a moment like that. We savoured it and will no doubt always remember it. The summit and the sunrise were beautiful and we had accomplished our objectives. I was proud of our team and especially of the students who worked together and helped each fulfill their roles and responsibilities.