WHOA! Adventures guide to climbing Mount Kinabalu.

Essential tips and travel advice. ..

Climbing Mount Kinabalu in Sabah is the essential adventure on top of every adventurer's To-Do list. The horned mountain  standing at 4095m above sea level (a.s.l) is without a doubt, one of South East Asia's highlights that is accessible to any  decent hiker.

Mount Kinabalu is the loftiest peak between the Himalayas and New Guinea. Scaling the top is destined to be a highlight in any adventurer's career with many returning to conquer it over and over again. A good 1500m higher than any other peak in Sabah,  the topography in Kinabalu is impressive. Unique vegetation zones and endemic wildlife has led to its inclusion as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among some of the endemic vegetation are insectivorous pitcher plants as well as many types of orchids and rhododendron. Mount Kinabalu is set inside the Kinabalu National Park (750 square kilometers) and 85 kilometers north east of Kota Kinabalu.

The Trek

The journey to the top should take 2 days / 1 night. The round trip to the summit is 17kms. There are 2 routes to the top, Timpohan and Mesilau. Timpohon is not only shorter, but the more popular of the 2. Mesilau on the other hand, provides a quieter and a more scenic route. The Mesilau trail eventually connects to Timpohan. 

The Timpohan trail
The start of the journey begins at the park headquarters at 1585m a.s.l where you need to hire a mandatory guide and / or  porter (optional). From here, the first hour of the trail is along the road to the power station at the Timpohan gate.  Alternatively, there are mini-buses that ferry hikers to the gate.

The trail (8.5 kms long) leads to Laban Rata rest house at 3352 a.s.l. The trail can be quite full during the season. As the trail ascends to Laban Rata, the vegetation thins out and becomes more stunted due to decreasing nutrients in the soil. The dramatic granite summit begins to appear in the foreground. The Laban Rata guesthouse provides  showers, hot food on sale and sleeping bags for hire. This is your overnight stop. The hot food doesn't come cheap, as supplies need to be manually carried from the bottom of the mountain. Considering the effort just to transport the groceries, you should be thankful just for a cup of hot chocolate.

Due to its popularity, booking a night at the Laban Rata rest house is not easy. Beds tend to be sold out months in advance and it is advisable to plan and book ahead. 

The majority of hikers reach Laban Rata by late afternoon (after 3pm). The best thing to do is just relax and enjoy the
breathtaking views of the scenery. Worn and weary hikers will straggle in all throughout the late afternoon and well into the night. 

The summit trek to Low's Peak.

The trek to the top begins at 2am. This tends to be a bit busy as all the hikers also depart at that time. A long line of lights from torches can be seen departing from the rest house. Above Laban Rata the challenge becomes more technical with ropes and wooden staircases to help scale the increasingly steep granite. An especially challenging part is after the Sayat-Sayat Hut, or roughly halfway up to the summit.

Handhold the ropes for safety as they were constructed for this purpose, even in good weather. The granite can cut and is sharp enough to pierce. Here you will find novice hikers struggle the most: cold, dark, windy and breathless. Many come to a halt here due to being poorly dressed for the cold, or being physically under-conditioned.

After this you will reach the summit plateau. The trek becomes a little less taxing and more of a steady climb towards Low's Peak. As you cross the huge rock slabs, the last remaining is a rocky scramble to join the other hikers huddled together behind rock ledges, escaping the freezing howl of the wind. Don't underestimate the cold, combined with a wind chill factor; the temperature can drop to negative Celsius.

This is it, Low's Peak. Zip up your jacket tight, huddle for warmth and look towards sunrise as the first glimmer of sun peeks over the horizon. Congratulations, you've just scaled Mount Kinabalu. What an achievement!

Hiking tips

• The distance from Kota Kinabalu to Mount Kinabalu is over 2 hours. Therefore, it's advisable to stay in the Park Headquarters the night before you ascent.
• Book your accommodation at Laban Rata with us well ahead of time.
• Equipment to bring: durable hiking shoes, light cold weather gear and waterproofs, gloves, warm headgear, and head torch (and extra batteries). You can hire a sleeping bag at Laban Rata if you wish to avoid carrying one up. Also pack headache pills for altitude sickness, suntan lotion, energy boosters e.g. nuts and dried fruit or muesli bars.
• There are water stations along the trail but none on the summit plateau.
• Don't be afraid to hire a porter, they are eager to carry your bags for a fee.
• The descent can be harder on the knees and more difficult for many. Descend slowly and carefully.
• Expect soreness on your joints and muscles the day after the climb. Most climbers choose to chillout for a couple of days around KK to nurse their aching bodies.

Ultimately, although the mountain is accessible to most hikers, don't under-estimate the challenge. There have been tragedies on the mountain and hikers need to come prepared, in perfect health, have adequate and dry clothing, use the expertise of a local guide and carry extra food and water. Climb safe.

Flora and fauna

The Kinabalu park contains one of the most diverse plant life in South East Asia due to the different vegetation zones as you ascend to the peak. It begins as lowland dipterocarp forest, changing to cloud forest as you ascend higher. The unique plants are pitcher plants, orchids and just off the trails, you may spot the largest flower in the world, the Rafflesia.

The cloud forest begins at 1800m and supports a huge range of flowering plants including thousands of orchids and 26 varieties of rhododendron. The park's most famous plants are the pitcher plants, 9 species have been recorded. The cups secrete a nectar that attracts insects and then drowns them as they are unable to escape from the slippery sides of the plant.

Although the park houses orang-utans, Borneon gibbons, tarsiers and clouded leopards, you are unlikely to spot one. Instead, squirrels, rats and tree shrews are much more common along the trail. There are 2 endemic species of birds, the Kinabalu Friendly Warbler and Kinabalu Mountain Blackbird.

Local peoples

The locals of the mountain are the incredibly fit and strong 'Kadazan Dusun' community who have lived, hunted and worshiped around the mountain for centuries. According to their beliefs, the mountain is full of spirits. Visitors to the mountain must not treat the environment with disrespect.

It is the thousands of climbers that try and reach the peak annually which provides the income for the local economy and their communities. Some of these guides scale the mountain as many as 3 times per week.

 What to pack

 The temperatures drop below freezing as you reach the summit in the wee hours of the morning. Don't underestimate the cold and pack accordingly.

Essential clothing for the track up
- Waterproof and windproof jacket
- Suitable jumper / sweater that can keep out the wind and cold.
- Thermal undergarmets - comes in handy if you are not used to the cold
- Beanie/woollen hat - for keeping the ears and head warm. 
- Gloves - for grabbing on to the roap and sharp edges on the ascend
- Hiking pants
- Raincoat / ponchos - sunshine can turn to shower anytime. And a wet hiker is a miserable hker.
- Head lamp / torch - saves from fumbling around and trying to ascend the ropes.

Other equipment in addition to your normal packing:
- Appropriate snacks - dried fruit and nuts and high energy bars.
- Water and lots of it. There are filling stations on the way up. If you fill up from the stations, use water purification tablets.
- First aid kit (paracetemol for headaches, altitude sickness pills, in addition to the usual band-aids, antiseptics, bandages etc)
- Sunscreen cream
- Plastic bags - the large garbage bags are handy for waterproofing your clothing. Just wrap your clothes inside the bag and tie a knot to close it up,  then stuff the garbage bag full of clothes into your backpack.

Best time to climb

The best season to climb is in April where the weather is driest. November and December is generally more rainy.

Book our Mount Kinabalu packages here

Sources: Our experience climbing the mountain, The Rough Guide to Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei and Action Asia May / June 2006 "Sabah's Horned Mountain"