Beautiful, challenging climb up Mt Kinabalu

RANAU: Sometime in October 2015 when the construction of two new trails leading to the peak of Mount Kinabalu was underway, Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun gave his assurance that the routes would certainly be “beautifully challenging”.

As this writer found out earlier this year when he was invited by Sabah Parks to try out the new trails, the climb was, indeed, beautifully challenging. In fact, it was so challenging he had to quit halfway while making the ascent because, being 67 years old, he simply could not cope with scaling the steep slope.

It was raining and very windy that particular day and the writer struggled to climb every step while clinging on tightly to the rope for support.

However, as promised, the views were breathtaking as one of the new trails was located on higher elevation compared with the old trail where climbers only saw forest and rocky plateau.

The 2.97-kilometre Ranau trail and 2.8 km Kota Belud trail were constructed to replace the old single trail leading to the summit of Mt Kinabalu as it was severely damaged after a 6.0 magnitude tremor struck Ranau and the mountain’s western side on June 5, 2015, killing 18 climbers and guides, including children.

The Ranau trail was opened to the public in December 2015 while the Kota Belud trail has been in use since February this year.

Both trails begin at Laban Rata at 3,273 meters and meet at the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint (3,668m) before merging into a single trail leading to the top of the 4,095-m high Mt Kinabalu, which is among the highest peaks in Southeast Asia.

This writer was part of an eight-member team, including three women, that went on the recent Mt Kinabalu expedition using the new trails.

The team was led by topnotch mountaineer Martin Moguring, who is also a senior park ranger at Kinabalu Park in Ranau.

They used the Kota Belud trail to climb up the mountain and the Ranau trail for their descent.

When descending the mountain, they passed by the old trekking route on the mountain’s western side. The sight of boulders and rocks strewn all over the area was a grim reminder of the June 2015 tragedy that shocked the whole nation.

The construction of the Ranau and Kota Belud trails is a story of sheer determination and excellent workmanship. It is undoubtedly a job well done as the decision to build the new trails was made at a time when the people were anxious to know what Sabah Parks could do to restore or replace the completely damaged old trail after the deadly temblor.

It was a practical decision by Sabah Parks to leave the construction of the new trails to the mountain guides, porters and local villagers as they were more familiar with the conditions around the mountain.

A week after the quake, Sabah Parks director Dr Jamili Nais, accompanied by Moguring and another senior Kinabalu Park officer Yassin Miki, made two damage assessment trips to the mountain summit.

Mountain experts from the United States, Canada and Japan also surveyed the aftermath of the quake and gave their professional advice on the construction of the new trails.

“It was so heartbreaking to see the old trail which had literally turned into boulders and rocks,” recalled Moguring.

“While we (Jamili, Moguring and Yassin) were on the top of the mountain discussing how to build alternative routes, I was personally assigned by the Sabah Parks director to prepare a plan for the proposed trekking routes.”

Moguring said while they were inspecting the extent of damage in the Panar Laban rock face area on the south face of Mt Kinabalu, minor tremors were still occurring.

At the end of their damage assessment trips, Jamili handed over a machete to Moguring as a symbolic gesture to indicate that he has been appointed to lead the task of plotting the new climbing trails to replace the damaged one.

Meanwhile, a team comprising Kinabalu Park’s botanical staff was assigned to make an inventory study on the vegetation found along the proposed new trails.

“It was to ensure that we keep records of the trees that will have to make way for the new trails, especially in term of their scientific names and whether they are endemic or endangered species.

“If endangered species were found along the proposed route, then we would have to divert the route. Some rare orchids that were found in that area were removed and replanted elsewhere,” said Rossiti Karim, who headed the inventory team.

Other members of the team were Geofarry Gunsalam, Handry Mujuh, Richard Yulong and Kinahim Sampang.

According to Jamili, the two new trails were constructed at a cost of RM400,000 and the work was carried out by 30 mountain guides, porters and local villagers.

Their work involved carrying building materials from Timpohon, which is the starting point for the climb up Mt Kinabalu, boring holes on the rock face to fix the wooden step ladders and setting up safety ropes for climbers in those sections of the trail where the elevation was steep.

Newspapers have quoted Jamili as saying that there has been an increase in the number of climbers at Mt Kinabalu after the two trails were opened.

Statistics from Sabah Parks showed that 33,414 people (comprising 19,426 Malaysians and 13,988 foreigners) scaled the mountain in 2015.

Last year, the number of climbers went up to 37,805, comprising 17,357 Malaysians and 20,508 foreigners.

Jamili had also said that the two damaged huts at Panar Laban and Gunting Lagadan, which used to serve as accommodation for climbers, would be transformed into a memorial site, complete with a gallery, in remembrance of the quake victims. - Bernama