Climbing Mount Kinabalu [Gunung Kinabalu] @ Sabah, Malaysia

By : Chha

Ever thought of climbing Mount Kinabalu ? Hesitate or edger to ? Anyway, if you have ever once thought of climbing Mount Kinabalu then you should definitely go for it and if this is your first time climbing Mount Kinabalu, then have visited the write blog page ! hahaha ! I am here proud to tell you that i've done it and successfully hike up Mount Kinabalu and back down safely on my first try. There are probably a lot of questions in your mind right now ? Thinking, is it hard ? What should you bring ? What should you do ? Well, that is exactly what i asked too.

Climbing Mount Kinabalu is honestly not easy, if there is anyone who tell you that climbing Mount Kinabalu is a piece of cake, then you probably should let him trying climbing Mount Kinabalu while eating a cake ... ! I mean like, seriously ? 9/10 of people who i ask about climbing Mount Kinabalu tells me that it is very easy, let me repeat .. very easy ... and the truth is, i was half dead up there .. ! hahaha .. So if you ask me, is climbing Mount Kinabalu easy ? i will say No, it is Hard but it is possible for anyone !

Getting Ready For Mount Kinabalu (Mentally And Physically)

Getting physically fit is important and also the first thing i would stress out in this post. You can't go hike Mount Kinabalu if you are not physically fit. It takes me one year to get ready for Mount Kinabalu with a lot of running and hiking trying to get into shape. You will need a lot of physical strength especially on your thigh for the first day of hiking and a lot of stamina on the second day of hiking.

If you are from Penang, Malaysia probably i can suggest you a few place for hiking and a few marathon that you can join to build up your stamina and strength (Marathon/Hiking Trail) but do note that none of those i've suggested are any where near to the level of climbing Mount Kinabalu, you will need to do more than just normal run and hike. Don't worry, even if you can't do more, by doing what i've done, is good enough to bring you all the way up to the summit of Mount Kinabalu.

What To Bring

A lot of people tell me that the route up to Mount Kinabalu is cold and the summit is even colder. Well, they are probably right because Mount Kinabalu is the highest peak in Borneo's Crocker Range and is the highest mountain in the Malay Archipelago as well as the highest mountain in Malaysia. Mount Kinabalu is also the 20th most prominent mountain in the world by topographic prominence. (Source). Yah, i agree that it will get cold as you get higher up on Mount Kinabalu but i feel it all depends on weather because during my hike, it is not that cold. So my advice is get ready yourself for temperature as low as 0'c and also for strong blowing wind but you will need to do it right as you must also consider, what if, it does not gets that cold ? Most people will tell you to bring really thick cloths for climbing Mount Kinabalu as it is cold up there, my advice ! Don't ! I suggest that you bring more cloths. Reason is while climbing your body create heat and sweat. If you wear too thick, you will become too hot ! If you take out your thick winter cloths, you will freeze. So bring more cloths to keep you warm when it gets cold and if it gets hot, you can still take it out layer by layer in order to adjust yourself to the surrounding temperature.

Item	Quantity	Reason
Cloths	4
Pants	2
Jackets	1	It is cold on second day hiking
Wind Breaker	1	It is windy on second day hiking
Head Lamp	1	It is dark on second day hiking
Battery For Head Lamp	1 pack	Just in case battery runs out
Drinking Water 500ml	4 bottle	Need water to drink
Hiking Stick	1
Paracetamol (Panadol)	1 strip	Just in case you might need it
Hiking Shoes	1 pair
Socks	4 pair	In case it gets wet
Toiletries	-	Staying at night at Laban Rata
Medicines	-	Personal medicines for personal use
Head Cover	1	To cover head from being cold
Camera	1	Wouldn’t want to miss the chance to take photo on summit
Ointment	-	In case of muscle cramp or injury
Rain Coat	1	In case of rain

Well, basically the items listed above are the items that i bring while climbing Mount Kinabalu, it will varies depending on individual. Some people will bring more, some people will bring less. It all depends on your own personal preference.

During Hike Day

During hike day, you will need to hire a mountain guide, that is the rules set by the authorities there in order to hike Mount Kinabalu. If needed, you can hire a 'Portal' too, to help you carry your bags but you will need to pay them per kilograms of what the 'Portal' carry. For me, i personally think that it is better to travel light. Even though, some of the 'Portal' there are capable of carrying up to 80 kg of weight while hiking up Mount Kinabalu but i don't think it is easy for them, i actually feel bad to see them carry so heavy. Well, for myself, i carry my own bag, i did not hire a 'Portal' to help me carry my bag which only weight 8 kg.

I've divided this post into 4 parts. The intro part, which is this post. One day before hiking, the first day of hiking and the second day of hiking. The reason why i do this is with hope that it will actually make it easier for you to read through my blog post and also to easily grab any important information that you might need, instead of writing a long post.

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Visited : March 2016

Posted Date : 18 March 2016

Posted Time : 06.30 pm