Trip to Mount Kinabalu in December '04

[ziploc]

Glad to see some fellow trekkers here. Been to Mt Kinabalu twice and it was a 50-50 for me: once it was foggy (and strong wind) at the summit (Dec), the other was a nice clear day (April). Here is my itinerary for your reference:

Day 1: Fly to Kota Kinabalu, transfer by bus to Mt Kinabalu Park HQ. Stay overnight.

Day 2: Leave extra belongings at Park HQ. Transfer to trail head (Mesilau which is the new trail, or Timpohon the old one). Climb up to Laban Rata. Stay overnight.

Day 3: Wake up at 2:30am and proceed up at 3am. Need to time according to your pace, as you don't want to reach the summit too early and expose in the freezing wind. Need to reach the summit before 6am to see the sunrise. Come back down to Laban Rata. (Note: acclimbatization is not necessary as the summit is only 4000m and you descend immediately after summiting.)

Now here there are 2 alternatives: for a longer and more relax trip, stay 1 more night at Laban Rata, and descend the next day. For a shorter but tougher trip, descend on the same day.

Day 3/4: Descend to Park HQ. Transfer to Kota Kinabalu and stay there overnight. Have a sumptious seafood dinner.

Day 4/5: Fly back to Singapore.

Oh ya, if you prefer you can also see some of my Mt Kinabalu travel pictures here.

For those who are thinking of going, go go go, it's a very nice place. Really.

Hope that helps, and have fun!

 

[Witness]

hmmm...can work out the overall cost thingey...

 

[Adzz]

cool. i should be gg up mount K next june as part of my eca. Is it necessary to bring a tele zoom lens? hehe.

 

[popeye]

I'm still game for it!

 

[toxicbug]

Hi,

Was planning a trip to Mt Kinabalu when my friend bumped into this site. Managed to source out a trip organised by x-trekkers. Rough itinery:

27 Dec - arrival, sleep
28 Dec - climb
29 Dec - climb last stretch to summit for sunrise and descend
30 Dec - white water rafting
31 Dec - departure.

They are charging S$245. That excludes the airfare and some meals. Checked out airasia, flight there from Johore on 27 costs RM209.99 and return on 31 is $189.99. Last week it was RM189.99 to fly there.

You can search at their website:
http://www.x-trekkers.com/

I've a pdf file of their itinery. Can send you you guys if you want. Email me.

Thanks!

 

[Xaler]

cool. i should be gg up mount K next june as part of my eca. Is it necessary to bring a tele zoom lens? hehe.

Depending on how difficult the trek up is, you might want to bring a lightweight lens and a monopod. This is where the super-zooms, e.g. 28-300, is handy. One lens to cover them all

 

[nickmak]

Sighz... Me no go now... Have to go back to S'pore for my fitness and medical checkup... NS next JUNE!!! :cry:

 

[ledmirage]

juz came back from climbing kinabalu last sunday, my right leg still ache :blah:
hope i can post some shots soon.

juz some notes to those interest to climb kinabalu in the future:

1) charge your batt fully and keep them warm, like put in your pocket or something. Else you might get low batt easily up there.

2) try not to use microdrive, but solid state CF-card. I snapped a few shots at summit and had difficultly transferring the shots from buffer to microdrive, once changed to CF card everything is ok.

Enjoy climbing !

 

[popeye]

anyone going this month?

 

[John Tan]

I'm interested but still not fit for it. But will prepare to go there during march. Who keen to go at that time? No rain + sunny.

 

[hoppinghippo]

Hi everyone, I understand that to go up Mt K you need to have a guide (compulsory I think). where's the best place to do this? do you settle it in KK, or is it possible to just make your way to Mt K's park HQ and do it there? I climbed Mt K a long time ago in JC and am planning to go next year again, but am not sure of the procedures as my first trip was all planned by OBS Sabah. and to add to the rest, its def a great trip!

 

[nite:live]

Im going Mount K during the third week of Jan 2005. PArdon me... quite a noob. neva bring my DSLR b4 to mountainous area. How many batts are deemed enuff during the trek?? what are the necessary equipment to bring for such trip?? (e.g what kind of lens, filters, CF card n etc?? ) :dunno:

 

[ledmirage]

Im going Mount K during the third week of Jan 2005. PArdon me... quite a noob. neva bring my DSLR b4 to mountainous area. How many batts are deemed enuff during the trek?? what are the necessary equipment to bring for such trip?? (e.g what kind of lens, filters, CF card n etc?? ) :dunno:

I brought my 10D with juz a wide angle lens, Sigma 12-24mm. i dun think u want to carry to much lens while climbing

as mentioned in my previous post, i recommed CF card over microdrive ...

for Batt, i brought two but aslo brought along the charger
juz take note that up there in summit the batt tends to be low batt easily ... try to keep it warm then ...

i have some kinabalu pic here for your viewing pleasure
http://www.xieer.com:9000/gallery/index.php?page=album&parentid=120

enjoy your trip !

 

[tavy]

I brought my 10D with juz a wide angle lens, Sigma 12-24mm. i dun think u want to carry to much lens while climbing

as mentioned in my previous post, i recommed CF card over microdrive ...

for Batt, i brought two but aslo brought along the charger
juz take note that up there in summit the batt tends to be low batt easily ... try to keep it warm then ...

i have some kinabalu pic here for your viewing pleasure
http://www.xieer.com:9000/gallery/index.php?page=album&parentid=120

enjoy your trip !

----------------

I'm going on end March with my colleague. Should i bring along monopod or tripod? Which one is better? Thanks for advice..

 

[nite:live]

is there power point at Laban Rata???

Yeh... what kind of tripod is advisable??

 

[taku1a]

is there power point at Laban Rata???

Yeh... what kind of tripod is advisable??

There is power at Laban Rata (it is afterall heated), but the trip is rather hectic that you may not have the time to charge the battery.

Slow climbers (most Singaporeans) will reach Laban Rata at around 6 to 6.30pm. Dinner buffet ends at 7.30pm, so there's a mad rush for food, followed by another rush for hot water shower. Then you may take time to repack, leaving the unimportant behind in order to shed weight for the summit. You will then drift off into a sorta on/off slumber, before waking up at 2am for the final summit.

Also, the rooms comes in two, four, six beds. If your group has odd number, you may be sharing your room with strangers. The more things you bring to the top, the more things you risk to lose.

If you have a DSLR, one fully charged battery may be enough, though it does not hurt to bring a fully-charged spare battery. You may need to bring more sets of batteries if you are shooting with a compact.

Those carrying DSLR have to think carefully on how to carry them. If you carry them in a backpack, you'll find it inconvenient to reach the camera. I carry mine in a chest harness, which is okay on the way up. But on my way down, the chest bag obstructed my view of where my foot lands. I end up handing the bag to my guide and ask him for the camera as and when I see something worth taking.

It is windy at the top, so windy that a gust can wobble a 80kg guy. So if you want to use a tripod, you will have to bring a very sturdy one--which is a bother to bring up without a porter. A bean bag or a mini tripod is probably more practical, though I shoot most of the pictures handheld after the sun comes out.

Get waterproof or water-resistance gloves. Most people tend to remember the jackets, head gear, rain coat, but not the gloves. If your gloves absorb water, they will only lose more heat from your hands.