OVERVIEW

Mount Kinabalu (4,095m) is the highest mountain on the island of Borneo, part of the massif Crocker Range and indeed the highest mountain in the Malay Archipelago. It is located in the East Malaysian state of Sabah and protected as a World Heritage Site. The highest peak called Low’s Peak. Mount Kinabalu is known to be one of the most accessible mountains in the world. No specialized mountain climbing skills are required, though along certain sections on the summit trail, trekkers will need to rely on guide ropes to make the ascent and descent. Even no climbing skills required, the climb still depends strongly on how fit ones are and how well ones can acclimatize to the thin air.

The nearest town to reach Mount Kinabalu is Kota Kinabalu. From there it only takes 2 hours to get to the park gate by land transportation. Usually people took 2 days and 1 night program to scale the summit. But there’s also 3 days 2 nights program with one day extra staying at the park resort. And even strong people can take only one day ascend and descend the mountain.

The beauty of the nature of Mount Kinabalu is also supported with good facilities. In fact, the facilities are remarkable. There are huts on the trail before the summit. The famous one is Laban Rata. Climbers can feel the warmness inside with good buffet dinner. They managed the National Park very well. With it, the mountain is suitable even for novice climbers yet it is challenging.

ITINERARY

DAY 1

Jakarta–Kota Kinabalu–Kundasang
Fly to Kota Kinabalu. Upon arrival, we will be pick up and transfer to Kundasang by private vehicle for 2 hours. Check in hostel in Kundasang. Dinner and rest.

DAY 2

Kundasang–Timpohon Gate–Laban Rata
Wake up 06.30 and have breakfast at 07.00. At 08.00 we need to check out and go to Mt. Kinabalu Park Head Quarter with minibus for 20 minutes. Upon arrival, we will report for permit and then head to Timpohon Gate which is the starting point for the hike. We will hike to Laban Rata (3,300m) today. Pack lunch today. Buffet dinner at Laban Rata Rest House and we will stay overnight there also. Prepare for summit tonight and rest.

DAY 3

Laban Rata–Summit–Kundasang–Kota Kinabalu
Wake up 02.30 in the morning and prepare for the climb to the summit. It will be a 4-5 hours hike to the summit. After that, we descend back to Laban Rata Rest House for some meal, packing, and head back to Timpohon Gate. Buffet lunch at Balsam Restaurant. We will go back to Kota Kinabalu today and stay overnight in Shangrila hotel down town. Dinner at the restaurant.

DAY 4

Kota Kinabalu–Jakarta
After breakfast, you will be transfer to Airport for your flight back home

PREPARATION

Mount Kinabalu is suitable for novice climber since it has good facilities on the trek. Though, the hike can be a difficult one if you don’t have good physical fitness. You need to be fit enough because of fast ascend (only 2 days up and down) and the altitude can be problem with such rate of ascend since the capability to acclimatize are different for each person. Good training can help with the acclimatization. Go weekend hiking regularly will be the best training. It can be started with 8 km round trip hike with roughly 6kg pack, ascending and descending 600m, in less than 2.5 hours. The aim is to ascend 900m carrying an average pack of 10 kg in 3 hours. To reach it, try to increase the difficulty of your training in some way, either by adding weight to your pack (no more than 10 percent per week) or by completing the hike in a shorter amount of time.

In addition, you can do running two to three times a week for 45 minutes to an hour per session. Running on a route that have elevation gain will be a lot better, or use treadmill if there’s no such terrain in your hometown. You can change one of your running sessions in a week with cycling or swimming and especially you need to do also stair climbing with at least 10kg pack. It will be a good cross training. Besides that, muscle training is advisable. Strengthen your upper and lower body muscle, as well core muscle. You can do it at the gym or do your own set of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, plank, etc.

Training should be focus on cardiovascular because it can help to deal with the altitude. Building up your fitness even more will not be a waste. Just make sure you don’t injure yourself by overtraining and always have enough rest. Train 6 month before will increase the rate of success. But if you don’t have that much time, train at least 3 months before.

GEAR LIST