Mount Kinabalu and Via Ferrata

Well this post is about four months overdue but still, better late than never! I had previously been to Kinabalu but i was there alone. This time I wanted Marian to climb it too, and also to be away for New Year's eve, as it has been my plan for the last 3-4 years. That is, away from civilization. Add that two labmates that were also willing to come and ther eyou have it, we were a party of four!

The plan was to climb Kinabalu on the night of the 31st to the 1st of Jan 2011, and then descend on the Via Ferrata. The via ferrata was more the cherry on the cake for some than the actual climb. For others, it was really hard and they struggled to pull through but pull through they did, much to their increased confidence and esteem after that! I was a bit miffed by the fact that you are actually downclimbing the via ferrata rather than climbing it, and also by the fantastic price (~400RM) we each payed, but I thought it would be a nice touch.

While in 2007 I payed for everything separated by myself, these days it all comes in a package: accommodations in Laban Rata, buffet lunch and breakfast, etc.

Here's us at park headquarters. We came in early and by 7:30 am had gotten ourselves a guide and were ready to go.



What I really hate about the normal route on Kinabalu is the amount of stairs that you have to climb (and descend). This is why last time I took the Mesilau trail. And while last time it was all about training for the Alps and Aconcagua, this time it was all about taking it slow. And slow we took it.





It was the rainy season and as such the rain started around 11 am and kept up for the bigger part of the day. Good thing for our rain jackets!


Around 3000m B. started to feel the effects of altitude and lack of training and we had to move very slow (and hear him wail). Nonetheless, he pushed through and we were at Laban Rata in no time. Of course, flowers and pitcher plants greeted us on the way.





At Laban Rata we dried our clothes while waiting for the buffet dinner.



In the meantime, around 3 pm, we went to the Via Ferrata guys for briefing and safety instructions. Chris Bonnington had been there!!



At night, during dinner, Marian unveiled why his bag was much heavier than ours: he had been sekretly carrying a bottle of champagne, which we shared with everybody in the mess hall. A great New Year's celebration at 6pm.



And so we went to sleep. At least we tried, because B. was sadly still feeling the effects of altitude. We woke up around 1am, got dressed, and headed out. Our formation was me, B., C., and Marian closing the line. It was dark, thankfully not cold (last time i froze my ass off), and drizzling. I am very happy about the "dark" part of everything, because like that neither B. nor C. could see the walls we were moving on - there is a roped section on a slab wall that I think might be scary for noobs. We moved slowly, very very slowly because B. was really struggling to put one foot in front of the other. Amazingly, he did not quit and we managed to reach the top before sunrise.


We took various sunrise pics and then started to descend for our second part of the journey!









We got to the meetup place for the via ferrata descent. Here's us looking very pro:



And we started the descent. This is where things shifted in our group. Where before C. had been the rock between the B.-C. duo, now she was suddenly aware of the enormity of the task at hand (we had to descend 600m! on a vertical wall! rock! harness! gear!) and was slowly breaking under pressure. In contrast, B. was loving every minute of it, trusting the gear, and all in all having a fantastic time. This time, I was the first, followed by Marian, B. and C. last, next to our guide - a good thing too because he could take care of her - a bad thing too because he was prone to joking and saying stoopid stuff, which i do not know how well went down with C.





The route was nice enough to keep Marian and me somewhat entertained, but it was also very very long, enough to break C.'s composure and leave us wondering how much more is left.




I loved my new yellow jacket and i think it comes out quite nice in pictures.



We had various bridges we could monkey on:



And we reached Laban Rata before the morning rain




A quick breakfast - the buffet breakfast was over by now but they let us order something - about a half an hour more of rest, and we were off. Sadly, B.'s knees chose this particular moment to give in and it took us quite a while to negotiate the horrible steps below, but in the end we reached the park entrance (among the last), but happy and content. I was even more happy because Marian had snuck ahead and collected a LOT of wild raspberries for me.


We were supposed to have buffet lunch, but it was 5pm by now, so they allowed us to have buffet dinner instead. The food was not great but we had free flow of tea ...