Climbing Mt Kinabalu

[moniqueabroad]

Hello,

We are planning to climb Kinabalu over Easter and would be grateful for any advice.

Can anybody vouch for this tour company: Home | Borneo Global Backpackers or suggest another suitable tour provider for two (vaguely) fit, hiking experienced, 20-something y/o females. We are wanting to spend as little money and time as possible, and still arrive gracefully at the summit :-)

Thanks! Monique

[Tulip]

I'm also looking for information about climbing up Mt Kinabalu. Could those of you who have done it give me some insight? Should we join a tour company? How long does it take? Ideal time? etc, etc ...
Also, is it suitable for a 10 yrs old kid? If not, can you recommend another mountain, above 1000m high and in a nearby country, that we could climb with a 10 yrs old. Thanks!

[PDLM]

A previous discussion with a fair bit of info in this thread: http://www.geoexpat.com/forum/thread53009.html

[gilleshk]

Although Kinabalu is fairly high, it's not at all difficult to climb and it can be done is a few hours by anyone who is fit.

There are plenty of very out of shape tourists that are poorly equipped on the trail every day and they also make it up to the summit.

No need for a tour, everyone is supposed to hire a guide and you can book a refuge by yourself easily.

The usual is to go up to the refuge the first day which can take from about an hour to 8 hours if you're extremely slow. Then they make you get up in the middle of the night to catch the sunrise which in my opinion is a complete waste of time. You get to line up behind throngs of people, it's very difficult to pass because of the lack of light, heavy traffic and uneven terrain, then you get to the top and maybe if you're lucky you'll be shivering along with a hundred people and see the sunrise if it's clear which is probably a 50/50 chance at best.

If you're fit, i think it's much better to start in the morning and go straight to the top, there will be no one there and you save the hassle of a night in the hut. Otherwise, sleep in and casually go up around nine or ten by which the crowds will be on their way down...

[bamboochan18]

[url=http://images.google.com.hk/images?hl=zh-TW&source=hp&q=Kinabalu&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=Ux4JS-qLJ8yikAXZ7bzXCQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=tit le&resnum=4&ved=0CCYQsAQwAw]Kinabalu - Google

[bamboochan18]

Wish you success

[moniqueabroad]

Thanks for the info! We STILL haven't climbed, my friend injured her knee and I got scared (my fit-as-anything friend tasted blood coming from his lungs and descended before reaching the summit!) Will try to climb mid-next year, I need to cross this one off my list.

gilleshk - Agreed on the sunrise idea, we tried something similar on Mt Fuji and it was an awful, crowded, cold, cloudy experience - I'll be happy to go against the traffic and climb during the day.

Cheers, Monique

[MovingIn07]

Thanks for the info! We STILL haven't climbed, my friend injured her knee and I got scared (my fit-as-anything friend tasted blood coming from his lungs and descended before reaching the summit!) Will try to climb mid-next year, I need to cross this one off my list.

gilleshk - Agreed on the sunrise idea, we tried something similar on Mt Fuji and it was an awful, crowded, cold, cloudy experience - I'll be happy to go against the traffic and climb during the day.

Cheers, Monique

Monique,

I have done both Fuji and Kinabalu and they are NOTHING like the same experience. I did both with the sunrise (saw neither) but I agree, Fuji is awful. Kinabalu is much harder, but scenically much nicer. And it has DIFFERENT WEATHER. In particular, the time when it is least likely to be clouded in, is first thing in the morning. Later in the day, it pours with rain. And you DO NOT want to be on the top in a downpour.

Secondly, Kinabalu has obligatory guides and a checkpoint that WILL NOT let you through without a guide or outside the "normal" window of walking. The whole thing is geared up to the "normal" approach - the accomodation, food tickets, guides, the whole thing. It works really well, and frankly going against the tide is going to make your life a whole lot harder.

Finally, there is nothing like the number of people on Kinabalu. There is the number that the single lodge (plus a couple of outbuildings) will house. Probably 20% of the number that go up Fuji. And the track is wider (except on the rope climbing bit) and the final walk over the rocks it's easy to go wide and well away from others if you want a quieter experience.

Please don't let Fuji put you off. It's different. Much nicer, much harder.