Calvin’s Hub

The highlight of our Malaysia trip was our Mt. Kinabalu climb on Dec 3. It was our first time to climb a mountain without any training (except for treadmills) so climbing one of the highest mountains in Southeast Asia would be an accomplishment for us.

The Mt. Kinabalu climb is made of up two parts. A 6km trek up to Laban Rata, then eat and rest/sleep before going up to the summit (Lowe’s Peak) which is another 3k. Before our climb, I read a lot of experiences from other climbers and I found out that it was not a hard climb at all especially for healthy people.

Preparing for a December climb to Mt. Kinabalu is tricky. The trek to Laban Rata is not so cold so you’re better off with shirts and light clothing. But going up the summit, you definitely need to bring winter clothes, gloves and caps to fight the harsh, cold wind.

Then there’s also the rain which they say happens more often in December and this would force your guide to tell you not to continue up the summit. Luckily for us, we only encountered light rain during our climb but the folks the night before weren’t able to summit because of it.

How much to climb Mt. Kinabalu?

I wrote a post that broke down the fees that you need to prepare for your climb to Mt. Kinabalu. It’s not cheap at all. About $400++ for a two-person climb and it’s recommended to split the cost of the guide with another person if you’re going solo.

Only Sutera Sanctuary operates lodges within Mt. Kinabalu Park so they’re the only choice of lodging when you want to climb this mountain.

We booked in advance because we read in forums that they might run out of rooms if you’re going to book when you get there. In our case, they didn’t. It was not too crowded on the day of our climb.

We paid Sutera Lodge RM1,044 (RM522 per person) in advance. This is for the  2-days/1-night climb and already includes:

• Climbing permit
• Climbing insurance
• Overnight stay at Laban Rata Lodge (non-heated)
• Packed lunch, buffet dinner, buffet supper, buffet breakfast, buffet lunch

Things we brought:

We wore shirt and pants (quick-dry) on our way up and carried some more clothes on our backpack. A nice pair of hiking shoes/boots will do you good here especially in December when rains are expected.

Here are the things that we brought to the climb:

• Winter jacket
• Thermal undershirt/underpants
• Beanie
• Gloves
• Small headlamp
• Poncho (bought at the park but didn’t use it)
• Wet tissues (very useful)
• Change of shirt
• Pair of dry socks, underwear (didn’t use)
• Assorted snacks and energy bars
• Two bottles of water

I left my DSLR at the hotel and instead opted for the more portable Panasonic Lumix LX3 which was a good decision in hindsight.

Don’t wear jackets on the first half of the climb because you will just sweat and will thirst quicker.

Going to Mt. Kinabalu Park

We took a 7-seater taxi/van near our hotel (Lavender Lodge) from Kota Kinabalu City to drop us off at Kinabalu park, a good 2-hour travel. We waited for about 30 minutes before the taxi was filled up. Guess it won’t be too crowded at the park.

The ride cost us RM16 each. It turned out to be a cool, sunny day and we can see the clouds at our level as we ride up towards the park. Made me giddy with excitement.

More fees at the park

When we got to the park at around 9:30AM we saw a lot of climbers milling around so that means we’re not that late. We went to the casher, got our ID (don’t lose this), paid for our guide, and for our ride to Timpohon Gate which served as the starting point of our climb.

We got our packed lunch which consists of a sandwich, banana, apple and mineral water. And met our guide Ren, before joined the other climbers in a bus going to Timpohon Gate. We also met a group of Filipino climbers which was nice.

At Timpohon Gate, we bought a poncho in case it rains on the way up to Laban Rata. We also borrowed a couple of climbing poles from Ren which is really helpful on a climb especially if you don’t have long legs.

• Park Entrance – RM15 per person
• Mountain Guide – RM128 (good for 3 persons)
• Round-trip ride to Mt. Timpohon (15 min. ride) – RM33 (good for 3 persons)
• Poncho – RM5
• Climbing poles – RM10

We’re all set. I’ll detail the experience of our climb in the next part. Stay tuned.

You might also be interested in:

• Climbing Mt. Kinabalu in December Part 3 – Conquered!
• Climbing Mt. Kinabalu in December Part 2 – Going up to Laban Rata
• How much does it really cost to climb Mt. Kinabalu?
• Bangkok or Mt. Kinabalu? Help us decide

Filed under: Travel