After years of back pain I had spine surgery in December 2006 – a laminectomy and instrumented fusion of vertebrae L5 – S1, in an effort to regain a quality of life that I had not had for a long time. In April 2007, some four months after my surgery, friends of ours decided to embark upon an adventure to climb Mt Kinabalu, in Borneo, in October 2007. At that time I never thought that it would be possible for me to attempt such a physical feat, so my wife, May, and I decided that we would not partake in this activity. However, in June I was feeling quite good and so we decided that, with a lot of exercising and training, I might be able to achieve this and so we made the decision to join our friends. I set this adventure as my goal to motivate me to carry out the physiotherapy rehabilitation and exercising necessary to strengthen my back following major surgery. However, a month after we made the decision to climb Mt Kinabalu I was diagnosed as having one of the pedicle screws inserted into my spine during the surgery in December, come loose necessitating further surgery to remove all pedicle screws and rods from my spine. The surgery occurred in July, only 3 months prior to climbing Mt Kinabalu. Could I still achieve my goal? Well, both my surgeon, Dr Eddie Chang, and my physiotherapist, Linda Wee, thought it possible with hard work and dedication to a physiotherapy and exercise regime. Well I made it - in October 2007 my wife and I joined seven other friends for an adventure that was the most physically challenging activity that we had ever undertaken – to climb Mt Kinabalu. This is our adventure……. Bruce Introduction to Mt KinabaluMt Kinabalu is located in the province of Sabah, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo in South East Asia. Mt Kinabalu has a height 13,455 feet, or 4,095 metres, and is taller than Mt Cook in New Zealand, Mt Fuji in Japan and just a little shorter than Thunderbolt Peak in California. In fact, Mt Kinabalu is the highest mountain between the Himalayas and the snow-capped peaks of Papua New Guinea. The trail to the highest peak (Low’s Peak) is an 8.5 kilometre (5.25 mile) trek to the top, starting from Timpohon Gate. Day One Day Two Our objective for the first day of the climb was to reach Laban Rata hut, at altitude 10,700 feet (3,250 metres). This climb is about 4.5 miles (7 kilometres) and typically takes 5 hours. For us, it was to take 5.25 hours. The climb is upwards all the way, with very few flat spots – basically thousands of steps, with some man-made wooden steps and the remainder natural rocky steps. There are 7 huts along the route, which offer shelter, toilet facilities and fresh mountain water. At the start, the weather was hot (Borneo is basically on the equator) and dry, however it was to rain for the last 30 minutes before reaching Laban Rata hut. Kinabalu Park has a vast range of flora and fauna so there was plenty to see along the way. Some 100 to 150 people attempt to climb the mountain each day (with some only making it to Laban Rata) so we were constantly passing people, or being passed by other people along the way. We reached Laban Rata at around 2.30 pm, wet and cold. After checking in and getting our room keys (6 bunks to a room - Laban Rata sleeps around 50 people) we could settle in to a hot cup of coffee and cooked lunch. Day Three So, at 2 am we arose from bed, dressed into warm, weatherproof clothing (the outside temperature at Laban Rata was 7 degrees Celsius, 45 degrees F and we were expecting the temperature at the summit to be a little above freezing), and headed for a hot coffee before meeting our guides for the climb. At 3 am we donned our woollen hats, gloves and head lamps (it was pitch black, with no moon) and commenced the climb. The climb starts with hundreds of steep steps up the rock slope, sometimes at a 70 degree angle. The rock face is then scaled by rope for hundreds of metres before reaching the highest hut on the mountain (Sayat Sayat), at 7.2 kilometres and altitude 3,668 metres (12,105 feet). There is a checkpoint at this hut which records everyone ascending and descending, so that no one is lost on the mountain. From Sayat Sayat hut, the climb is all on rock slopes, using ropes for the last 1.5 kilometres to the summit. At this height, altitude sickness can be a real problem and both May and I were feeling a little nauseous, however we were not deterred and continued to the top. Finally we reached the summit at around 6.30 am - 4,095 metres or 13,455 feet! Unfortunately there were clouds on the horizon so we were not able to witness a spectacular sunrise, however, the sheer joy of reaching the summit was good enough for me! The views were truly spectacular and the rock formations were awesome! The climb down was a little hairy! Truly, if I had known how dangerous the climb up in pitch darkness was, I am not sure whether I would have done it! Actually, it was not too bad, but as you can see from the photos below, it was still quite risky. Day Four After lunch we picked our certificates (proving we did, in fact, climb the mountain), departed the park by mini bus and headed back to the city of Kota Kinabalu, 2 hours drive away, where we were due to spend a well-earned luxurious night in the Le Meridien Hotel – superb it was too! The following day we departed Kota Kinabalu by plane back to Johor Bahru and then by taxi back to Singapore – thereby ending an excellent week of physically demanding but hugely rewarding exertion! Acknowledgements Most of all I would like to thank my wife, May, who gave me the support and encouragement to get through both surgeries and to tackle this challenge. Copyright 2007. Bruce Swales  | |||||
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