CNY trip to Mount Kinabalu anyone?

[mymarikit]

i want to join as well but i already made plans for the chinese new year. maybe some other holidays. i do want to try that.

[ricmis]

Hi all,

I posted a message on the 'Events, Gatherings, Making Friends' board last week asking if anyone was interested in going to East Java for the upcoming Chinese New Year break. Little did I know, end Jan is still peak monsoon there and I'd probably get buried in a land slide if I go.

So instead of climbing Semeru, wondering if anyone is interested in climbing the more popular Kinabalu? Dates would be 24-27 Jan, or even the whole week.

Reply back or PM me.

Hi there
Have been looking to do something for the CNY holidays (maybe a trip to Vietnam/Angkor Wat), but Mt Kinabalu sounds great. have done a fair bit of mountain climbing (ladakh etc) although nothing too technical. Please do keep me in the loop if you guys plan anything. I don't think I'm allowed to PM yet.

am 32/F/indian, and been in singapore for a little over 3 months

[antoniele]

Been wanting to climb Mt Kinabalu for quite some time now... actually included that in my "Things to do in 2009" list LOL.

I'm still unsure of my CNY plans as there's a chance I might get sent to the Philippines for work and extending through CNY but if not this is a great alternative (don't want to be stuck in Singapore again for another long weekend).

Are there firm plans already? 24/F. Have climbed before BUT not in day, 5 years.

antoniele@yahoo.com

[irvine]

Hey y'all who are going to Mt.K.. It's beautiful. Am just sharing my experience there in 2000...

I was 21 yrs-old, reasonably fit, did not train (only relied on my regular games of squash as form of exercise training haha!), and did not hike with proper hiking shoes.

Despite burning thigh muscles during and after the hiking journey, almost out of breath at the peak due to thin air, and having to 'hire' a porter to carry my hiking bag, I had a BLAST. It was well worth it. The first day, we saw such variety of changing floras as we ascend. Being a nature lover, it was great. We spend the afternoon/evening in the hut camp, it was cold, some of my friends couldn't sleep at night. The 2nd day hiking starts at 2am, or earlier. I tell ya, the stars on the skies were like a blinking blanket.. and when we reached the peak at before 6am, the sunrise was to die for!

Ok, you must go to see for yourself. I don't have the words for it.

Some prep tips:
1. Wear good hiking shoes, or if you don't have one, be sure to wear shoes that has good grip.
2. Do layering for clothings for the mountains. A light waterproof jacket and long sleeve sweatshirts would be good.
3. Bring a wooly hat for sleeping in the mountains in the evening.
4. Walking stick - it'd be good to bring one. Some people use ski poles. I picked up a walking stick on the trail.
5. Snack bars to munch along the way. And water too of course.

After the climb, a trip to the Poring hotsprings would be a good reward!