UPDATE - Issue 19 - October 2004
Climbers Conquer Kinabalu
The team is assembled; the hardened veterans of Kilimanjaro, and seven new recruits, already having proved their worth; Andrew Ball with £51,000 worth of funds raised before the trip even began, Professor Jay Smith from Nashville, Tennessee, with tales of hardcore conquests of the Grand Canyon and Julia McKenzie, the foster daughter of a recently treated prostate cancer patient. In addition, Dr Peter Amoroso, anaesthetist and incredible shrinking man is there, expensively kitted out with climbing gear newly purchased from Snow and Rock. Seton Kendrick and two friends of his make up the group of eager mountaineers. Professor John Fitzpatrick has already undertaken the Kinabalu climb one week before, because of time pressure and other commitments. My Dad and I make up the sixteen volunteers.
The climbers celebrate reaching the summit of Mt. Kinabalu
The Looming Challenge
Looking up at the mountain the day before the climb, it is easy to see why the locals hold it in veneration as a resting place of departed spirits and a dragon's home. It is illuminated by an eerie pink glow, and the summit is wreathed in mystery and cloud. Its imposing stature and looming beauty make it look unassailably steep. The challenge that lies before us is a daunting one.
Yet amongst the team, confidence is high. There is none of the extreme nervous tension that pervaded the group before Kilimanjaro. But never underestimate a mountain. The lightly-taken, consensus decision to walk the extra five km to the gate and entrance to Kinabalu national park is now looking increasingly naÏve. The first day is tough, the humidity is high. Sweat pours off us, and we become hot, sticky, flustered and uncomfortable. Lunch brings hearty banter and reminds us of the team spirit that will get us up the mountain. The gradient is becoming exponentially steep, and when the mists set in, expletives are muttered under the breath, and weary listlessness sets in amongst the group. After climbing a vertical mile up the steepest of pathways, beset by fatigue and aching limbs, we arrive at a most welcome sight; the mountain refuge. We are above the cloud line, and a spectacular sight awaits us. The clouds spread outwards below us like billowing bed of cotton wool, and the sun's red haze glows warmly over them. Shattered, we retire to bed, to prepare ourselves for a dawn assault on the summit.
I do not sleep a single wink. The rhythmic epiglottic sounds of the two Rogers (Kirby and Plail) resonate around the room and make slumber impossible. I actually remember every minute of one hellish night, lying wideeyed, restless and awake. I am not alone, judging by the grumbling as the team drags itself from the refuge dormitory at around 2 am, exhausted but psyched for a test of endurance and willpower. Poor Julia's sore throat has worsened during the evening, but bravely she gets kitted up in thermal gear and joins the group, various folk remedies having been administered by Roger Plail to keep her going.
Mt. Kinabalu
The Dawn Assault
Like a pack of hungry wolves we are eager to conquer the summit. It seems a very long way off. The climb is impossibly steep, to the extent that we are forced to pull ourselves up by ropes set along the rock-face, a slab of granite at an absurd angle. It is limbs-training, lung-bursting and completely draining.