Mild Seven Outdoor Quest
A Massive Mountain & Cycle Carnage on Stage 4
Lisa de Speville / 01.11.2004
Today presented the most action and excitement of the entire Mild Seven Outdoor Quest event.I had the benefit of hiking up to the start area Laban Rata (3272m) on Mt. Kinabalu, from Timpohon Gate (1866m) yesterday afternoon, the rest day. The competitors had no such luxury. They were bussed into the Mt Kinabalu reserve yesterday afternoon, where they spent the night. Up for a 02h30 breakfast, they started hiking up to the start at around 03h30. They’d been told that they could go as fast or as slow as they wanted, provided that they were at the start my 06h30. Most teams were assembled by 06h15-06h20.
A quick comment on this hike… it is STEEP and it is tough. The step-ups are mostly quite large – way higher than the height of a regular flight of stairs. The trail in most parts is very rocky and there are numerous narrow wooden stairs, which are smooth and slippery from wear. It has also been raining since yesterday so there was mud on the trail and the rocks were slick. This is not an easy hike by any means, even for the fit strong athletes at this event. From Timpohon Gate to Laban Rata the trail ascends 1406m over not more than 6km. There are no flat sections.
From the start, it was another uphill trek to the Low’s Peak summit at 4095.2m. This is a further gain of 823m over 2.5km. Again there are no flat sections, no downs – only ups. This is a very popular tourist route – a pilgrimage to the top of the mountain – and along the route this morning (before sunrise), we passed many pilgrims in not-great condition. A Japanese lady was suffering from AMS – bad headache, nausea and dizziness – only 200m or so above Laban Rata. Another visitor was carried down on the back of a helpful guide… Others, who made it to the top eventually, would walk 5 steps, stop, breathe, walk 5 steps, stop… Interestingly, fatalities on this mountain are not uncommon, even among the fit and fast.
Words just cannot tell you how hectic this hike is, even at a somewhat leisurely ascent rate of 8-10m/min, which I did on Sunday afternoon. The upper section, from Laban Rata, is a breathtaking moonscape of granite. If you’re ever in the area, make a point of coming up here. It really is striking.
Based on the ascent times from a foot race held on this route, we assumed we’d expect the front teams in around 55-minutes. At this race it takes the fastest runner 45-minutes to reach the summit! In all the excitement I actually forgot to check my watch but am fairly certain that the teams were on target.See All Event Posts
