Conquering Kinabalu, THE PEAK

U-S-A.!!! U-S-A!!

2 hours from more World Cup madness, I'm lying here in the dark in KL, Malaysia anxiously awaiting the US-England match...Logan is in the bunk on top of me trying to sleep, hoping to get a couple hours of rest before Team Freedom shocks Team Cornwallis and the world and declares independence (again).

We hoped to watch with some rowdy UKers (KL is filled with them), but since the game is going to be on at about 3am local time, those hopes got squashed. Should be an interesting day, either way --- we're scheduled to go to Melaka (a UNESCO heritage site/city 2 hours south) at around 8am, but with the game, lack of sleep, etc, that might be quite ambitious.

Anyways, picking up where I left off...KINABALU, our own personal Everest.

After the 6km ascent to Laban Rata lodge, we woke up at 2am to prep for the summit ascent. Predictably, Ester (our nearly albino Dutch roommate/travel partner/nemesis) had to wake up earlier because she was leaving before us. She asked me to set my alarm for 1:30am, even though we didn't have to wake up until 2:20 or so. Whatever, no biggie. Of course I will, Ester.

Upon hearing that we wouldn't be leaving until 3am, Ester predictably responded, "Oh. You are leaving at 3? You won't make it to the top for the sunrise, then." Hmmmm. Just another semi-smug statement from Ester we'd get to prove wrong.

Anyways, Ester scurried out to climb a little after 2, right around when me and Logan headed down for breakfast, stocking up on bare essential carbs (breads, fruits, a pancake or two) to get the requisite energy. Nothing special here. After some more stretching and pill popping we're just about ready to go.

The big concern before heading out at 3 in the morning, though, is the supposedly freezing cold. Most people had the standard issue mountain/ski gear (they were rich and well-prepared), with big ass hoodies and pants and longjohns and hats and what have you.

Me and Logan were not as well prepped. He had 4 layers, none of them particularly substantial (a couple shirts, a long sleeve shirt and a windbreaker). I had 4 layers as well (a couple T-shirts, a long sleeve shirt I stole from my 5-foot-2 buddy Yen that didn't cover my belly button, and my trusty American Apparel hoody. And as been well documented, I had shorts).

Probably the coolest piece of apparel we both sported was our gloves --- while everyone else had REI or Northface ski gloves, we just used a pair of white socks as makeshift gloves. We were emptying out our luggage to find any warmth we could, essentially like the bobsledders from Cool Runnings.


Last note on equipment: the night before, I was hanging with a Norwegian couple and this woman Ingrid was talking about bringing one of the lodges blankets to stay warm once we hit the top. The last thing I wanted to do was hit the top and not enjoy it because of the cold, so I impressed this idea on Logan, so we both may have been totally unprepared otherwise, but were smart enough to haul blankets up...this would prove to be a stroke of American genius.

Finally, after all that, at 3am, we (the trio of me, Logan and Azham, our 11-fingered guide extraordinare) were out the door of Laban Rata headed to the top, the last ones to leave. We were moving quickly, so much so that after 5 minutes we were sweating way too much, so me and Logan elected to take off a couple layers and do the climb with just a shirt and sweater, with socks on our hands. Couldn't have been much more California.

The next 2 or so hours were pretty much the same: us moving fairly quickly, running into a group of people and trying to get by them to make good time so we'd make the sunrise. Over this time, depending on how steep the grade was, you would need to hold onto a rope to make your way up. This was somewhat scary at first, not being able to see a thing past your flashlight, convincing yourself easily that a wrong move and you're off the side of the mountain (not the case, but easy to think). I thought to ask Azham if anyone had ever died on the night ascent, but then I figured for how many people had made the climb, surely someone had, so I figured it better to keep my question to myself.

Anyways, we just kept working and working, following a trail of dozens of lights up and out in the distance that we we're trying to catch up to. Lots of stepping and some agony (but mostly just good work) later, we made it. Once we did, we settled in at the top, though, only wearing 2 layers caught up to us, kinda. It was freakin freezing.

Luckily, we had the blankets, so we took our seats and settled in, getting a good 30 or 40 minutes of peak time when most people only took the standard issue picture and got out of dodge back down the mountain. Not that it wasn't still freezing, but we were comfortable enough to endure, which definitely wouldn't have been the case sans blankets.

After hunkering in, we waited for the sun, cracked open a couple victory cigars (two chocolate chip Chewy bars that Logan smuggled in from the states), played some music (Sigur Ros and Logan couldn't resist Here Comes the Sun hahaha) and tried to soak it in (and forget that there was about a 4,000 foot drop about a foot away from us). All and all, it was definitely one of the most satisfying moments I've ever had.

Now I'll just shut up and throw some pictures up from the moments after we made it and going back down, which was fun to do a bit more leisurely and just take as many pictures as I could muster with my buddy Yen's lens. Blessed me. And away we go.

We made it, but it isn't pretty (or warm)
The sunrise in 4 acts



Doing anything I can to stave off frostbite at the top

Ester the Extraordinary

Some dude looking epic (pretty sure he knew I was taking a picture of him, so he posed)

The mountain looking epic

X2

The peak doing its best Groundhog and showing off its shadow

Azham giving the thumbs up and looking casually epic

Us not looking so epic

On the way down

Anyways, that was it in a nutshell. I'll throw some more pictures up, but you get the gist. After the sunrise, we walked down 2.5k to get a second breakfast and our stuff. Then it was an hour nap and then a break neck pace down the last 6k for more exhaustion and sweating. We made it, with a few scratches and a couple rolled ankles. But nothing more the day-to-day injuries. So that's that, mission accomplished. Will throw up more pictures hopefully as I get bored.

Until then, "were team USA...and we're goin all the way."
Love,
Jack