Comments on: Climbing Mount Kinabalu in ONE DAY???

By: Craig Smith

Craig Smith — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:34:10 +0000

Yes. My partner and I completed the climb on the 03/04/12 in one day. We had to have a meeting with the head park ranger, who will ask you why you want to climb it in one day instead of two. He gave us the permission to climb the next day without any problems.
We turned up early the next morning (7am when the permit office opens, WARNING, don’t pay for anything until the day of your climb, if they call the climbs off you will have a long process of getting your money back, months!) and started climbing at 7.30am (Every minute counts on this climb, so be early).

Its 6km to Labuan Rita, (the last 1km is a killer) and we got there at 10.45am, 15 minutes late. You need a rest at this point what every time it is, unless you are a super athlete. There are free filling stations at every km and free water at Labuan Rita on the food counter in barrels if you look.

We set off again at 10.45am (no rest for the wicked), only having till 13.00pm to reach as far as possible. We did reach the top but we were late. It was 13.45pm, we would have never made it down by 16.30pm which we had agreed (only because we had a great guide called Freddie who agreed to take us to the top, even if he was going to get into trouble) please note that coming down is just as challenging as going up and we had to work really hard, with no stops.
Our finish time 18.30pm, someone had to wait for us at the bottom gate and we ached for days after. We consider ourselves as medium fitness level (at home we go to the gym twice a week, but we are travelling and have been for 3 month so maybe lacking a little) and are in our twenties.

Prices for the one day climb 04/12

Permits to climb – Non Malay – 100 rm (£20) per person
Insurance – 7 rm (£1.20)
Guide (Mandatory) 128 rm (£26) for the whole group (Warning, can share guides with others, just remember that if someone is flagging, the guide will wait for the slowest person and every minute does count)
Bus to Start Point – 13 rm (£2.50) per person

Thing you might need

Only one water bottle (don’t carry too much, water stations at every km)
Some high energy food (something you can eat quick, so expensive at Labuan Rita)
Rain mac or poncho
Good walking shoes or trainers, don’t need some expensive pair (those rocks hurt on the way down)
Jumper (its warm for the first 4km)
Gloves (helped when using the ropes near the top)
Hat (the sweat gets cold at the top, gives you headache the next day)
Camera (views usually cloudy at the top after 10am, so won’t get a full view unless very lucky, but still got some great pictures and memories)
Good luck to anyone who is thinking about the 1 day climb, it is a challenge, but it makes it a lot more rewarding when you make it. Just be confident in your abilities and

By: Dr Gary Lock

Dr Gary Lock — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:47:03 +0000

It sounds as though there are possibly quite a few rule changes going on with the park staff for the 1 day climb (originally 5hrs to Laban Rata – new time limit of 3hrs).

I booked in and did the climb yesterday. I did all the paperwork and booked in the day before. I wasn’t allowed to book in at the office before 7am on the day, which means not able to get to the start gate before 8am (by time you have paid and got their arranged transport to the start from Park HQ).

They set a time limit of before 11am at the Laban Rata and before 1pm at the top, which is 2hrs less that quoted in your article – quite a big difference!!!

I set off at a pretty good pace and got to Laban Rata by 11:10am, so just over 3hrs. The guide would not allow me to continue any further.

Beware these time limits are very tight, and unless you are a fell runner you will be racing the clock all the way, and will NOT have any time for a break nor lunch until you reach the peak.

Given how tight the time limits now are, I’m not sure either they just don’t want anyone to do the 1 day pass (they are limited to only 4 a day), or whether it is an intentional scam where if you offer the guide an additional 150RM they’ll allow you to continue to the top??

Anyway I headed down at a pretty good rate from Laban Rata in 2hr45 (the rocks were very slippery), so 3hr10 for the ascent must be pretty reasonable.

I was back at the accommodation and had a hot shower and drinking a cold beer by 3pm, so it really as only allowed half a day on the mountain – bloody crazy!!!

Just to be aware you will sweat in the region of 2 to 3 litres of water in the humidity on the ascent to Laban Rata, so take at least 1 spare base layer T-shirt with you to change. Also make sure you take enough water with you. At Laban Rata they were charging 10RM for 500ml, yep 20RM (=£4) for 1 litre. I was told no other options for drinking water were available.

Before you book just be aware!!! Negotiate to set off at an earlier time, or try and negotiate more reasonable time limits!!!

Also take water purification tablets with you … don’t pay £4 (GBP) per litre water.

By: Connie

Connie — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:24:33 +0000

A hiking buddy and I did a one day Climb in April this year. Wonderful achievement and experience! Certainly doable but gotta get there early. We spoke to the Parker officer Ranisun (tel: 014 856 6061) and had a “phone interview” about our fitness etc with him. Must get the permission from him for a one day climb as it is not hugely encouraged. It also took a bit of persuasion to get the permission from him. As long as you it cleared the day before the walk, you will save much time do this in the morning of your walk. Get to the office at 6:45am (it opens at 7am) to ensure you can start early enough for the walk. Remember to bring your walking stick as I found it extremely helpful on the slippery parts as well as coming down the big steps.

By: Alasdair Brown

Alasdair Brown — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 10:01:08 +0000

I managed the climb in one day last week, its tough but definately achievable! Need to check in early (7 am) and get going ASAP. Managed to get up to Laban Rata in 2:15 hrs and summit about 4:35. Last stage of mountain is tough really steep and altitude kicks in so every exertion is multiplied X10 ( prob didn’t help i didn’t have any breakfast, helps to be prepared the day be4!) The view from the summit was very poor, the clouds were heavy. Met other climbers who did the overnight package and had been up for sunrise and said it was spectacular.Comin down was almost the hardest, had crap shoes so kept slipping and my energy levels were really low so was hard to focus on my footing. Grabbed some food in Laban Rata anyway and that made a big difference, the rest of the trip down was really enjoyable and included stops to see pitcher plants and the waterfall. Got back to park headquarters around 5, and got a taxi straight back to KK.

All in all a great experience. If you have the time (and money) i would say do the overnight experience on Laban Rata as you can saviour it a bit more. I just didn’t want to pay for the Monopoly that is SSL and their accomodation, but no alternative if you want to be able to get up for sunrise view from summit! In relation to flying that day i would say
its fine especially if your doing the 2 day package as you’ll be back down in park HQ by lunchtime so will have time to rest.

By: jaslyn

jaslyn — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 05:38:32 +0000

My friends are on our way to a 3D/2N climb to Mt K in April. We are departing on a 8pm flight back to to KL on the same day of our descend. However, a friend strongly advised that we should not take a flight on the same day for it may have adverse effect on our health. Is this true?
Thank you.