Five Boholanos set foot last April 13 on the summit of Mt. Kinabalu, the highest peak in Southeast Asia located in the lush island of Sabah, Malaysia.

COURAGEOUS PACK. The group that did last April 13 the often-discouraged and risky one-day ascent to the peak of Mt. Kinabalu, Southeast Asia's highest, located in Sabah, Malaysia; (l-r) Annalyn and Alain Flores, lawyer Nerio 'Butchie' Zamora II, Lyne and Allen Nitollama.

Climbing buddies, Atty. Nerio "Butchie" Zamora II, spouses Allen and Lyne Butalid-Nitollama and Alain and Annalyn "Aj" Jagunos-Flores attempted the seldom allowed fast one-day ascent to the peak of Mt. Kinabalu from Timpohon gate located at the base of the mountain.

There were 146 climbers of foreign nationality who registered and made reservations for the two to three days climb in October last year. The group composed only of Filipinos was forced to register the one-day climb as early as October of 2005.

The group, composed only of Filipinos was forced to register the one-day climb because they had no reservation.

At the park ranger's office during the pre-climb briefing, park warden Abdul Wahab Siman prohibited the mountain guides, a compulsory requirement of the park, to allow the Filipino climbers to ascend the peak if they can not reach Laban Rata before noontime since the steep and bare rock face to the summit is prone to fast winds, rapid drop in temperature reaching 2 degrees Celsius and zero visibility due to heavy fog.

With the hesitant approval of Siman, the group started the ascent at 7:30 in the morning in accordance with park rules and reached the last mountain base, Laban Rata (3,272 meters above sea level) at 11:30 a.m.

On the way up, climbers of different nationality, mostly Japanese and Europeans were surprised to hear that the group would do a one-day ascent and wished the Boholanos good luck.

Upon reaching Laban Rata, the temperature had dropped to 10 degrees while the group prepared their gears for the climb.

The trek to the summit was a blistering two and one-half hours of steep uphill struggle with the aid of heavy-duty ropes through raw wind, heavy fog and bare rock.

Midway to the crest, the fog settled fast dampening the group's hope to get a clear glimpse of the view from the highest point on top of Low's peak.

For about an hour after reaching the peak at 2 p.m., the sky became clear, to the delight of the Boholano mountaineers who were awed by the alien landscape, with the teeth and fangs, gulley precipice, gorge, peak, cliff, plateau, projectile points, you name it, the mountain has it.

On their up, they did not even bother to stop for lunch while suffering from altitude sickness,
At 3 p.m. the group returned to the Laban Rata base for a quick lunch and a hasty descent to beat the creeping darkness.

However, heavy rains delayed the group about two hours into their descent. With emergency ponchos and headlamps ready, the Boholanos continued through the dark, slippery, cold and wet trek and reached Timpohon gate safely at 8:15 in the evening.

The day before the climb, the group also visited and enjoyed the heights of the canopy (146 m) walk overlooking the surrounding rainforests and waterfalls at Poring Hot Springs.

Mt. Kinabalu is under the charge of the Sabah Parks authority, a government-run facility and the zealous guardian of the well-kept Mt. Kinabalu, the first world Heritage site in Malaysia.
Mt. Kinabalu is 3,124 ft. higher than Mt. Apo, Philippines' highest.

Mt. Kinabalu is the main attraction of the Kinabalu park that covers a remarkable 754 sq.m. of dense rainforest. It is home to early plant and animal species like the rare Paphiopedilum, the slipper orchid among the 200 species, the Rafflessia, the worlds largest bloom, varied species of pitcher plants with the Nepenthes rajah, the largest pitcher plant in the world, the orangutans and exotic squirrels among others.

With the excellent enforcement of park rules and the dutiful observance of park visitors and indigenous communities surrounding the Kinabalu park, the Boholano mountaineers who have been to many mountains in the country could only hope that one day, Philippine mountains and parks like Mt. Apo, will receive the same kind of preferred treatment and dogged safeguarding by all sectors in the country in the hope of promoting our endangered wildlife sanctuaries.