Trail up to Laban Rata ready

KOTA KINABALU: The trail up to Laban Rata on Mount Kinabalu has been repaired.

Sabah Parks is now deciding on three possible alternative routes to the mountain’s summit.

The three routes are more challenging than the original trail between Laban Rata and the summit that was blocked by boulders and rocks during the June 5 earthquake, said Sabah Parks chairman Datuk Tengku Adlin Tengku Mahamood.

Laban Rata, at an altitude of 3,272m, is where the rest house is located. Climbers usually stop there overnight before they ascend to Low’s Peak at 4,095.2m.

“We are making sure these alternative trails are away from falling rocks,” he said yesterday.

Tengku Adlin said the alternative trails were steeper than the original one, but he was confident that most climbers would be able to manage them.

He said the trails would require the use of ropes along the steeper sections.

He added that there was a boulder about the size of a house just near Laban Rata, and Sabah Parks was using an “arresting system” to secure it as the mountain continued to experience aftershocks.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Datuk Masidi Manjun had said that they were hoping to reopen Mount Kinabalu to climbers by September.

He added that restoration works on the climbing trails near the summit were being carried out with the aid of mountaineering experts.

However, the number of climbers would be limited to fewer than 100 per climb compared to 192 previously for safety reasons.

Four mountain guides were among the 18 people killed in avalanches following the June 5 earthquake.

Source: The Star