My Mt K trip reflections

Mt Kinabalu 2008 [4- 10 June 2008]

Pre – Trip training :

A total of 12 training sessions with our main school group joining us only at the 5th training because the namelist of the main group was only confirmed then. BB boys and the school group formed 2 distinctive groups and never seem to gel completely. With the separate programs by different vendors, it further aggravates the situation. Attendance of the students was not satisfactory as well due to the many reasons like : CCA training, going abroad, AQ etc. As i’m the only one overseeing the whole training sessions, I have my own limitations to give them more training or make up sessions.

Greatest takeaway from the trip itself :

My brother, Chee Meng, was so motivated by Mr Deepak that he aspired to run the Mt K and EBC trip next year, with Deepak leading of course. Quite amused by his extrinsic motivation though.. haha. But still a good motivation. He wants to see Orang Utan next year.

Got to know Zhou Yu, Mr Shen and Jeremy better.

The boys has a great model to learn from : The unassuming, caring and helpful Deepak

Sharing from the teachers :

Zhou Yu’s unforgettable experience : We celebrated her birthday wrongly.


Shen : His desire to give his son a Mt K certificate as his birthday present serves as a motivating force for him. He remembered Jeremy’s sharing : “to enjoy the trek” helped him a lot during his trek..

Jeremy : He got to appreciate the serenity of the mountain and see the beautiful sight of Mt K from Pendant Hut.

Chee Meng : Can switch to commando mindset once rain starts during his descent. He can ignore the existing knee pain and came down quickly.

This proves the power of mindset.




Sharing from the students :

They were given a topic : “It is not the mountain that we conquer but ourselves”. They shared about the things they overcame : the cold, the fatigue, the darkness, their anger and grumpyness [due to the slow ascent to the summit], the mismatch of expectation and even to tolerate a full bladder. They were brought to the awareness of change of mindset to cope with various situations.

Casualty report :

Mitchelle : slumped at my bedside at Pendant Hut during mid-night, and later fainted. This really gave me a fright. She got very irregular pulse rate. I was glad to have Deepak around. He handled the case well. He monitored her pulse rate, gave her milo to restore her energy, opened all windows to increase ventilation, and later sugar and salt water to regain her senses. Her case : Very weak body and low blood pressure. It worsened at high altitude.

Atiqah : High fever, 38.9 degree. Maybe induced by the sudden hot and cold after rafting. But fever subsides after resting, and drink lots of water.

Joshua : Tight chest and irregular heart beat as well during summit climb. Hard in breathing.

My frustration :

Students did not follow instructions during the summit climb. Told them not to bring bag pack if they cannot cope, but they still bring. In the end, Deepak has to bring the 2 or 3 bags up for them. Mental strength of the students were very weak, especially my BB boys. They stopped after every 5 steps at the initial summit climb and jammed up the other climbing groups. Have to keep pushing them.

My pleasant surprise :

Down sleeping bag at Pendant Hut : The students were kept warm before the summit climb. The whole program arranged by Divine International was very good. This included the meals, accommodation, after climb program etc.. Wow.

My recommendation for next year :

Pre-trip training : Need more than 1 teacher to train the students. Need to give them more sessions. The number of sessions were not adequate. All teachers going for the Mt K trip must try to attend both weekday and weekend training sessions so that they will be better prepared for the climb.

There should be no more separate vendors for the Mt K group. It doesn’t encourage the mixing of the students and teachers need to be spread thinly.

Selection criteria for Mt K participants : I support the criteria of NAPFA gold. Both the mental and physical strength of the boys are not good this time. Sec 1 boys need to be hand held all the time. Not advisable for them to go.

Equipment check : I had compromised on their water resistant clothing and low grip shoes. Should not compromise next time. Many kept slipping and a lot of them drenched. Luckily this time they got caught by the rain during the descent and not during the summit.

Budget : Must include budget of buying mineral water for the climb and walking sticks for the climb. Maybe some money set aside for miscellaneous cost?

The trip :

Reflection session : Break into smaller groups with teachers to facilitate the points so that it won’t take too long and every student is engaged. The teachers have to have rapport with students prior to the trip so that the students feel safe to share. The teachers need to be briefed on the common pointers for reflection as well. So far only 2 sessions were conducted during the trip and it may not be too effective.

Communication with the local guides : Clear guidelines and instructions should be given to the local guides. We hardly see them throughout the trip. They are not too helpful too. Didn’t see them help much during the summit climb as well. Maybe should divide our students into smaller groups and get the guide to manage smaller groups to ensure better attention.

Start the summit climb at least one hour early to avoid jam with other climbing group. This is also to ensure we can reach Sayat Sayat on time to do the Ferrata. as the cut off time is 8am.

Must advise the students to be hands-free for the summit climb. Should make sure they have 2 0.5 litre of water bottle in their pockets and lots of snacks.

White water rafting :

At Kiulu River : grade 1-2. Water level is low. But the company : River Bug is creative enough to make it fun for the kids. The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We played kidnap game, water war and body raft of course.

Shopping : At Center point and Warisan Point. Nothing new for me since I’m not too inclined towards shopping. But I learnt how to identify a “bad” birthday cake. The fresh cream on the cake must look fresh.

Wild life Zoo : Not fantastic. Only like the Probocis Monkey.

Seafood dinner and cultural show : Yummy and should continue.

Overall the trip was good and we had a great time.