The Mountain Beckons Our Respect

This year’s climb had us thinking about the title of this blog. Mt. Kinabalu is the most walkable mountain in the world but it doesn’t mean that it is the most conquerable. Many people have conquered this mountain umpteen times easily or with some concerted effort. For instance, Mr. Jimmy, our climb organizer has climbed 13 times. Mr. Foo Jong Wee has done equivalent. Every time when we go back to this mountain we stand in awe of its magnificent beauty but never giving respect for its treacherous trails.

There were two ugly incidences happened in this year’s climb that awaken us all to pay ‘proper’ respect to Mt. Kinabalu. One such is the death of a climber. The late Mr. Richard Yeo (who was in the first day climb) in his 60s collapse and went unconscious after trekking 1 km from base camp. There were no signs of he being unhealthy during training and right before the climb. People rendered CPR on him but couldn’t revive him. It is learnt that he underwent stenting procedure 1 year ago for a blocked artery. This is the saddest chapter in all our 6 years history of A Piece Of Hope charity climb. This incident has taught us that there is high risk in climbing Mt. Kinabalu and we all should heed the WARNING SIGN that is posted at the Timpohon Gate.

Our deepest condolence to the family members of the late Mr. Richard Yeo.

The second incident that never happened in all our 6 years of A Piece Of Hope charity climb is the cancellation of night climb to the summit due to rain. The 100 climbers on the second day (16 July 2012) climb were sorely disappointed. Rain just didn’t stop pouring which rendered the trail slippery to climb. It was a good call by the guides due to safety reasons but wasn’t good at all for the climbers as their final destination was the summit. It was a tinge better for the first day climbers as 60% of the 100 climbers made it to the summit.

Set aside these ugly incidences, till date we have collected more than RM160,000 for Rumah KIDS the NGO whom we are raising fund for. The soliciting of donations continues until early November when then we cap off APOH 2012 Chapter 6 with a cheque presentation some time during Universal Children’s Day. Shy of RM80,000 still, we have confidence that our target of RM240,000 is reachable if all put in that extra effort to get more friends, colleagues and relatives to donate to Rumah KIDS.