It's turning out to be a devastating year for mountaineering. After the deadly quake in Nepal that killed thousands of people and scores of mountain climbers, Sabah was shaken by a magnitude 6 tremor, which caused massive rockfalls and landslides in Mt. Kinabalu, killing at least 19 hikers, including several children from Singapore. Hundreds of people were trapped near the summit as the trail down got swept away.
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| Stranded climbers, awaiting rescue (photo from Zuma Press) |
The photos from the net are horrifying. I couldn't stand to look at photos, the bodies of the climbers at the via ferrata, hanging from their harnesses after being hit by rocks and other debris.
It never occurred to me that it could happen in that mountain. Last year I was blissfully unaware of the possibility that the earth could move and displace boulders the size of cars and hurl it towards us. When I first heard of the news, and the stranded hikers, I thought to myself, why couldn't they just help each other and walk down carefully? It couldn't have been that bad. I was wrong, of course.
It made me think what would we have done if that happened last year, when we were on top of the mountain. Were we prepared for that type of emergency?
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| Near the summit, May 2014 |
We are always at the mercy of the mountain. When we go up there, we can only hope that the mountain will favor us and return us safe; probably with the summit reached. This is why a mountain can never be conquered by a puny human. The mountain will always win. (This is not to say a mountain is some sentient and malevolent entity. In fact, it doesn't care. It couldn't because it can't; much like the sun, planets and the galaxies don't care about us.)
What we can do is always be prepared. Our most vulnerable time is when we push for the summit with only our "assault pack", because we tend to leave out a lot of basic necessities like shelter and cooking gear so that we can travel light. So to better "arm" ourselves, our assault packs should be light, compact, but comprehensive. Kerwin made this poster two years ago to illustrate what are the items we shouldn't leave without when venturing away from the campsite.
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| UPM's Assault Pack Checklist (designed by Kerwin Nicolas) |
Lastly, I want to salute the brave guides and porters of Mt. Kinabalu, who were the first to assist the injured and stranded hikers. One account I read online said that the guides took charge when it was apparent that help won't be coming to them soon. It is they who carried the injured and led the stranded hikers along the dangerous and damaged trail back to Laban Rata.
This goes to show that guides and porters should not be overlooked. As part of any climbing team, they should be treated with dignity and not as paid help or second-class citizen. Who knows, they could be the one who will save your life some day.
Our thoughts and prayers to the families who lost their loved ones in Gunung Kinabalu.
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