| Chasing Mountains From Kalapathar To Kilimanjaro |
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CHASING MOUNTAIN... Fadzlon Abu Bakar at the summit of Kalapathar, Nepal in September 2004. Pix: Jackson Sawatan
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By Jackson Sawatan
SINGAPORE, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- It took one sight-seeing flight over Mount Everest for Fadzlon Abu Bakar to fall in love with mountains.
From then on, she has set her sights on mountain trekking, a passion she shares with a group of friends. In September 2004, she and four others braved the weather, risked bumping into Maoist rebels and scaled the 5,545m Kalapathar in Nepal.
It was Fadzlon's first mountain experience. This year, three of the Kalapathar team members have regrouped and are now on their way to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in the African continent.
"For me, it started when we first visited Nepal for sight-seeing and took the flight over the Everest. I immediately fell in love with its beauty, it's so breathtaking and peaceful. My first love," she told Bernama recently.
Besides Fadzlon, 38, who is from Kluang, Johor, two others from the Kalapathar team on the Kilimanjaro mission are also Malaysians -- Carol Chin, 37, a business development manager in Kuala Lumpur and Dr Long Han Wee, 63, an eye doctor in Johor Baharu.
An Indian national currently working in Singapore, Sumit Rathor, 30, is also joining them for the Kilimanjaro climb. They are scheduled to begin trekking to the mountain tomorrow and are expected to reach the summit by sunrise on Saturday.
Fadzlon said the first day of the trekking trip would take six hours to reach the first stop. This will be followed by five hours of trekking on Tuesday, four hours on Wednesday and three hours each for the next two days.
"Kilimanjaro at 5,895m is obviously higher than Kalapathar. It is doable for people who have never climbed a mountain before. The success rate is 90 per cent," said Fadzlon, a sales manager at The Four Seasons Hotel here.
Her friend, Chin, said: "Yes it is still tough going but nothing that cannot be conquered by sheer determination".
The team agreed that mountain climbing is all about hardship endurance, mental strength as well as teamwork.
To prepare for the gruelling mission to Kilimanjaro, she trained consistently in the gymnasium and worked with a personal trainer. She also does hiking and running at the Bukit Timah nature trail every Sunday morning.
"Other team members do their own training in Kuala Lumpur such as climbing at Batu Caves, hiking and so on. I plan to take up a mountaineering course in New Zealand to enhance my skills in mountaineering, alpine and ice climbing sometime next year," she said.
If she makes it to the summit of Kilimanjaro, she would have conquered one of the seven mountains she has set her sights on.
"I do have a goal...to lead the first Malaysian women's team to the highest peaks of the seven continents.
"Members will vary for each expedition to the seven highest peaks, giving a wider opportunity to Malaysian women from diverse backgrounds and age groups to be part of the team and also a better opportunity to place someone at the top," she said.
Besides Kilimanjaro in Africa, the highest peaks in six other continents are Mt Aconcagua (6,962m) in Argentina, South America; Mt McKinley (6,195m) in Alaska, North America; Mt Elbrus (5,633m) in Russia, Europe; Mt Vinson Massif (4,897m) in Ellsworth Range, Antarctica; Mt Everest (8,848m) in Nepal/Tibet in Asia and Mt Carstenza Pyramid (4,884m) in Australia.
-- BERNAMA
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