Tengku Hassanal Scales Mt Kinabalu 

KUNDASANG, May 13 (Bernama) -- Tengku Mahkota of Pahang Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and his entourage ‘conquered’ the summit of Mount Kinabalu at 8.45 am today.

Assistant Park Manager of the Rescue and Crisis Unit, Operations and Enforcement Division of Sabah Parks, Julaimin Kamin said Tengku Hassanal and his entourage began the ascent at 3.07 am after arriving at Panalaban at 3.45 pm yesterday.

“His Royal Highness arrived at the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint at 5.05 am before continuing the climb at Kilometre 8.5 at 6.37 am and reaching the summit of Kinabalu together with the entourage at 8.45 am,” he told Bernama.

Julaimin said weather conditions during the climb were very good, with temperatures at about 9.0 degrees Celsius, and the ascent proceeded safely and smoothly.

He said Tengku Hassanal and the entourage spent almost an hour at the summit of Kinabalu before descending back to Panalaban at 9.30 am.

Yesterday, Tengku Hassanal led an expedition to scale Mount Kinabalu in conjunction with the three-day Mahkota Borneo Expedition, which concluded today.

The climb began from Timpohon Gate at 8.05 am yesterday before His Royal Highness and the entourage arrived at the accommodation area in Panalaban at 3.45 pm.

Along the climbing route, there are seven rest huts for climbers, namely Kandis Hut, Ubah Hut, Lowii Hut, Mempening Hut, Layang-Layang Hut, Paka Hut and Waras Hut.

Mount Kinabalu, which stands at 4,095.2 metres above sea level, is the highest mountain in Malaysia and is located within the 754-square-kilometre Kinabalu Park area.

Kinabalu Park, gazetted in 1964, serves as a biodiversity conservation area and is the country’s first United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.

Today, Kinabalu Park has also been recognised as a core area within the Kinabalu UNESCO Global Geopark (KUGGp), covering an area of 4,750 square kilometres encompassing Kota Belud, Kota Marudu and parts of Ranau.

-- BERNAMA