After six years, mountain races are back in Sabah

Mount Trusmadi poses a formidable challenge to Mount Kinabalu

Sabah is launching the Mount Trusmadi International Climbathon on May 25 as mountain races make a comeback after a six-year hiatus. It is Malaysia’s second tallest mountain after Mount Kinabalu (4,095m) that sits deep in the jungle of the interior of the north Borneo island state. It stands at 2,642m, about two-thirds the height of Mount Kinabalu whose climbathon was scrapped in 2018 after a 30-year run. The Trusmadi race is said to be even tougher than Kinabalu’s which is reputed to be the world’s toughest mountain race. And the Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon is making a comeback this year. No date has been fixed but it is expected in October as it had been in the past.

State tourism officials said the Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon had served its purpose of attracting tourists when they axed it six years ago. About 60,000 tourists climb the mountain every year. It takes about three days to climb Mount Kinabalu but runners can race to the summit and back to base in less than three hours. Covid-19 has crippled the state’s tourism industry so much so that the Sabah Tourism Board is trying to rekindle tourist interest in Sabah since it reopened its borders in late 2022. This includes relaunching the Mount Kinabalu race, introducing new tourism products such as the Trusmadi climbathon, an international golf tournament and Miss Word Malaysia beauty pageant. The tourism ministry is also trying to establish direct air-links between Sabah cities and Chinese and South Korean cities and to tap European tourist markets.

Since 2009, the Sabah Tourism Board has been promoting Mount Trusmadi to hikers in search of adventures that put their physical and mental strength to the ultimate test. This is despite that the forestry department has made access to the peak a lot easier by building a road to within 5km of it. Still the terrain can be treacherous. The trail is narrow and muddy and is reputed to be the dirtiest. Legends say that Mount Trusmadi was known as terus mati which means “sure to die” in Malay which testifies to how dangerous the mountain is. Climbers must use ropes to scale vertical slopes to reach the peak. And there are many “steep drops”. But the official version is that the mountain  is named after Samadi, a local man who was the first to climb the mountain in the early 20^th century. Along the way to the peak, climbers can see many pitcher plants, with one nephentes trusmadiensis being endemic to the mountain named after it. Of course it looks like a jug which captures insects for its food when they drown in its nectar. Climbathon participants may catch glimpses of the Rafflesia, the world’s biggest flower, the Rajah Brooke, the world’s largest butterfly, and leopards. Tourism officials expect Trusmadi to attract 500 runners compared to the 116 from 18 countries who took part in the last Mount Kinabalu race in 2017. There are two categories: 30km for foreign runners and 21km for the locals.

The safety of runners is a major concern as more climbers have suffered breathing difficulties in what is known as altitude mountain sickness (AMS). People have died and have been injured while climbing Mount Kinabalu. Seventy-three climbers had been afflicted by AMS in the first four months of last year compared with 77 for the whole of 2022. The Mount Kinabalu climbathon began in 1987 as a quest to set up a rapid rescue squad of mountain rangers who could quickly bring injured climbers down the mountain, particularly when rescue helicopters were hampered by poor visibility during bad weather. It quickly became international becoming a member of the World Mountain Running Association in 1997 and held the 15^th World Running Trophy in 1999. In 2003 it joined the International Skyrunning Federation and the mountain race became part of its world series.

Sabah Parks which manages the mountains want climbers to undergo health screening to ensure they are fit to take part in the climbathons and have adequate personal health and accident insurance for mountain climbing. The entry fee of the Trusmadi climbathon includes insurance coverage for climbers. But it is understood that it is only a basic personal accident policy that does not cover sickness. Those who have heart and respiratory diseases and diabetes, and pregnant women are banned from the mountain races.