Bukit Tabur is a favorite spot for training, especially for those climbers preparing to go Gunung Kinabalu due to its proximity to Kuala Lumpur city.
We did our training before we went up to Gunung Kinabalu in 2008, for adults
and children alike.
Last Sunday, we had the chance to meet a group of 30 trekkers
who will be going to Gunung Kinabalu this coming mid year trained in Bukit Tabur.
Our personal friend, Derrick Wong, who was training to compete in his Gunung Kinabalu's climbathon 2008 trained intensively in Bukit Tabur.
He used to start his journey from the Klang Gate Dam, climbing up Bukit Tabur East, going down the orchard.
He usually did at least 3 complete rounds from Klang gate dam to orchard in his training sessions to gather his stamina & endurance before the competition in Gunung Kinabalu.
Nonetheless, to be able to do that, one must have the knowledge on the terrain and the nature of the tracks in that mountain.
This is because the terrain and the nature of tracks in Bukit Tabur is very different from many other jungle tracks in other parts of Malaysia.
Different tracks has their own danger spots, the earth in one part of Gunung Angsi in Ulu Bendul Kuala Pilah, is so sandy that going up or down is very risky.
Almost near to the peak to Gunung Dato' in Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, the slippery big boulder is such a challenge to sight, looking at it can cause you to chicken out, especially if you have fear of height.
So is the steepness of Bukit Kutu, and few different mountains in Fraser's Hill.
while others in Gunung ledang or any mountains in Titiwangsa range etc.......... all of them has different challenges on terrains, slopes and steepness, types of earth etc... etc...
Bukit Tabur is totally different from the rest as it is made up of quartz and limestones, the rocks are quite sharp in edges and both sides are vertical cliffs.
some parts of the rock can be chip off very easily,
even stepping on it is very risky.
In our effort to put up the enhanced rope at the " First Rope " location, which there is a steep cliff when you come down.
Truth is you can't see at all what is underneath that big piece of rock the trekker steps on before he comes down.
which most accidents could happened if there is a slip somewhere.
Our rock climbing expert Lau is of strong opinion that some parts of the rock, even though it looks solid, it is in fact hollow inside, a tap will produce hollow sound from within.
Lau had refused to put any iron pegs to hold the enhanced rope at the " First Rope " location, to hold the main rope.
His advice was that it will be more dangerous as trekkers may have the false perception that they can rely on the iron hook to carry their weight down.
We would like any leaders to bring their friends there to be aware of dangers here that pose as trekking risk.
The leader must know the terrain well, first familiarise themselves before bringing others there.
Which safe way to go up, which safe way to come down, no one can take things for granted, especially safety.
There are quite a number of first timer go to Bukit Tabur, brought by their friends who is a second timer. Looking at the way they trek, we can get heart attacks sometimes.
Erosion is another phenomena that needs to look out for.
In this picture, Eric used his walking stick to point at the erosion.
Regularly going there, we have at many times notice pieces of big rock was intact when we passed through them, but after a week or two, the rocks dislocated and rolled downhill, may be caused by erosion or due to trekkers stepping on it too much.
The is the big rock rolled downhill caused by erosion which Eric pointed with his walking stick.
The Big rock dislocated from the erosion that I circle in yellow box.
From newpaper reporting, the friends of the two specialist who fell had said that they might have gone there to recky the terrain.
Lay man like us will interpret that they might be an oversight on the danger of the terrain.
more so, it was raining incessantly the past few weeks.
The rock was slippery for either climbing up or climbing down.
As a respect for the fall victims, we will never speculate what actually happened.
But for those who intends to go there,
oversight and over confidence on safety is something that you have to tackle with.
Accidents can happened in any spots/location.
Just like the surgery specialist perform on the patient in operating theatre, different approaches may be needed to perform on each individual, as each individual is unique , though the name of the disease may be the same.
Likewise, irregardless of how many times you have gone to the same mountain or different mountains, different approaches will be needed in climbing because challenges comes in different terrains and uniqueness in its track.
Strictly, Nothing Can Be Taken Granted For.
As always, you can have fun, but please be careful, think about your loved ones who is waiting for you to come back home safely, just as they send you off to trek and climb mountain safely.
Accidents Can Happen To Anyone, Please Be Careful At All Times.
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