Apek Hill - Trip Report

Everyone looking good and Smart !!

Amazing, everyone turned up early at our meeting point - Petronas Station. On the dot at 8:30am, we left petronas station heading towards the Trail head at Cheras Awana.




Group Photo at the Summit !
Henry, Ming, Peter, Lim, Grace, Sow Keng, Goh (Standing)
Wei Hang, Edwin and Justin 

 



Yiyo !! this is not like gasing !!





As for the trip, it turned out that it was much tougher than Gasing Hill... And I rated both at 1 star... Apek aka Bukit Putih aka Bukit Segar aka Bukit Saga.. is actually slightly tougher than Gasing.. If it is not too confusing, i would have rated it at 1.35 star, if gasing is one star difficulty.

By looking at the elevation profile alone, it is an almost one way up,

We set a target of summitting in 50 min, .. and everyone managed to summit within 54 min.. Still a very good achievement, considering it is the first serious climb for most of us..It is a total of about 330meter evelvation gain and a total distance of 5.2KM (up and down).



On the way down.. everything is easier



The climb to Apek hill give us an idea what it would be like to hit the slope continuously. In Mt K, the slopes are about the same or slighly gentler gradient, only longer in distance. This is compensated by beautiful view and proper rest stops.

There is even a small section in Apek Hill where we have to use ropes to haul ourselves up. This is quite similar to the challanges you will encounter on the 2nd day our our climb, where there will be some rope sections.

If you go to Apek Hill for training every weekend, and you join one or two of the longer climb such as Gunung Angsi or Gunung Nuang, you will be very well prepared for the Mt K challenge.

As for buying gear, especially outdoor clothing, rain jacket, etc.. I would suggest the following places to shop

Park your car in Bangsar Village 2 shopping centre. Within walking distance there are three outdoor equipment shops:-

(1) World of Sports in Bangsar Village Shopping Complex
Salomon and Columbia brand of ourdoor cloths

(2) Lafuma Shop, in one of those shoplots
Lafuma brand and some other really serious outdoor hardware - excellent sales staff and can bargain somemore

(3) One more outdoor shop, along the same row as MacDonald.. can't remember the name..
This one carries slightly more common outdoor products (cheaper as well)

As for me, I have been using a trusted windbreaker for all my previous trips to Mt K. It is quite thin, light, and made of synthetic material, does not get wet and can double up as a raincoat. Another good thing about my jacket is it can be folded up into  small package and therefore does not take plenty of luggage space.
Purchased in US for about USD 80.


My trusted jacket.. been to many places with it, even below freezing !
Notice The most scenic Kinabalu South Peak in background .. same same as RM 1



2009 Team All nicely geared up..

 Notice I use a headcover, and normal trek pants.. what ever clothing you buy, ensure that it does not get heavy and difficult to dry if it gets wet. Material made from cotton such as jeans, etc should be avoided.


Finally.... Wishing everyone Happy Chinese New Year..