Dhahran British Grammar School Expedition 2006

20 March – the Pinnacles

The girls were much relieved to hear that there wouldn’t be leaches on today’s climb – they don’t like limestone apparently.  It was humid this morning, but the sky was clear and it looked like we might get a day without rain. Despite encouragement, some of the students still are not eating properly, some because they are faddy, others because they are hoping to lose weight on the trip. 

Although the climb starts off gently enough through the rainforest, things soon get steep.  The average gradient on the bottom two thirds of the climb is 45°.  Near the top of the pinnacles the gradient is an astounding 60° and aluminium ladders and ropes have been fixed to make the peak accessible to those without rock climbing skills.

Most of the students were travelling light and wet today.  I say most because some forgot to listen to instructions and either carried all their stuff up the mountain with them, or put on their last dry clothes, leaving themselves nothing to wear in the evening.

The guides explained the need to take great care on the climb because of the difficulty of the terrain.  Steep slippery paths with sharp, jagged rocks, convoluted roots and precarious ladders would all conspire to twist our ankles.  The consequences of a fall were too awful to contemplate.

There was a distinctly audible sigh of relief when we noticed limestone underfoot and leach territory was left behind.  Initial enthusiasm was replaced by nervous anticipation as the climb proper began.  Pulse rates soared and the students had to struggle against the urge to give up.

After an hour of walking we reached a rest spot – “mini-pinnacle” and flopped to the ground.  Laing (one of the guides) came to talk to us.  EJ wasn’t feeling well and he thought she should return to Camp 5.  We agreed that she should go back with Richard.

As we climbed higher it quickly became clear which students were fit.  For some this was undoubtedly the hardest thing they had ever done.  Not used to pushing themselves to accomplish anything physically challenging, they struggled and were ready to give up.  We gave them a pep talk and pushed them on.  At this point, Sue and I were not the most popular people around.

Near the top of the Pinnacles the terrain becomes difficult.  There are many contorted limestone crags and potholes, all slimy with mud and moss.  Exposed roots intertwine with the path and tangled vegetation blocks your way. Without ropes and ladders in place the climb would have been all but impossible for most of us – certainly within the strict timescale we had to stick to. 

Before the first of 14 ladders there is a sign.  “If you reach this point after 11am you will not make the summit and return to Camp 5 in daylight and will be putting you and your guide in danger.”  We made it with ten minutes to spare. 

I was surprised that the long steep ladders didn’t phase out any of the students.  Everybody climbed confidently and was in good spirits by this time – perhaps because the end was in sight.  Many started counting down the number of ladders to the summit, which given the distractions and effort involved in climbing, was easier said than done.

The Pinnacles are an impressive site – razor sharp limestone needles and fins, not unlike the ‘bones’ of cuttlefish, rise up to fifty metres from the jungle.  From the Pinnacles  to the true summit of Gunung Api takes another four days, so difficult is the terrain.

As we had lunch on the top small squirrels, just like the one in ‘Ice Age’ scampered about our feet looking for scraps.

All too soon we were heading down again – even more slowly than we had climbed – a long snake of laughing, shrieking students.  Every few minutes there would be a high-pitched yelp as one student or another tripped, slipped or was caught by predatory vegetation.

Although the descent was only 4.8km it took almost six hot sweaty hours to complete.  The humidity in the forest is so high that we were drenched with sweat.  Periodically, Mark would take off his T-shirt and wring it out, shaking his head in disbelief as the sweat ran out.

Trekker of the day?  Well Freya, our youngest student did exceptionally well, although Sam, Jaz, Holly and Caroliine took everything in their stride.  This was a hard climb and it took its toll both physically and mentally.  Early in the trek Rob whimpered quite a bit and Mark had a bad spell, but I suspect both had somewhere concealed a magic potion because they later went from strength to strength.  Jacob got cramps, not to be taken lightly in muscles the size of his I imagine.   At one point Chris looked like death, puked and then, like Jacob, just carried on.  For all the students, this was a tremendous achievement and they are to be congratulated on pushing themselves to accomplish more than they thought possible. 

Back at Camp 5 the refreshingly cold water of the river was just pure heaven.

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