Mount Kinabalu Summit Climb

Gunung Kinabalu (Puncak Low, 4,095 m)

Two days, a 2am start and sunrise on Borneo's summit

⚠ Permit & hut booking required

Hours

Day 1 registration 7–10:30am, hut check-in from 1pm; day 2 start 2–3:30am, past Sayat-Sayat by 5:30am, back at the gate before 4pm (Sabah Parks)

Tickets

Panalaban package for foreign adults RM1,043.25 (one night, three meals, RM400 climbing permit, insurance). Extra: conservation fee RM50, guide RM350 cash for up to five, shuttle RM35 return for 1–2 or RM15 each for 3+, porters RM14/kg (Sabah Parks, 2026 season)

Address

Timpohon Gate, the trailhead; registration is at the park HQ visitor centre

Day one is about 6 km of steps and rock from Timpohon Gate, six or seven hours, to the hut area at Laban Rata (3,273 m). Early dinner, the sunset, a few hours' sleep, then at about 2:30am you set off by headlamp, hauling on ropes up bare granite slabs to meet sunrise on Low's Peak at 4,095 m. Up top the spires stick out of a sea of cloud, but the wind is savage and cold enough to numb your hands. You come back down to the gate the same afternoon.