m0hddianzainal
★★★★★5.0Wrote on 9 May 2024
Long story ahead....
Our group of 2 couples paid for a 3 days 2 nights package consisting of ascending via Sembalun on the first day, summit climb and descending via Torean with a night to be spent at the crater lake in between. We are in our mid 40s, with decent flat trail hiking experience, zero experience climbing a mountain (Mount Batur was our first but that doesnt really count compared with Rinjani) and we've had zero physical training preparations for Rinjani. We are also sea-level creatures, being from the little island of Singapore, so acclimatizing to mid-dizzying heights is something new and troubling for us. We also worked as desk-slumpers in air-conditioned comforts. One of us even has a constant continous battle with pot-belliness with a body weight almost nearing 3 digits. I believe you can imagine our 'physical prowess' prior to tackling this mountain. So for those reading this and are moulded in the same image (physically) as us wishing to attempt this mountain, the following are our tips. 1st day climbing to crater rim - we did not do all of the below but we wished we did on hindsight (or next time). - Take an ojek (motorcycle) to Pos 2, it will save you a lot of time and your legs will be less fatigued, you will need to save up all the leg power for the summit climb. - If you are carrying backpacks weighing 8 kgs and above, hire an additional porter to carry it for you. You can just carry a smaller 8-10 litre daypack with a 2-3 litres hydration bladder, energy bars and your personal documentations/money. Your body centre of gravity will likely slightly shift when you carry heavy packs and your muscles will have to over-compensate to correct the shift, especially on the steep climb after Pos 3. Your shoulders and neck will thank you for this. - Try to finish your prepared meals, you need all the calories you can get and put some calories in reserve. i lost almost 4,500 calories on the first day and my intake was only about 1,200 calories. Due to this, my fatigue was amplified due to lack of energy. The temptation to pinch or eat a quarter of your meals is understandable as you may want to try to limit your intestine movements and close your bowel valves, given the 'toilet' facilities higher up the mountain. Its not as bad as it sounds though, I emptied my bowels on a daily basis up there. For not doing the above, we reached the crater rim campsite close to 7pm (Average ETA time is about 4.30pm). As a result, it leads to a knock down effect, we had dinner late, we slept later and had insufficient sleep and muscle recovery as we had to wake up at 1.30am later for the summit climb. We also missed the highly anticipated sunset views while sitting on a camping chair sipping a hot cup of tea. The Summit Climb - We woke up at 1.30am, half recovered from the punishment of yesterday. Had breakfast and set off at 2pm. The summit climb is divided in 3 parts. First part was a very steep incline climb with loose volcanic sand/rocks to reach the ridge. The infamous saying of 2 steps up 1 step down was indeed true. Your 2 trekking poles would be your good friend here. Average time to clear this part is about 1.5 hrs, but I took 3 hours. Goodbye to sunrise views at the summit. Second part would be the ridge walk, this part is slight more easier as the gradient is less punishing and the ground slightly more solid. But even so, as my legs were already tired from the first part, I took about 3 hours to clear this part when the average time will only took about an hour. Third part would be the infamous Letter E, majority of those who turned back would've done it 100 metres into attempting this Letter E. My 'body battery' has already depleted at this point, my legs were numb, my feet non-existential, my body cold from the chilly winds (my watch showing 3 degrees celsius), cant feel my finger tips even though i'm wearing thick gloves. If you are from a tropical country and not used to sub 5 degrees celsius temperature, its recommended you wear your layers in an overly prepared fashion. I wore normal tropical hiking pants, normal socks, normal underwear, normal beanies, normal dri-fit long sleeve shirt and a windproof hardshell. I almost turned back because of the cold, it really saps the life out of you. Moreoever, i have asthma, inhalers doesnt seems to work up there, i think because of the cold, my airways contracted to the point medicine doesnt have any effect anymore. I shoud've worn at the minimum, wind-proof inner fleece layered pants, thermal socks, thermal underwear, thick wooly beanies, neck gaiter, a baselayer, fleece jacket and hardshell jacket. Better to over-wear rather than under-wear. The terrain is almost like the first part but the rocks are bigger and much looser due to zero vegetation. You will either slide down for every two steps or you will just fall forward. The strong winds pretty much puts you off balance and there are no big rocky outcrops to take a brief respite from the winds. Your trusty trekking poles is your third leg here. I took 3 hours to clear this part when the average time to clear is about 1.5 hours. Average times to reach the summit is at 5.30-6am, in time to see the sunrise. However I reached the summit at 11am, instead of seeing sunrise at my eye level, i have to tilt my head 80 degrees to see the sun. The guide might have said i had just probably inadvertently set a Rinjani record of reaching the summit in a little over 9 hours when others took 4 hours. And that is just ascending. The only plus side is I had all the summit to myself for a little tea party. After spending about an hour on the summit, i descended and reached back to the campsite at 5.30pm. 14 hours of walking. Another Rinjani record. Because of the knockdown effect mentioned earlier and our 'physical prowess', we had to forego the crater lake and descending via Torean, instead we spend another night to rest at the crater campsite and descend the same way we came up which is via Sembalun. All in all, we are immensely proud of ourselves as our main goal was the Summit. It was purely 20% physical and 80% mental strength and determination that pushed us. Rinjani truly humbled us with its fearsome and daunting reputation and at the same time awe-ing us with its beautiful views all around no matter where you are standing. And a HUGE respect to our porters and guides, we could not have done it without them. They are the true heroes, they are doing it for their ricebowls to feed their families while we are doing it to feed our recreational needs. It was truly an eye-opener and makes us appreciate what we have even more. We truly re-discovered ourself after this adventure. Halfway trudging up the summit, i kept cursing myself in my thoughts of what am i doing here when i can be lying on a Lombok beach or why the hell i'm wasting money to punish myself. But i realised that I'm not fighting the devil in me, he has gone down way earlier to suntan on a beatiful Lombok beach. I was actually fighting myself. P/S: We are planning to return next year, albeit with better physical preparations ;)
