After a fitful sleep we got up wearily as the alarm went off at 2am. One advantage of wearing most of your clothes to bed is it doesn't take long to get ready. Around an hour earlier the rain had finally stopped, so the park guides deemed it ok to go for the summit, but it had been touch and go. Our damp and bedraggled group set off once more around 2.15 am and trudged through the puddles to the entrance gate. Oh deep joy, we were greeted by a mixture of steep slippery wooden steps and large irregular boulders that once again continued relentlessly upwards. It was slow going in the dark and we had only the light from our head torches to light the way. Also the thin air from being at 3200m meant that you were acutely aware of your heart working hard to supply weary muscles with oxygen. After around 15 minutes one member of our group had had enough - Neils, our Danish compatriot, who had previously made it to Everest base camp decided it was just too hard. Next to turn back was Jo, for whom the treacherous and slippery rocks were too much for her knees. At this stage Jon and I were pretty knackered too, but decided to keep going - perhaps the route would improve further up. We set a painfully slow pace but continued slowly and ever upwards. After around an hour of this and a couple of slippy moments we sat on a step and had a discussion about what to do. With some reluctance we decided it was too difficult for us and beyond anything we had attempted in our training. The final crunch for our decision was when Jon threw in his trump card that we still had 3 weeks of diving ahead of us and if we were to injure ourselves at this point that would be in jeopardy. We still had to pick our way carefully back down the route, which was not easy in the dark and also against the constant flow of people wearily still trudging upwards. It has to be said that we were by no means alone coming back down either. Further vindication of our decision was provided by Jo. As we reached our hut, a visibly shaken Jo greeted us with the words "I just had a near death experience!". Just near our hut she had slipped on a large sheer wet rock and slid down into some bushes. Unable to climb back up she was lucky to have been seen by a passing guide who helped her back up. When we saw where she fell in the daylight later we realised how lucky she had been to slide left towards the bushes. Is she had slid the other way there was pretty much nothing to stop her fall! Deciding the best course of action was to try to get some rest and prepare ourselves for the hike back down in daylight. Huddled under the blankets we managed to have a couple of hours sleep, until we heard superfit Andy's return.
He told us we made the right decision and that if he had known how hard and dangerous it was he probably wouldn't have done it (comments echoed later by some of the other members of the group). The main issue was the cold and wet conditions led to slippery rocks and at times they were just hauling themselves up on ropes attached to the rock face. Where the rain had soaked the rope, the wind conspired to freeze wet hands that were holding it, so that even with gloves on you couldn't feel your hands. Unfortunately there was also no sunrise to see that morning as the mountain was shrouded in cloud until it eventually lifted when it was already daylight. Overall, while part of us was disappointed not to make the summit, we were relieved we hadn't risked it and even so we had made it up to around 3500m, which was not so shabby an achievement anyway.
We left our loathed hut (we drank some bottled water we left out on the bedside table and it was fridge temperature!). After breakfast at the main rest house and some hot Sabah tea to warm us up, we set off back down the mountain. Starting at 8.30, we kept up steady progress back down the 6 km trail. It was only when we went back down we appreciated how tricky and steep some parts were coming up. Also there were lots of irregular steps, many with bone jarring long drops down. Imagine your worst nightmare 4 hour step class and this comes somewhere close to describing it. We stopped just twice on the way down and went past Andy an Jo along the way. Neils stayed with us and between us we all managed to fall over at least once. The main problem being if you lost balance backwards the weight of your pack just tipped you over completely. Jon managed 2 falls, the second in spectacular style. Having been alone down most of the trail, we were just passing a busy rest stop. Jon missed his footing, fell back once and almost seemed to recover, then the damn pack took over and he landed in the undergrowth alongside the trail - luckily not much more than bruised pride and a couple of scratches - all on front of a large audience of those on their way up.
Our claim to fame that day was to be first down the mountain in just 4 hours, arriving at 12.30. We went with Neils to the restaurant for lunch and waited for the others to join us. Andy and Jo were first and Finally the girls who had made it to the top were back down around 3.30.
A long drive through the rain took us to our beach hotel near KK. I don't recommend sitting still in a car for over 2 hours after 2 days of hiking, as muscles and knees start to seize up. We all walked like 90 year olds to our rooms, which were nicer than we were expecting. A decent meal in the Aussie run restaurant and a glass of wine were a reward we felt we richly deserved. The only hard part now was hobbling downstairs from the bar and restaurant back to a warm and comfortable bed!!