Mount Kinabalu trail highest in the world
Wednesday December 16, 2009
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah made it into the Guinness World Records with Mount Kinabalu now certified as having the world’s highest via ferrata or "mountain top trail".
The highest of Mount Kinabalu's via ferrata – iron road in Italian – is at an altitude of 3,776m, nearly 500m higher than the second highest track in the world at the Dolomites mountain in Italy.
Mountain Torq Sdn Bhd sales and marketing director Quek I-Gek said Guinness World Records officials issued the certification last July after a six-month effort that included survey work carried out by the state Land and Survey Department.
The certificate was presented to Sabah Parks deputy director Dr Jamili Nais here yesterday by Mountain Torq, the company that established the via ferrata trail on Mount Kinabalu.
The certificate was handed over by its executive director Wilfred Tok and witnessed by Sabah Tourism chairman Datuk Tengku Zainal Adlin Tengku Mansor.
Vertical challenge: Climbers going up the via ferrata on Mount Kinabalu.
The via ferrata on Mount Kinabalu is a route using a series of steel rungs, rails and cables embedded into the mountain’s Panar Laban rockface.
More than 5,000 people have climbed the 1.2km-high via ferrata – which includes a 22m foot bridge suspended 3,600m above sea level – since it was opened to public use on Dec 15, 2007.
Quek said that although there were more than 300 via ferratas worldwide, the route on Mount Kinabalu was the only one in Asia.
Tengku Zainal Adlin said the Guinness certification would further establish Sabah among travellers, especially those keen on adventures and eco-tourism. -- The Star Metro
"We are proud of the fact that Mount Kinabalu is Malaysia’s first World Heritage Site.
"Now, Malaysians will be proud to identify themselves with a Guinness World Record," he added. -- Star News
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