KOTA KINABALU: Climbing Mount Kinabalu is not just a passion for 63-year-old radiologist Dr K. Ravi Mandalam. It is an addiction.
Since his first ascent in 1995, Dr Ravi has scaled Mount Kinabalu 40 times.
“Mount Kinabalu is a very scenic mountain. It is hard not to be attracted to Mount Kinabalu.”
His attraction to Mount Kinabalu is apparent. The walls of his clinic at KPJ Sabah are adorned with framed photographs of Mount Kinabalu, showing different captivating views of the mountain.
“Mount Kinabalu is considered one of the top 10 biodiversity hot spots.
“Some plants in Mount Kinabalu has more varieties than the whole continent of Africa. You can see so many species within one square kilometre. That is very astounding,” he said in an interview here.
Dr Ravi has 41 years of experience as a radiologist. He came from India to join KPJ Sabah, formerly known as Sabah Medical Centre (SMC), back in 1994.
One day when he was driving along the coastal highway, Dr Ravi noticed the silhouette of Mount Kinabalu and asked his friend what mountain it is. And the rest is history.
“In the past 23 years, I have climbed Mount Kinabalu 40 times in different expeditions from different parts of the mountain.”
His first climb to Mount Kinabalu was organized by his friend and ex-colleague Dr J. S. Sidhu in 1995. Dr Ravi was 39 years old then.
“He said if I was reasonably fit, it would not be difficult to climb.
“Since my first climb in 1995, Mount Kinabalu has become an addiction.”
Dr Ravi admitted that he was worried about his ability to reach the summit during his first climb due to cold weather and heavy mist.
“But as soon as I reached the summit, my spirit was bolstered.
“I told myself that I must come back and try to climb Mount Kinabalu again. Now it has become an annual affair.”
Dr Ravi initially followed the usual trail from Timpohon Gate to Low’s Peak but soon became interested in climbing expeditions from different parts of Mount Kinabalu when he joined The Sabah Society.
In 2001, Dr Ravi joined a band of climbers from Sabah Society to retrace the original route of the first recorded ascent up Mount Kinabalu by British colonial administrator Hugh Low from Kampung Kiau in March 1851.
Since then, Dr Ravi has taken part in many Mount Kinabalu climbing expeditions fueled by his interest in exploring the topography and biodiversity of the mountain.
“People who usually follow the tourist trail to the peak have no idea of the topography of Mount Kinabalu.
“Mount Kinabalu is enormous. It is two mountains joined together with Low’s Gully in the middle.”
He is also an avid photographer, having taken many photographs of the mountain that decorated the walls of his clinic as well as featured in the books about Mount Kinabalu which he wrote independently or with the Sabah Society.
One of the books, entitled ‘East Kinabalu: A Guide to the Eastern Part of Mount Kinabalu’, was written with Dr Chin Shui Hiung and Christopher Chin and published in 2013.
For the purpose of writing the guide book, Dr Chin has led many expeditions to climb Mount Kinabalu, including Kotal route from the southern side, Kampung Melangkap Kapa in Kota Belud at the northern side and Poring Hot Springs at the eastern side.
“All these are challenging trails. Some took four days while the Poring trail took nine days to complete,” he said.
Fortunately for Dr Ravi, he has never encountered any life-threatening situations during his expeditions.
“We have lost our way at least three times, but have never had any accidents.”
He said Sabah Parks was also quite strict in ensuring the safety of climbers as it only allowed expedition climbers to enter remote areas of Mount Kinabalu with a guide.
“We had no Global Positioning System (GPS) the first time we got lost. Our guide, an experienced park ranger, told us to stay put while he finds a way out. We were delayed by only two hours.
“The second and third times, we plotted our way out using GPS.”
On another note, Dr Ravi advised youngsters to practise a healthy lifestyle and participate in outdoor activities.
“A lot of youths now are only keen on playing their phones. I often see a group of six people sitting together, all engrossed in their phones instead of talking to to each other.
“We have a world class mountain here with so much vegetation. There are 250 species of birds in Mount Kinabalu!”
Dr Ravi, who is also a Rotarian, said the Rotary Club had engaged an expert to train mountain guides to be bird guides for the past two years as there were many tourists from Korea, Japan and Europe who visited Mount Kinabalu to watch the bird species here.
“Although bird tourism is a niche market, bird watchers are willing to pay big bucks for it.”
After six months of training, he said these mountain guides would be able to spot and identify birds by the sound they emitted.
Now at the age of 63, Dr Ravi has no intention of stopping anytime soon.
Despite time constraints, Dr Ravi is committed to exercising daily.
In fact, his daily exercise entails climbing 16 floors of staircase at the condominium he lives at least thrice a day to keep fit.
“I am going to climb Mount Kinabalu again in November this year.
“By God’s grace, as long as my health is okay, I will continue climbing Mount Kinabalu.”