Our heartfelt condolences to the family.
Tragedy on Mt Kinabalu
It is hard to report such an incident as it is tragic and a deep felt loss. Thus, we'll just give you the facts, and hope that it helps the healing process of those who loved her; and to educate all hikers on all mountains, hills, volcano and parks around the world, Safety First.
Ms Paulsen, 22, fell off the summit, just before sunrise on the summit of Mt Kinabalu. It was because she chose to cross over the summit barrier which protected hikers from venturing too far into the edge of the summit. The edge of the summit's rocks are loose and crumbly thus the barrier was erected to protect everyone from the almost vertical drop into Low's Gully. She crossed, because she wanted to take a better picture. By the time we were alerted of the incident, sunrise have already passed.
It took the rescue team consisting of 4 Mt Torq trainers more than 2 hrs to extract her body from the steep terrain where she landed to reach the summit trail which is located above the 8km mark. (see map link) From there, it took another couple of hrs carrying the stretcher with the help of 1 Sabah Park staff and 2 SSL staff before we reach Laban Rata, just pass midday.
As the rescue team from Sabah Parks had to hike up from Timpohon Gate, they only reached us at the midpoint of the mountain, Layang Layang, at 4pm. We were thankful that there were 15 of them to take over the arduous task of navigating Ms Paulsen's stretched body down the rocky and uneven hiking trail.
Dear all, please be respectful of the mountain and the rules on the mountain. Barriers are placed for your safety. Do not ignore them.
http://www.mountaintorq.com/mountaineering/route-map
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