KOTA KINABALU, Aug 6 ― Some 88 climbers will be making their way up Mount Kinabalu this Saturday starting at 8am to mark the “soft opening” of a new and improved route to replace the previous trails damaged by a 5.9-magnitude earthquake on June 5.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said a group of climbers, mostly Sabah Parks staff and rangers, mountain guides and members of the media will be testing out the trail which has been closed to climbers the last two months.

“The experimental climb will take climbers from the base of Timpohon Gate to Laban Rata around KM 6 or 3,272m of the 4,095m mountain,” he said, adding that most of the previous trail was retained save for some parts that were damaged by the earthquake.

“We have repaired the damaged routes and built new paths were necessary. This may not be the final trail but whatever we end up with will likely be more challenging that the previous route,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after attending his ministry’s monthly gathering and Hari Raya celebration here today.

Last June, an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale hit the region, killing 18 climbers on the mountain, including Singaporean schoolchildren on an expedition.

The mountain was then closed to the public for damage assessment and repair works even as aftershocks continued to strike the region, causing mudslides and rockfall.

Masid said he was ­optimistic that the alternative route would be safe for climbers, although it would limit the number of people up the mountain to fewer than 100 a day, about half of its previous capacity.

Sabah Parks director Dr Jamili Nais said that the new path that will be opened to climbers is a day climb with a cut off-time of 2pm.

The rest of the trail, from Laban Rata to the summit, is still under review and will not be open till all safety measures are met.

“We have asked some mountain experts, from Canada, Italy, Spain and Japan to recommend the necessary action. We are collating their reports and will take on their recommendations before deciding what to do,” he said.

Dr Jamili said that they have already received many enquiries with people interested to climb the mountain as soon as possible.

“Both locals and foreigners are keen to climb up, even though we are not sure when we are opening it,” he said.