Base Camp: Malaysia

MS: What style did you do the route in? On what day did you complete your free ascent? Did you free all three pitches ground-up, onsight, or did the route take some preparation?
Boer: It was a red point ascent. Logan freed the crux pitch on March 11th, placing gear on lead.
Logan: The route was tried ground up which was no problem for the first pitch which is mid fifth class. The second pitch had this awesome arête which had no protection whatsoever. I tried it anyway but backed off after getting to the crux with Brad at the anchor 10m below me with no gear in between. It really was quite easy (5.10-) but really exposed and so a complete head fuck. I ended up going up a harder, different way which was a friction slab; at least the fall was onto a ledge. So the third pitch was a step up, and we started by aiding it but soon used up the six pins we had (the seam is really thin) and could see some blank sections where the crack ran out, and it changed to face/slab climbing. So, we soloed an old route (5.4) nearby and rapped in placing a bolt in the upper slab and also a bolt on the arête of the second pitch. (Hand-drilling in granite sucks!). The next day we came back and climbed the route ground up but it took me a couple of goes to get the crux pitch. 

MS: Tell me about the climb, what style of climbing, what type of protection, who freed the crux pitch and what does this 5.12b involve? This looks like very rough, unique granite -- grey, almost, like limestone. Does is see much weathering?
Brad: It really is a beautiful route. And I am not saying this just because we put it up. Honestly, it’s really good. To protect you will need a full set of cams from a purple TCU up to number 3 C4. Plenty of extenders are a must. The route is a great mix of technique and power. The first crux involves smearing your feet on the slab, while cranking on small underclings at about head level. For the second crux, you must take a more technical approach. Smearing again with you feet on the slab, then back stepping onto the outside of the corner. A big move to a small slopper crimp will set you up for the last move -- a small dead point to a great undercling. From there it is relatively easy to the top.
Logan: The granite is the youngest granite in the world and has been weathered by glaciations. It has amazing friction, a heap better than the Valley or the Chief or in the Bugs where I also went last year. The other thing that stands
out though is the occasional lack of protectability. Be prepared to run stuff out for 10m or more on occasion. 

MS: The rock and colors and place are very amazing: is there more potential there?
Boer: The granite is very textured and offers a lot of friction, more friction than the granite I've seen elsewhere. Since Mt. Kinabalu is in a tropical region, even at 13,000 feet it doesn't see any snow and ice, so there isn't much weathering on the rock. We were only doing routes that can be done in a day, but there's potential for much longer routes. The infamous Lowe's Gully is lined with massive granite walls on its north and south sides, probably around 2,000 feet high. As far as I know Lowe's Gully hasn't seen a free ascent yet. There's a huge amount of potential for multi-day big wall ascents in Lowe's Gully.
Logan: Just remember to take a drill so you can reap the areas full potential (not a hand drill, you’ll be there forever.)