4/4/2001, Calgary (Brandon - Thailand)
A long, long flight over the Pacific has its way of providing a fair amount of time to think, to reflect on the events of the last two months and to let your thoughts fly ahead to new ideas and adventures. I started to consider all of the people who we had touched during our expedition and all of the people that had touched us and helped us on our way. It is the latter to whom I wish to extend a warm thank you - without your contributions, however big or small, the expedition would not have been such a great success. I hope to recognize some of those who have helped us along the road to adventure...
SPONSORS
Roc Software For their generous donation of the communications equipment used to post messages and images on this website. Your shirts were fantastic and appreciated by the Park Guides and OBS staff who received them for participating in our expedition.
Webexpeditions.net Three cheers for Tim! Thanks for hosting our expedition on a very professional and well designed website. I have received many compliments about the site. I was pleasantly surprised by the ease at which we were able to submit stories and photos to the site - an excellent system which I would definitely recommend to other expeditions.
Purdy's Chocolates Apart from the serious team dynamic issues created by the inter-team dispersal of Purdy's donated chocolate bars, they certainly spiced up our ration. Food is such a key part of any extended backcountry endeavour, and your contribution was much appreciated.
Mountain Equipment Co-op (www.mec.ca) MEC generously provided us each with a gift certificate to their store. Thanks to Joy-Lynn Jorden in Vancouver for working on our behalf - your efforts are greatly appreciated.
National Outdoor Leadership School (www.nols.edu) NOLS provided funding through an Instructor Development Fund (IDF) and posted information about our website on their website. Thanks goes out to Jeanne O'Brien, the staff who deal with the website and to Eric Sawyer for the IDF grant.
Kinabalu Nature Resorts KNR generously provided team members and Sabah Parks staff with accommodation while at Park HQ or while resupplying at Laban Rata. Thanks to Ms. Finella in KK for working with our expedition. Check out their website in the future - maybe it'll have some of my pictures!
Malaysian Airlines (Vancouver Office) Thank you for discounting our flights to Sabah. I appreciate the efficiency and friendly assistance that I received from all of the staff.
University of Calgary, Outdoor Programs A thank you goes out to Shaun King for providing us with three pairs of rental climbing shoes. These shoes were donated to the particpants of our rock climbing course and left in the care of Sabah Parks/OBS for the future enjoyment of the growing local climbing community. They were very happy to receive the shoes!
Sterling Ropes Sterling gave us a great deal on ropes for climbing and for Low's Gully. The dry-core on these ropes works remarkably well and saved us carrying a lot of water. Our other ropes soaked up water light sponges and the weight difference was more than noticeable. Excellent ropes for use in wet conditions - like Low's Gully for instance!
INDIVIDUALS
Adrienne and Gorden Keller You're awesome! Thanks so much for your generous donation. Your support made a HUGE difference in being able to finance our project.
Jeff Marshall Jeff donated 200m of static line for our attempt at Low's Gully. Thanks a 'mil!
Betty and Ron Calvert Thanks Betty for the time and skill you put into creating our expedition flag . Yes, believe it or not, the flag that you have seen in photos was hand quilted - beautiful work. Thank you both for your constant enthusiasm and interest in our project. We appreciated your many letters of support!
Robyn Irvine Thanks Robyn for putting up with much pre-expedition faffing about and for your letters of support. You were pretty much our only source of Calgary news and, more importently, gossip! I look forward to drinking whiskey with you again.
Barry and Gloria Raymond Your constant support and encouragement was a joy to read and helped me keep a positive outlook on things. Thanks for infusing me with the spirit of adventure and travel at an early age - it keeps me poor, but well nourished with experience.
Andrea Kortello and Simon Hamm Your shirts were great! Thanks for finding the time to whip these up with such short notice. They were well received by various Park Rangers, porters and guides. The "bobohigan", the ritual specialist who sacrificed the 7 white cockerels is the proud new owner of one of your shirts - surely a good omen!?
Mike Minchau Thanks for giving Heather some time off to join us on our expedition. Did the place fall apart without her?
Maja Swannie for contacting some guy and getting us a deal on slide film....oh, and whoever that guy was!
J.R. Tolkein (and the person who left the book in the Calgary Airport) For writing "The Hobbit" which provided us with much entertainment and enjoyment.
The Card Guy Much thanks to the fellow in Laban Rata from whom I begged a deck of playing cards for Low's Gully. If you didn't save us from the water, I am sure you saved us from killing each other! Many games of Hearts were enjoyed due to your donation. The cards now rest at the Gurkha Hut for the enjoyment of future visitors.
ORGANIZATIONS
Outward Bound Sabah Thank you Raymond for being our liason with OBS and the media in KK. I enjoyed talking to you about the future of rock climbing in Sabah and look forward to working with you further in developing our exciting new plans. Here's to Rock Climbing and Kareoke! Roland and Robert, your enthusiasm and hard work on the course set a great example for the other participants. Thanks for bridging the gap between English and Malay! I hope that you pursue more climbing adventures on Kinabalu in days to come. Finally, a big thanks to Datuk Gabriel for providing us with OBS facilities and for participating in our project.
Sabah Parks (Warden and Rangers) Thanks goes out to Mr. Wahab and Mr. Francis Liew for approving our proposal and the inclusion of Park Rangers on our expedition. Mr. Martin Moguring (Sabah Park Ranger) was instrumental in working out and dealing with park logistics while we were on the mountain. Thanks to Kuyun and John for teaching us how to travel in the thick, high jungle with our mighty parang! Finally, a big thank you to all of the brave Park Rangers (Sunin, Sinte, Yrus, Kintai) for participating in our rock climbing course. They all did a fantastic job and boy can they throw a party!
Daily Express (Kan Yau Chong) Accommodating our last minute interview was much appreciated. The front page article was great!
Radio-Television Malaysia (RTM) We enjoyed working with you and having the opportunity to speak to Sabahans via radio. Thanks!
Last but not least... Expedition members A warm and HUGE thank you to my fellow expedition members. We suffered through some heinous conditions and managed to hold it together! I couldn't have done it without the hard work and dedication of each of you towards the project. Raise a glass to future climbing adventures and expeditions to come - Yam..Sing!
