“THERE we go! Nampak macam Spiderman dah (You’re looking like Spiderman now),” hollers my photographer encouragingly as she clicks away to get a good shot of Jimmy Shahrul Hisham while he hangs from the man-made rock climbing wall in his backyard with the ease of a monkey.
Yet to hit the 10-year-old mark, this lithe little boy, ever so slight in frame, is the proud holder of two national records. He’s the youngest rock climber to climb Gunung Nenek Semukut, also known as The Dragon’s Horns located on Tioman Island. This monolith is the tallest granite wall in the country, standing at a majestic height of 702 metres from sea level.
Together with Gunung Batu Simau, the twin peaks are said to be the guardians of Kampung Semukut situated at the foot of the mountains on the southern side of the island. Over the years, the giant formation has become a rock climber’s haven. Many converge here from near and far, dreaming of conquering its apex.
“It’s not easy to even reach the foot of the mountain where the actual rock climbing begins. The challenge starts from the village itself. We’re required to trek through hours of virgin jungles just to reach the rock climbing routes,” shares Shahrul Hisham Tahir, Jimmy’s affable father, before confiding that humidity is every climber’s enemy when they’re out there. “We’ve seen many tough climbers fainting before us when we were only halfway through the forest. That’s how tough it is.”
The second record that Jimmy holds is that of being the youngest person to abseil down a rocky formation with the longest recorded distance of 253 metres. “It was the only way he was ever going to get down from the summit of Gunung Nenek Semukut after all,” confides the proud father.
Prior to their expedition, father and son had approached Unicef Malaysia (the United Nations Children’s Fund) and proposed to turn their journey into a charity drive. They pledged a generous sum of RM3,000 to the organisation. To the pair’s surprise, their target was easily achieved by the end of their outing.
STARTING YOUNG
The sun continues to shine down on us mercilessly as we wait for my colleague to finish photographing the young boy. A huge smile on his face and not the slightest trace of fatigue, Jimmy continues to swing from one “rock” to another on the climbing wall that his doting father had built for him. He obliges good-naturedly every request made by the photographer.
“It took me quite a while to build the wall but it was worth it. My son can now practise his climbing whenever he wants to,” explains the 44-year-old before sharing that he used to be a climber himself more than 20 years ago. “But now, tak larat dah (can’t do it anymore).” he adds with a chuckle.
As the saying goes, “Like father, like son”, and in this case, young Jimmy was first introduced to rock climbing when he was only 6 ½ years old. The father recalls how his son took to the sport almost instantly, like a natural. “He has always liked jumping from high places. So when I took him to the gym, he literally came alive,” recalls Shahrul.
He continues to share: “My intention was to introduce him to a new sport because he didn’t seem to fit all the other conventional types of sports such as football. With rock climbing, he was different. His coach saw a different drive in him unlike the other children. That was when we decided to enrol him in several rock climbing competitions and push him a little further to be more competitive.”
Doing something like this at such a young age can be daunting for many. But not for Jimmy. As he clambers down to join us for our chat, he tells me with a sheepish smile: “Actually, I’m very scared of heights but when I’m up there, I feel like there are so many possibilities for me. Whenever I take the leap, it’s impossible to describe the feeling of relief and sense of achievement. Because ultimately, every time I do this, I overcome my fear. And this feeling is addictive; it keeps me going.”
MOTIVATION IS KEY
It took Jimmy about three months to be conditioned for the climb at Tioman Island. He and his father would go out to Bukit Takun in Rawang, Selangor or Gua Damai in Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur on the weekends for simulation training. In addition, he also did rigorous strength training with his coach at his gym. Together with a small group of rock climbing friends whom they meet regularly at the gym and competitions, they set out to Tioman Island on April 21.
“It took us about eight hours to do the climb and Jimmy did it all on his own with minimal help from the rest of us,” confides Shahrul, adding: “I don’t know how he did it because I was climbing behind him. In just a little over three hours in, I was ready to give up while he was still going strong!”
Smiling, Jimmy chips in: “That’s because I have really nice abang-abang (older brothers) who kept motivating me.” In addition to attributing his success to the support he gets from this tight knit com¬munity of climbers, Jimmy is also quick to point out that he would not be able to do this without his father — who is his biggest ‘rock’. “Dad is always there at every climb and that’s where my source of strength comes from. His presence drives me to go higher no matter how scary things get,” says Jimmy, his voice low.
Does he have another hero aside from his father whom he looks up to, I ask the shy little boy. He pauses before replying: “Adam Ondra. He’s a professional rock climber from the Czech Republic.”
What’s so special about Ondra that you’d want to emulate him, I probe further.
Shyly, Jimmy answers: “He’s the world’s best climber and he’s humble too. I hope I can be like him or even better than him. I just need to be consistent with the sport.”
ANOTHER MOUNTAIN, ANOTHER DAY
Having achieved much at such a young age, Jimmy aspires to achieve even loftier goals. Shyly, he confides his dream of conquering La Dura Dura in Spain one day. Located on a limestone cliff in Oliana, Spain, La Dura Dura is known to be the hardest rock climbing wall in the world. Big dreams for such a little guy, I tease. And again that smile. All-knowing this time.
Meanwhile, for the time being, Jimmy’s contented to scale Gunung Nenek Semukut once again, given the chance. “I’d like to go up that wall again, but this time via another route,” he confides, eyes flashing with determination.
Adding, he says: “To be honest, it was really frightening halfway up the climb, especially at this part somewhere on Pitch Four or Five. I made the mistake of looking down and felt like crying because it was just so high.” Nevertheless, that’s not going to stop him from strapping on his shoes again and dusting his hands with chalk for another round.
If there’s one thing he doesn’t quite relish, it’s the long and arduous trek to reach the foot of the mountain. “It was my first time and the humidity was unbearable. It was also scary; there were times when I just wanted to give up on the trek,” recalls Jimmy.
In the distance, the loud rumble of thunder provides me with the cue to take my leave. Signalling to my photographer, I thank Shahrul and Jimmy for their time. Happily, the little boy shows me his trusty Pikachu bag, which he confides is his lucky charm. “I’ve converted it into a chalk bag and bring it with me for every climb. I hope I can be like Pikachu — small but can do big things!”
Laughing heartily, Shahrul pats his son’s head lovingly. Walking me to the door, he says in conclusion: “One day, hopefully, you will see him in the Olympics. Now THAT would be a dream come true for us.”