Hike Rinjani, or any mountains in Indonesia? Don’t just go for the views, you need to be aware of the risks involved. Prepare yourself physically, mentally and with gear.
Rinjani’s beauty is not an excuse for recklessness.
Mount Rinjani is not just another hike. Find a beautiful crater lake, and stunning sunrise views, but at what cost? Just recently, a Brazilian hiker by the name of Juliana Marins passed away hiking Rinjani. This is a tragic reminder of how serious this type of adventure really is.
This is not just a hike. This is an extremely physical, and mental challenge where the cost of not preparing yourself could be your life.
Don’t Go Because It Looks Good On Instagram.
We have heard it before. We are aware you saw a Reel of someone standing above the clouds, sipping coffee on a cliff, and want the same experience. But Wanadri, Indonesia’s oldest nature-lovers organization, said it best: “You need to know what you are getting into.”
Rinjani has steep slopes. The nights are freezing cold. The weather can change in a flash. So if your plan is to “wing it with a local guide and a prayer,” then you should definitely rethink that.
Beginner Trekkers, Here’s Where You Usually Mess Up:
- Subjective risk and objective risk—these are the two main danger zones, according to the experts in the outdoors.
- Subjective risk is what you create: lack of training, poor equipment, no preparation
- Objective risk is your environment: bad weather, bad terrain, questionable wildlife
Guess which one you can control? Correct. So if you are about to hike Mount Rinjani, have no stamina, and are wearing brand-new sneakers you have never even broke in; then you have nobody to blame but yourself.
Hiking Isn’t a Hobby—It’s a Commitment
There seems to be this idea that because you can hire a porter or a guide that you don’t need to train or prepare. That’s simply not true. Even beginners have taken on hard mountains when they are physically fit, mentally aware, and adequately equipped. The mountain doesn’t differentiate between beginner and expert; it treats everyone the same.
Safety checklist holder for the hiking Mount Rinjani (or any other volcano in Indonesia)
- Train the body – being on your feet for 10-12 hours isn’t just a Sunday stroll
- Know the trail – are the hard bits hard for you? Plan from there
- Pack correctly – cold weather gear, headlamp, first aid, energy food, etc
- Use local guides correctly – in many cases they are going to know the terrain better than you ever will
What happens when you ignore the warnings?
We have all seen; people get hurt – sometimes die. In the case of Rinjani, the rescue team had to questionably traverse terrain in order to retrieve a fallen hiker and that’s once they received the distress call which may have taken a while due to bad signal in the mountains.
Indonesia’s mountains are so amazing, but not for those that aren’t prepared.
Mount Rinjani is just one of many mountains in Indonesia that attract hikers from across the globe. Respect your limits.
Don’t FOMO Yourself In Trouble
Just because your friends are doing it, or social media shows it to be easy, doesn’t mean you should just jump in without a plan. Trekking is not about chasing clout but instead it is about connecting with our natural world, challenging yourself in a safe manner, and coming home to tell the story.
Do you want to hike? Absolutely! But hike smart, hike safe, and don’t become a statistic.