Climb Puncak Jaya, 4884m (Carstensz Pyramid) Papua New Guinea

The trip price is for a minimum of four people who will be guided by our own team. The teams will be joined up with other teams to get into base camp, but once there each climbing team is independent.

Excluded

• International flight to Timika
• Travel insurance covering cancellation, delays and medical/evacuation
• Personal climbing and camping equipment
• Personal expenses, such as meals in Timika
• Indonesia entry visa fee ($US25/Person)

Payments

We require a deposit of £1000.00 with some interim payments and full payment at least six weeks prior to travel. You can choose to pay in sterling, dollars or euros during checkout.  It is vital that you purchase travel insurance when booking the trip.

A significant portion of the trip cost is for permits and local payments to government agencies and the police. It is possible to refund this money if the trip is cancelled prior to arrival but once the trip starts then there is no refund if local politics prevents travel. We will always take advice from local people about the situation locally before making any financial commitment regarding the permits.

The climbing section will likely be in rain, snow or ice, so keeping warm and dry is important. The rock itself is sharp so working gloves which you don’t mind being ripped will be important. There are fixed lines on parts of the ridge and on the traverse but participants will be expected to provide all their own climbing equipment.

Travel and trekking gear:

• Passport and visa, money
• Duffle bag which is waterproof and lockable
• Travel clothes which can stay at the hotel, and Base Camp clothes. Include trainers, wellingtons, umbrella, poncho.

Climbing Gear:

• Helmet
• Rock Climbing harness
• Figure of eight (see description below for using this on the traverse)
• Locking karabiners x 3
• Jumar (ascender) with ‘cows tail’
• Several slings and prussik loops

Climbing Clothing

Footwear:

• Hiking boots or approach shoes. These will get wet for sure. Good grip is important.
• Gaiters. Optional since nothing will stop the rain and water from getting in but gaiters provide some protection from the sharp rock, a bit of warmth and some warmth.
• Socks – several for base camp and one set for the summit day.

Body Layers:

• Climbing/trekking trousers. Not too tight, expect them to get potentially ripped/trashed on the rock.
• Base layer. It will be cold in the evenings and on the climb in the rain and potentially snow. Several sets will be useful.
• Midweight fleece layer
• Warm jacket with hood – can be synthetic lightweight down or heavy fleece.
• Waterproof shell layer – top and bottom.

Headgear and Handwear:

• Leather/climbing gloves. Because the rock is so sharp you can expect to trash the gloves so don’t bring your best pair of belay gloves! Good quality gardening gloves actually work very well.
• Lightweight inner gloves. Several pairs.
• Heavyweight warm gloves. For the top ridge when it can be very cold.
• Warm hat and buff
• Sunhat
• Sunglasses

Personal Gear:

• Backpack for summit day. 35 litres is normally enough.
• Sleeping bag, rated down to 0 degrees Fahrenheit, in a waterproof compression sack
• Sleeping mat, one inflatable and one closed cell
• Sunblock
• Headlamp with spare batteries
• Couple of water bottles or bladders and water purification tablets or steripen
• Anti-malarial tablets, insect repellant
• Various waterproof stuff sacks, and garbage bags
• Camera, book etc plus powerbank for charging devices. Note that drones are not allowed.
• First aid – for bleeding wounds, GI problems, headaches. Lightweight SAM splint also useful for immobilising arm or leg, triangular bandage and stretchy cohesive bandage for sprains (vetwrap is good).

We will supply tents, stoves, all the group food, ropes and fixed lines, and any gear for protection, a GPS, comms and medical kit.

The normal route is the one that Heinrich Harrer opened up, which ascends a 600 metre wall; it’s imposing and sheer with the bottom half being easily angled and the final top section very steep. The rock is clean and sharp but the wall itself rarely presents a problem. Initially the grade would be a VDiff (UIAA III) with the top at VS (UIAA V). There are fixed ropes in place below the ridge and along the jagged edge to the summit. The crux of the climb is an overhanging wall (VS, UIAA VI) that is crossed nowadays using the fixed lines on a Tyrolean traverse.

The whole summit day is about 12 hours and involves scrambling on sharp rock in the dark up narrow chimneys and gullies until you reach the summit ridge. Expect a range of weather including rain and mist and wind, possible snow showers and – hopefully – clear skies with great views from the top. Temperatures on the summit are often well below freezing, and Base Camp can be 12 degrees Celsius. The descent involves rappelling or abseiling down the fixed lines, and then wrapping down the lower slopes.

First part of route – mainly scrambling on scree and easy rock, using headtorches in the dark. The route becomes more vertical with ropes in place. Use a jumar as an aid, but the actual climbing is not too difficult (up to 5.7) with a steep chimney of about 60 degrees onto the summit ridge. Helmet is very useful for falling rock and also banging your head on low overhangs. One of the main issues on this section is the state of the anchors and the rope itself, the guide will be checking and re-anchoring where necessary. If multiple groups are climbing then  inevitably there will be queuing, depending on how easily everyone moves.

Tyrolean Traverse – this has now been fixed with a steel cable to cross the 50′ gap. The gap is about 100′ deep but there are 2000′ drops to the valley floor on both sides (and it’s a narrow ridge) so there is significant exposure. You attach yourself to the cable by linking your figure of eight onto the pulley and your waist harness. A locking karabiner is then attached to several of the fixed lines which can be used at either end for someone to pull you if necessary. Hanging upside down from your figure of eight you pull yourself along the cable.

After this, the route follows the ridge to the summit over a few more short gaps with some down and up climbing, and there may be patches of fresh snow.

The Descent – the route is the same way back, using the old lines for rappelling and wrapping. The danger is always the state of the ropes and the anchors themselves, it’s a good idea to use your legs as much as possible instead of hanging off ropes!

The whole climb takes about twelve hours, leaving before dawn and arriving hopefully in daylight. It’s vital to carry a head torch, snacks and water, spare gloves and warm kit for the ridge in case it’s windy.

The word Carstensz is often mis-spelt but the peak is actually named after the first European to see the mountain whose name was Jan Karstens. He was a Dutch seafarer who in 1623 brought news back to Europe about a snow-covered mountain on the equator (actually 4 degrees South of it).  At the time he was not believed, a similar story to the first European to see Kilimanjaro. Nowadays the peak is also called Puncak Jaya which translates as Victory Peak and is popular name among Indonesian communists.

It was Austrian climber Heinrich Harrer who in 1962 became the first mountaineer to climb Carstenz and his book about the climb and life in Papua called ‘I Come From the Stone Age’ was a best seller. His story and eventual fate was depicted in the movie ‘Seven Years in Tibet’ starring Brad Pitt. A few years later in 1971 Tyrolean mountaineer Reinhold Messner climbed Carstenz as part of his Seven Summits odyssey which he successfully completed in 1986.

It’s geographical location is to the west of the central highlands and the Sudirman Mountains. Rather poetically, it belongs to the legendary Snow Mountains, so named because of the snowfall that commonly falls above 400 metres. Puncak Jaya (4884 m, 16023 ft), Puncak Mandala (4640m, 15223 ft), and Puncak Trikora (4730m, 15518 ft), are the three tallest and most well known mountains of West Papua. 

At 4884 metres it is the highest mountain in Australia and Oceania, collectively known as Australasia and, depending on your interpretation of a continent, it is one of the Seven Summits. The definition is still a point of debate because it depends on whether one considers a continent geographically or geologically. If New Guinea is regarded as part of the Australasian continental land mass then Carstenz is indeed the highest. Either way it is a significant expedition and far more challenging than Kosciusko.

Most people opt to fly into Jakarta with one of many international airlines, or else to Bali. From there the route to Timika on West Papua is with Indonesian airlines Lion Air or Batik Air, normally via at least one stop enroute (for example Ambon). Bear in mind that it takes almost a full day to get to Papua from Jakarta.