Of course. One miss-clip of a fixed rope, forget to attach the safety, and you’re dead. Final thoughts on climbing Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya), summiting Europe’s highest mountain, Elbrus, trying (and failing) to climb South America’s highest mountain in Argentina, climbing Kilimanjaro (more of a hike in all honesty! Enjoy a well-deserved overnight stay in your hotel. Because of the risky logistics, we highly recommend that you do not skimp out and hire a cheaper company. Carstensz Pyramid belongs to the famous Seven Summits, the highest mountains of the respective continents. This is especially important if you have opted to fly via helicopter into Base Camp instead of doing the 6-day trek, Descend if you’re not feeling well: consult your tour guide to decide what the best way to deal with your symptoms is. Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) is the highest mountain, not only of the New Guinea Island, but also of Australia and Oceania. Pitch black, about 5 degrees in temperature, harnesses on and summit bag packed, we were off. This was hugely dangerous. 7 days of waiting. In Indonesian it is called Puncak Jaya, meaning "victory peak". The good news is that there is no “better” time in the year to plan your climb. First climbed by Heinrich Harrer with three other expedition members, he was the first mountaineer to reach the peak in 1962. Just. Typically, your training strategy should involve increasingly difficult work-outs by ramping up your workout time, distance and elevation gain by about 10 % each week. For many mountaineers, it is the most exciting and interesting adventure of their lives. Not only that, they were really easy to deal with. Reserve a few extra days, just in case, for bad weather or delayed flights. We ended up taking 5 separate flights over 48 hours. The height of this moutanin is 4884 m . Good luck on the remaining Seven Summits, especially Mount Everest! Although that’s a political issue I don’t want to get in to. As you know, blogging changed my life. It was about Midday now, and the plan was to spend the day doing rope/jumar training, sleep in our tents, then the following day would be spent acclimatizing, before going to sleep in the tents again but waking up at 2 am for the climb attempt. The following morning we connected to another flight to Canberra. It is specifically located in the western central highlands of the Papua Province, Indonesia, amidst lush tropical jungle. Gradually we won the respect of the local tribes men, women and children. To avoid altitude sickness, there are a number of tips that you should keep in mind: Importantly, if you are concerned about the symptoms and have previously had difficulty at high altitudes, we recommend that you consult a doctor. The helicopter ride is awesome, you fly over the biggest gold mine in the world, and the views are spectacular. As an Amazon Associate, Mountain IQ earns from qualifying purchases. 4,884m / 16,000 feet. The route entails a 600m rock face to the top of a ridge. The first expedition to climb it in the early 19th century used ‘Carstensz Pyramid’ as the name. So I hit the gym for that month, and that was it – ready to go. The difficulty of this climb lies between the normal and direct routes, with a long ascent and a lot of scrambling. We paid them, if they were willing to help carry our gear. SummitClimb Puncak Jaya - Carstensz Pyramid Carstensz Pyramid (4884m) is the highest peak in Oceania, named after the Dutch navigator Jan Carstens, who first described it in 1623. I’m signed up for Aconcagua again in January 2020, and Denali – North America’s highest mountain in May 2020 but all those days added up together barely reach 2 months on mountains. This route, instead of including the traverse along the ridge, leads straight up the summit. For the way down, you will need to manoeuvre on long ropes. How Much Does it  Cost to Climb Puncak Jaya? The trek was dangerous and strenuous — 7 of our 12 climbers had to leave by the second day due to injuries of family members and not being “up” for steep jungle hiking, like climbing through a jungle gym of branches and moss-covered roots in places, sinking into mud above our knees in places, numerous opps to break a leg or smash a skull, raging rivers with the most basic stick and single-log bridges and volatile tribes people who demanded money for crossing their territory. Good luck! The Dutch explorer Jan Carstensz first sighted the peak in 1623. We were onto Day 3 of the expedition;  We woke up at 4.30 am for a 5.30 am departure to the airport. So the dining tent was already set up, as soon as we landed and the helicopter left us, the 2 guys quickly set up our tents too. The effects of altitude sickness are commonly felt at anywhere over 3000m elevation above sea level. Having set a physical goal, committed to it, paid for it, trained for it, to suddenly know that you’re actually going to reach it. At 4,884m (16,024ft), it is considered one of the notorious Seven Summits, and as such is a rite of passage for serious mountaineers. If so, you could join one of Adventure Indonesia Puncak Jaya Climb Expedition MONTHLY departure. Here you will make the final preparations for your trek and climb. You’ll then descend to the Base Camp at the foot of the Carstensz Pyramid. The weather wasn’t great and so the helicopter pilot had asked us to get to the airport early, perhaps they’d be a break in the weather. Everyone 20 minutes or so, we take a quick breather. Legend I climbed Kili last year (well, as you said, hiked!) Read my experience here. The hotel was decent, wifi, air-con, hot water. If you look online, you’ll find dozens of mountain operators quoting prices around $20k USD. You should be comfortable with routes of a difficulty up to 5.8. An earlier group were first thought to reach the top in 1936. 2 people recently died due to rocks falling. So Where Is Puncak Jaya? Life’s for living, right? When we woke up the next morning you hope that the weather is clear once again, so the helicopter can collect you. Usually, 2 routes are used to climb the Carstensz Pyramid - Puncak Jaya 4884m: on foot through the exotic jungle or by helicopter, which will take you to the base camp in the Yellow Valley. We hung around the airport for 3 hours or so, and it looked like we’d have another day to kill in Timika, but out of nowhere the clouds cleared. The climb was scheduled just a month after the Marathon Des Sables,  so I knew I’d be quite good fitness-wise, but I’d be weak.  ×  I wouldn’t call myself a mountaineer by any stretch, but I’ve been gaining a little bit of experience over the last 18 months or so with climbing Mount Fuji for charity with my mum, summiting Europe’s highest mountain, Elbrus, trying (and failing) to climb South America’s highest mountain in Argentina, (EDIT 2020 – I WENT BACK TREKKING ACONCAGUA AND REACHED THE SUMMIT!) The Carstensz Pyramid, also known as the Puncak Jaya, is the highest peak in the Australasian continent. Read on and see how I did it (and how you too can do it!). The Seven Summit challenge is a challenge where mountaineers climb the tallest mountain on every continent. Around 5000m in elevation, you always get tired alarmingly quickly. But in 1963 Indonesia took control of Papua, and since then it’s been Puncak Jaya. The cost of a reliable tour company seems to be above about $26 000. Program and schedule of our climbing expeditions. It took us about 5 hours to descend the mountain. Summit Carstensz is a local tour company in Timika, Papua and Surabaya East Java – Indonesia. SummitClimb Puncak Jaya - Carstensz Pyramid Carstensz Pyramid (4884m) is the highest peak in Oceania, named after the Dutch navigator Jan Carstens, who first described it in 1623. I flew to Indonesia about a month early, as I was building a library with my Mudita Adventures non-profit, so once our volunteers flew home from that trip, I was already in Bali and ready to climb Puncak Jaya. Just below the ridge and along the jagged cliff, there are fixed ropes to aid the climb. The tropical beast, also known as “Carstenz Pyramid,” is one of the most isolated mountains in the world, with only around 500 people ever having climbed it. I have wanted to climb Puncak Jaya since committing to climbing all seven summits, the highest mountain on each continent (if you’re wondering what are the seven summits, you can check those out here). That comes down to both how remote the location is, the cost and most importantly, how technical the climb is. Let’s do it! Treks around Puncak Jaya When you have arrived in the Puncak Jaya region you have the option of setting up a base camp to explore Puncak Jaya, nearby Ngala Pulu and the other 4 glaciers surrounding Puncak Jaya. The weather wasn’t great, and the guides were worried that moving forward it could take a turn for the worse. Are you looking to combine a unique an extremely exotic cultural experience with a challenging physical conquest? There will be a huge mark up to facilitate this and sadly a lot of climbers fall for the ridiculous fees being charged for Puncak Jaya. The mountain consist of a large limestone with very rough texture of hard rock. This requires both physical and mental stamina. ), running the North Pole marathon having never run a marathon before, the Marathon Des Sables Ultra Marathon – 6 marathons in 6 days in the Sahara, having never run an ultramarathon before, Australia’s highest peak was actually Mount Kosciuszko, drove 3 hours to Mount Kosciuszko and had a crack at that instead, but that’s another blog post here. Puncak means peak or mountain and Jaya means 'victory', 'victorious' or 'glorious'. ), Riding the Iron Ore Mauritania Train across the Sahara Desert, The BEST Bangkok Itinerary (3-5 days in Bangkok), Travel to Somalia; How I Traveled to Mogadishu, 6 Marathons in 6 Days in the Sahara; The Marathon Des Sables, Why You NEED To Visit the Faroe Islands; A 5 Day Itinerary, Celebrating The Holi festival in india; EVERYTHING You Need To Know Before You Visit. The Dani tribesman of the Beliem Valley first made contact with westerners only in the 1960s, and many of the Stone Age Dani customs have been preserved. Over $10k cheaper than the big Western operators. I want to say that t, Many of you guys know, a buddy and I started a non, In 6 weeks or so, in min-January, I will be rowing, We did it! We offer both options of reaching the summit of Carstensz Pyramid – trekking trips and helicopter trips. It should be noted that these chaotic conditions are only really seen in the highlands, where the mountain is located. But it’s certainly doable for people with a decent level of fitness and even a little mountain experience. It is a mountain of beautifully pocketed limestone that shoots abruptly out of a very dense forest. However, the harder summits of Denali, Puncak Jaya, Vinson and Everest will almost certainly require the support of a mountain guiding company. So with a view to climbing all Seven Summits, I had to climb Puncak Jaya one day, so why not sooner rather than later? A volcano had erupted in Indonesia and our flight to Bali was cancelled, and no replacement was available for a week. All figures are in USD It’s fixed ropes the whole way, hence the rappelling and jumar skills required. Now you have to get down the bloody thing. Just finish the process by putting in your email below and I’ll mail it right out to you immediately. Typical symptoms of acute mountain sickness (AMS) include fatigue, nausea and headaches. In addition to physical and mental resilience, the climb also imposes technical challenges. Notes. To give an idea, a flight from New York to Bali is typically in the region of a further $1800. 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