Seven Summits: Puncak Jaya

By -

Puncak Jaya, also known as Mount Carstensz or the Carstensz Pyramid, is located in the western central highlands of Papua province or Indonesia. Among the native people of Indonesia it is also called Nemangkawi, and Gunung Sukarno. It is the highest mountain in Oceania and the highest island peak in the world. It stands at 16,024 feet above sea level.

Puncak Jaya was named "Carstensz Pyramid" after a Dutch explorer, Ja Carstensz, first sighted the glaciers on the peak of the mountain in 1623. Interestingly, Carstensz sighting was not verified for another two centuries and the explorer was ridiculed for claiming to see snow in close proximity to the equator.

The peak was renamed "Puntjak Soekarno" in the 1960s, when Indonesia took control of the province. The name was later changed to Puncak Jaya. "Puncak" translates to peak or mountain, while "Jaya" translates to victory or victorious. The first team to be victorious and summit Puncak Jaya was an Australian expedition, led by Heinrich Harrer in 1962.

Puncak Jaya is one of the more demanding climbs in the Seven Summits and is sometimes replaced by less challenging Mount Kosciuszko in Australia. It is said to have the highest technical rating but not as difficult physical demands. The standard route is up the north face and along the summit ridge. The climb traditional takes eight to 10 days. Access to the peak requires a government permit that climbers can attain through various adventure tourism agencies.

There are several glaciers that grace the slopes of Puncak Jaya, these include the Carstensz Glacier and the Northwall Firn. Because the mountain is close to the equator, the average temperature rarely varies, meaning the glaciers only slightly seasonally fluctuate.

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 5, 2014 at 10:49 PM

    Thanks for providing the valuable information regarding Carstensz Pyramid. I have seen your blog and read the above information that you have posted in blog. Carstensz Pyramid Expedition is one of the well-known agency in Indonesia for helping the travelers for climbing the mountain.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

10 Mountain Climbing Training Tips

By -
Image
Climbing a mountain is no small task, but these 10 mountain climbing training tips will have you on your way to a successful climb in the near future. Take an orienteering class.  Contact your local mountaineering club to find out when they have a mountaineering class scheduled.  Learn to use a compass and gain some survival skills before you think about making a large climb. Start resistance training workouts. While endurance is important for mountain climbing, don't discount the importance of strength.  Basic resistance training is adequate for mountain climbing.  You don't need to purchase any fancy equipment because dumbbells and your own body weight provide all the necessary resistance.  Eat right for mountain climbing.  A good climbing diet should get 50% of its calories from carbohydrates, 25% from protein, and 25% from fat.  This is the time to stop eating fast food, and start concentrating on high quality food that you can make at home.  If you
Read more

Best Mountain Climbing Locations for Beginners

By -
Image
Even if you're nowhere near the Rockies, there are probably a couple of great mountain climbing locations for beginners near you. If you're just getting started with mountain climbing, you hardly need glaciers, barely livable altitudes, and sheer drops to contend with. You should cut your teeth on a mountain that is perfectly safe, yet still lots of fun. You can challenge yourself even on relatively small mountains, especially if you aren't already at an extremely high level of fitness. Train on a small, local mountain and you'll also get the opportunity to test your equipment and find out what works and what doesn't work for you personally. Then, when you've mastered your local peaks and you're kitted out with everything a pro mountain climber could need, you can save up some cash to travel to a more well-known and intimidating climb. Mount Rainier Just an hour's drive outside of Seattle
Read more

6 Iconic Mountains You Can Climb

By -
Image
You don’t need extensive climbing experience to tackle these peaks. Good health, fitness and the right background knowledge will take you all the way to the top.  Why do people climb mountains? Does it represent humanity’s spiritual quest to reconnect with nature, to brush against our limits by trying to touch the sky? Or has Climb Every Mountain from The Sound of Music influenced us more than we’d care to admit? Some peaks need nerves of steel: technique, training and a familiarity with crampons. Others, as I have discovered, need only basic fitness and a dose of common sense. So, lace up, grab a water bottle and get ready. It only takes three hours to reach some of the world’s most famous peaks. Let’s start easy and work our way up. Table Mountain, South Africa Table Mountain forms a silhouette that symbolizes Cape Town. Its three-kilometer plateau stands guard over the harbor, the prison that housed Nelson Mandela and the ragged townships that represent the worst o
Read more