Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya)
November 20, 2013
Dan Mallory and Laura Mallory
Elevation
16,024 ft (4,884 meters)
Location
Papua Province, Indonesia
Range
Sudirman Range
Coordinates
04° 04′ 44″S 137° 9′ 30″E
First ascent
1936 by Colijn, Dozy and Wissels
Our route
the Normal route (Harrer’s Route)
Once in Sugapa, we waited for several hours while our guides negotiated with some of the locals to cross their lands. We were surrounded by many of the locals wearing penis gourds and loincloths. Many were selling vegetables and betel nuts, which they chew and spit out the red pulp providing them with a stimulant.
Our heavy packs were carried by locals providing them with some much-needed income. Many of them were bare foot and a few carried babies in slings.
Initially, the trekking was as hard as anyone could imagine with almost impenetrable jungle except for a few openings that had been cut out, deep mud, steep almost vertical ups and downs and slippery moss covered logs.
The rain continued unabated to the point that our boots were full of water and our pants and shirts were soaked through. For several nights our tents were set up in rain. Supper consisted of rice or noodles, mixed vegetables and chicken.
On the fourth day, we rose to find the porters blocking our way trying to intimidate us via animated talking and motions. They wanted more money. After some negotiations, they received a raise and off we went into the jungle arriving at the next camp at about 4:30 p.m. After an all night rain, we rose early to more rain. We put on dry socks and put our feet in plastic bags before putting in our boots in the hope of keeping our feet dry for as long as possible. The trail was extremely muddy and slippery and after some time we left the jungle behind. We had some magnificent views and saw some unusual vegetation now. There were a number of river crossings and we finally arrived at Camp 5 elevation 12, 172 ft. (3,710 m). It had been raining for the last 2 hours so the pants I would have to wear the next day were completely soaked. Supper in the dark consisted of meatball soup, spaghetti and meat sauce, spinach and pudding which tasted soooo good.
The next morning, we woke at 5:30 a.m. to cool temperatures. This morning we were climbing over the New Zealand pass. Then after lunch we had to scale an almost vertical wall that the porters scaled in bare feet. Some porters scaled the wall twice to get all our supplies up – finger and toe climbing for about 328 feet (100 meters) on the steepest section.
We arrived at Base Camp at an elevation of 13,845 feet (4,220 meters) about 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon. Supper was at 3:30 p.m. then to bed because tomorrow was summit day.
We were up at 1:40 a.m. in the morning for a 3:00 a.m. departure. It was estimated that it would take 6 hours to reach the summit and 6 hours to return to Base Camp. The weather was cold and kept getting colder. Dan was congested, had difficulty breathing and had a rasping cough. After an hour, we were faced with a vertical head wall where we used our jumar ascending units and fixed ropes to pull ourselves up the rock face. There was some snow and jagged, knife edged rocks. We crossed a large chasm using a Tyrolean Traverse rope technique pulling ourselves across while upside down, hanging in midair with no bottom in sight. After considerable steep rock climbs, Dan and Laura finally reached the summit of Puncak Jaya/Carstenzs Pyramid at 16,024 feet (4,884 meters).
The climb down was just as difficult as the climb up with added drama on the third day. In the jungle early that morning, the climbing group was confronted by 6-8 porters brandishing machetes and sharpened sticks, threatening us with lots of loud yelling. They wanted more money, again! We were unsure if there would be “bloody” consequences. An increase of $100.00 for each porter was agreed upon and off we went after a 45 minute stand off. After an exhausting 12 hour day, we arrived in Sugapa, completely spent.
