Puncak Jaya

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Puncak Jaya (IPA: 'pʊn.tʃæk 'dʒaɪ.ɔ), sometimes called Carstensz Pyramid, is the highest mountain on the island of New Guinea, on the greater Australian continent and in Oceania. It is the highest point between the Himalaya and the Andes and the highest island peak in the world. The peak is located in what is variously called the Sudirman Range or the Dugunduguoo, in the western central highlands of Papua, the Indonesian-controlled western half of the island.

History

Puncak Jaya was originally called Carstensz Pyramid, after Dutch explorer Jan Carstensz who first sighted the glaciers on the peak of the mountain on a rare clear day in 1623 (Carstensz was ridiculed in Europe when he said he had seen snow near the equator). This name is still used among mountaineers.

Although the snowfield of Puncak Jaya was reached as early as 1909 by a Dutch explorer, Hendrik A. Lorentz, the peak was not climbed until 1962, by an expedition led by the Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer (of Seven Years in Tibet fame) with three friends — Temple, Kippax and Huizenga.

When Indonesia took control of the province in the 1960s, the peak was renamed Puntjak Soekarno (Simplified Indonesian: Puncak Sukarno) or Sukarno Peak, after the first President of Indonesia, later this was changed to Puncak Jaya. Puncak means peak or mountain and Jaya means "victory," "victorious," or "glorious").

During the 1990s, separatist guerrilla violence erupted in the province between local groups and the Indonesian military. The guerrillas, fighting to make the Papua province independent of Indonesia, are somewhat active in the area and the giant Freeport Copper Mine at nearby Tembagapura is an occasional flashpoint. The guerrillas see the mine as both a sign of imperialism and a source of pollution.

Access

Due to the deteriorating political situation, the Indonesian government closed off the mountain to public access in November 1995. Access now requires a government permit, which always requires a lengthy wait and will be denied if political conditions are not conducive to having foreigners in the jungle. At the present time access is possible .

Glaciers

Puncak Jaya icecap 1936, also see [1972]

Landsat image of Puncak Jaya and surroundings

While Puncak Jaya’s peak is free of glaciers, there are several on its slopes, including the Carstensz Glacier, the Meren Glacier, and Northwall Firn. Being equatorial, there is little variation in the mean temperature during the year (around 0.5°C) and the glaciers fluctuate on a seasonal basis only slightly. However, analysis of the extent of these rare equatorial glaciers from historical records show significant retreat since the 1850s, indicating a regional warming of around 0.6° C per century between 1850 and 1972.

The glacier on top of Puncak Trikora in the Pegunungan Maoke disappeared completely some time between 1939 and 1962. Since the 1970s, the extents of the glaciers have been monitored by satellites as the challenges to accessing the area and surveying from the ground are so high. All evidence from satellite imagery demonstrates that most of the glaciers atop the mountain are retreating rapidly and some have disappeared altogether in the last 20 years.

Climbing

Carstensz Pyramid is one of the more demanding of the two principal Seven Summits peak-bagging lists. It is held to have the highest technical rating, though not the greatest physical demands of that list's ascents.

The standard route is up the north face and along the summit ridge, which is all hard rock surface. Despite the large mine, the area is highly inaccessible to hikers and the general public, requiring a 100-km hike from the nearest town with an airport, Timika, to the base camp, which usually takes about four or five days each way.

External links

• [Puncak Jaya on Peakware]

References

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