Puncak Jaya

The name of the mountain in the indigenous Amungme peoples' language is Nemangkawi Ninggok meaning Peak of the White Arrow. The name Puncak Jaya is Indonesian for 'Glorious Peak'. It is also known as the Carstensz Pyramid, Mount Jayawijaya, or Mount Carstensz.

The highlands surrounding the peak were inhabited before European contact, and the peak is known as Nemangkawi in Amungkal.

Puncak Jaya was named "Carstensz Pyramid" after Dutch explorer Jan Carstenszoon, who was the first European to sight the glaciers on the peak of the mountain on a rare clear day in 1623.{{cite book | last = Neill | first = Wilfred T. | author-link = Wilfred T. Neill | title = Twentieth-Century Indonesia | url = https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury0000neil | url-access = registration | publisher = Columbia University Press | year = 1973 | page = [https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury0000neil/page/14 14] | isbn = 978-0-231-08316-4}} The sighting went unverified for over two centuries, and Carstensz was ridiculed in Europe when he said he had seen snow near the equator. It appeared on maps of the time as Sneebergh.{{Cite web |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232563272 |title=Wilhelm and Johan Blaeu, India quae orientalis dicitur, et insulae adiacentes, Amsterdam, 1664 |access-date=16 April 2022 |archive-date=5 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005162439/https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232563272/view |url-status=live }}

The snowfield of Puncak Trikora, {{cvt|170.|km}} east of here, was reached as early as 1909 by a Dutch explorer, Hendrik Albert Lorentz with six of his Dayak Kenyah porters recruited from the Apo Kayan in Borneo.Lorentz, H.A., 1910. Zwarte Menschen – Witte Bergen: Verhaal van den Tocht naar het Sneeuwgebergte van Nieuw-Guinea, Leiden: EJ. Brill. The predecessor of the Lorentz National Park, which encompasses the Carstensz Range, was established in 1919 following the report of this expedition.

File:Puncak Jaya glaciers 1850-2003 evolution map-fr.gif

Puncak Jaya is the highest point on the Central Range, which was created in the late Miocene Melanesian orogeny,{{cite journal|last1=Dow|first1=D.B.|author2=Sukamto R.|year=1984|title=Late Tertiary to Quaternary Tectonics of Irian Jaya|journal=Episodes|volume=7|issue=4|pages=3–9|doi=10.18814/epiiugs/1984/v7i4/001|doi-access=free}}

caused by an oblique collision between the Australian and Pacific plates, and is made of middle Miocene limestones.{{cite journal|last1=Weiland|first1=Richard J.|first2=Mark|last2=Cloos|title=Pliocene-Pleistocene asymmetric unroofing of the Irian fold belt, Irian Jaya, Indonesia: Apatite fission-track thermochronology|journal=GSA Bulletin|year=1996|volume=108|issue=11|pages=1438–49|doi=10.1130/0016-7606(1996)108<1438:ppauot>2.3.co;2|bibcode=1996GSAB..108.1438W}}

File:Puncak Jaya icecap 1936.jpg

File:Puncak Jaya icecap 1972.jpg

While Puncak Jaya's peak is free of ice, there are several glaciers on its slopes, including the Carstensz Glacier, West Northwall Firn, East Northwall Firn and the recently vanished Meren Glacier in the Meren Valley (meren is Dutch for "lakes").{{cite web |last1=Kincaid |first1=Joni L. |last2=Klein |first2=Andrew G |year=2004 |title=Retreat of the Irian Jaya Glaciers from 2000 to 2002 as Measured from IKONOS Satellite Images |url=https://www.easternsnow.org/s/16-Kincaid-Klein.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005162426/https://www.easternsnow.org/s/16-Kincaid-Klein.pdf |archive-date=5 October 2024 |access-date=3 November 2011 |work=61st Eastern Snow Conference |pages=147–157}}

Being equatorial, there is little variation in the mean temperature during the year (around {{cvt|0.5|C-change|disp=sqbr||}}) 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, around the time of the Little Ice Age Maximum which primarily affected the Northern Hemisphere, indicating a regional warming of around {{cvt|0.6|C-change|||}} per century between 1850 and 1972.

The glacier on Puncak Trikora in the Maoke Mountains disappeared completely some time between 1939 and 1962.{{cite web |author1=Allison, Ian |author2=Peterson, James A. |title=Glaciers of Irian Jaya, Indonesia and New Zealand |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/prof/p1386h/indonesia/indonesia.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512011301/http://pubs.usgs.gov/prof/p1386h/indonesia/indonesia.html |archive-date=12 May 2008 |access-date=2018-09-06 |work=U.S. Geological Survey, U.S.Department of the Interior}} Since the 1970s, evidence from satellite imagery indicates the Puncak Jaya glaciers have been retreating rapidly. The Meren Glacier melted away sometime between 1994 and 2000.

An expedition led by paleoclimatologist Lonnie Thompson in 2010 found that the glaciers are disappearing at a rate of {{convert|7|m|spell=in||}} thickness per year and in 2018 they were predicted to vanish in the 2020s.{{cite news |date=July 2, 2010 |title=Papua Glacier's Secrets Dripping Away: Scientists |url=http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/papua-glaciers-secrets-dripping-away-scientists/383881 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705162132/http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/papua-glaciers-secrets-dripping-away-scientists/383881 |archive-date=2010-07-05 |access-date=3 July 2010 |work=Jakarta Globe |agency=Agence France-Presse}}{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Shan-shan |last2=Veettil |first2=Bijeesh Kozhikkodan |date=2018-03-01 |title=State and fate of the remaining tropical mountain glaciers in australasia using satellite imagery |journal=Journal of Mountain Science |language=en |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=495–503 |doi=10.1007/s11629-017-4539-0 |issn=1993-0321 |s2cid=135211598}}

The peak has an alpine tundra climate (Köppen ETf) closely bordering on an ice cap climate (Köppen EF). Autumn (March to May) is the warmest season, with May being the only month whose average temperatures surpass freezing.

{{Weather box

| location = Mount Puncak Jaya (4884 m)

| metric first = yes

| single line = yes

| Jan high C = -0.1

| Feb high C = 0.0

| Mar high C = 0.1

| Apr high C = 0.1

| May high C = 0.3

| Jun high C = -0.2

| Jul high C = -0.3

| Aug high C = -0.5

| Sep high C = -0.4

| Oct high C = -0.3

| Nov high C = 0.0

| Dec high C = 0.1

| Jan low C = -0.5

| Feb low C = -0.5

| Mar low C = -0.5

| Apr low C = -0.4

| May low C = -0.2

| Jun low C = -0.6

| Jul low C = -0.8

| Aug low C = -1.1

| Sep low C = -1.0

| Oct low C = -0.8

| Nov low C = -0.5

| Dec low C = -0.4

| source = {{Cite web |title=Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) Snow History |url=https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Carstensz-Pyramid/history |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=www.snow-forecast.com |archive-date=17 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817221031/https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Carstensz-Pyramid/history |url-status=live }}

}}

File:Puncak Jaya dynamics.png

{{More citations needed section|date=August 2018}}

File:Puncak Jaya (NASA astronaut photograph).jpg pit in the foreground. Its summit is at the far end of the central rib.]]

Puncak Jaya is one of the more demanding climbs in one version of the Seven Summits, despite having the lowest elevation. It is held to have the highest technical rating, though not the greatest physical demands of that list's ascents.

The standard route to climb the peak from its base camp is up the north face and along the summit ridge, which is all hard rock surface.{{Cite web|url=http://xtremesport4u.com/extreme-land-sports/the-most-technical-of-the-7-summits/|title=The most technical of the 7 summits|last=Jones|first=Lola|date=15 December 2009|website=Xtreme Sport|access-date=13 June 2016|archive-date=24 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624004738/http://xtremesport4u.com/extreme-land-sports/the-most-technical-of-the-7-summits/|url-status=live}} Despite the large mine, the area is highly inaccessible to hikers and the general public. The standard route to access base camp as of 2013 is to fly into the nearest major town with an airport, Timika, and then take a small aircraft over the mountain range and onto an unimproved runway at one of the local villages far down from the peak. It is then typically a five-day hike via the Jungle route to the base camp through very dense rainforest and with regular rainfall, making the approach probably the "most miserable" of the Seven Summits. Rain during most days of the hike inbound and out are not uncommon. Unlike the other Seven Summits, if one sustains an injury on the inbound hike, there is little or no ability to get rescued via helicopter. Anyone injured must evacuate by foot over very difficult and slippery terrain.

The descent from the peak's base camp can take three to four days. Anecdotally, it appears most injuries occur during the descent due to a combination of exhaustion and difficulty controlling hiking speed on the wet and slippery terrain.

An additional complication is relatively common work strikes by the climbing porters that accompany most expeditions, occasionally halting their work to demand (and usually receive) higher pay before agreeing to continue. The one-day summit bid is technically challenging for those with little rock climbing experience, and it can be quite cold with temperatures at or below freezing near the summit. Patches of snow sometimes appear on the route up or on the ropes of the Tyrolean traverse just below the summit.

File:Carstensz-expeditie.jpg, Frits Wissel and Jean Jacques Dozy during the Carstensz expedition in 1936.]]

In 1936, the Dutch Carstensz expedition, unable to establish definitively which of the three summits was the highest, attempted to climb each. Anton Colijn, Jean Jacques Dozy, and Frits Wissel reached both the glacier-covered East Carstensz and Ngga Pulu summits on December 5, but, due to bad weather, failed in their attempts to climb the bare Carstensz Pyramid. Because of extensive snow melt, Ngga Pulu has become a {{cvt|4862|m}} subsidiary peak, but it has been estimated that in 1936 (when glaciers still covered {{cvt|13|km2}} of the mountain; see map) Ngga Pulu was indeed the highest summit, reaching over {{cvt|4900|m|-2}}.[http://www.knag.nl/index.php?id=640&tx_ttnews%5Bswords%5D=gis&tx_ttnews%5Bpointer%5D=100&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=132&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=502&cHash=bc09ff844a Interview with Jean Jacques Dozy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331060530/http://www.knag.nl/index.php?id=640&tx_ttnews%5Bswords%5D=gis&tx_ttnews%5Bpointer%5D=100&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=132&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=502&cHash=bc09ff844a|date=31 March 2012}} in 2002 (in Dutch).

The now-highest Carstensz Pyramid summit was not climbed until 1962, by an expedition led by the Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer, New Zealand mountaineer Philip Temple, Australian rock climber Russell Kippax, and Dutch patrol officer Albertus (Bert) Huizenga. Temple had previously led an expedition into the area and pioneered the access route to the mountains.{{cite web |author=Temple, Philip |date=4 October 2013 |title=Account of first ascent |url=http://climbcarstensz.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/punjak-jaya-mountain-of-the-imagination-an-account-of-the-first-ascent-of-carstensz-pyramid-by-philip-temple/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520221256/http://climbcarstensz.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/punjak-jaya-mountain-of-the-imagination-an-account-of-the-first-ascent-of-carstensz-pyramid-by-philip-temple/ |archive-date=20 May 2014 |access-date=7 January 2021}}

When Indonesia took control of the province in 1963, the peak was renamed Poentja' Soekarno (Simplified Indonesian: Puncak Sukarno) or Sukarno Peak, after the then-President of Indonesia Sukarno; later this was changed to Puncak Jaya due to the subsequent de-Sukarnoization. Puncak means peak or mountain and Jaya means 'victory', 'victorious', or 'glorious'. The name Carstensz Pyramid is still used among mountaineers.{{cite book |last1=Parfet |first1=Bo |title=Die Trying: One Man's Quest to Conquer the Seven Summits |last2=Buskin |first2=Richard |publisher=American Management Association |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8144-1084-4 |place=New York, N.Y. |page=178}}

Access to the peak requires a government permit. The mountain was closed to tourists and climbers between 1995 and 2005. As of 2006, access is possible through various adventure tourism agencies.{{cite web |title=Cartensz Pyramid |url=http://7summits.com/carstensz/carstensz.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716130532/http://7summits.com/carstensz/carstensz.php |archive-date=16 July 2006 |access-date=7 July 2006 |publisher=7summits.com}} Despite being among the lowest of the Seven Summits, Puncak Jaya is considered to be a technically difficult climb, requiring extensive planning, acclimatisation, mountaineering skills, and support services, due to its remoteness and sheer limestone faces. Located in an isolated area of central Papua, there are no nearby facilities, and climbers have the option to take a helicopter to the base camp and reach the summit within three to four days, or spend an additional four to five days to trek to base camp from the nearest town, Sugapa.[https://summits.com/peaks/indonesia-puncak-jaya/112#:~:text=A%3APuncak%20Jaya%20(Carstensz%20Pyramid,jungle%20trek%20through%20dangerous%20areas.Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid): The 7th Summit is a tough climb] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005162431/https://summits.com/peaks/indonesia-puncak-jaya-carstensz-pyramid/112#:~:text=A%3APuncak%20Jaya%20(Carstensz%20Pyramid,jungle%20trek%20through%20dangerous%20areas.Puncak|date=5 October 2024}}. Summits.com. Retrieved 28 May 2023

In 2016, Erik Airlangga died of hypothermia while attempting the peak after getting caught in extreme weather.{{Cite web |last=Dharma Somba |first=Nethy |date=April 17, 2016 |title=Freeport employee dies on Carstensz Peak - National |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/04/17/freeport-employee-dies-on-carstensz-peak.html |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=The Jakarta Post |language=en}}

In 2017, Ahmad Hadi died of hypoxemia while climbing the peak.{{Cite web |last=Darma Somba |first=Nethy |date=October 10, 2017 |title=Dead climber airlifted from Carstensz Pyramid - National |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/10/10/dead-climber-airlifted-from-carstensz-pyramid.html |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=The Jakarta Post |language=en}}

In the 2024 climbing season, two climbers died while attempting the summit. The first died of a suspected heart attack on 29 September. The second climber, Chinese mountaineer Dong Fei died of a fall while on the descent.{{Cite web |last=Benavides |first=Angela |date=2024-10-25 |title=A Climber's Death Mars the Long-Awaited Opening of Carstensz Pyramid » Explorersweb |url=https://explorersweb.com/a-climbers-death-mars-the-long-awaited-opening-of-carstensz-pyramid/ |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=Explorersweb}}

In 2025, Lilie Wijayati Poegiono and Elsa Laksono died of hypothermia while descending the summit after being trapped in extreme weather.{{Cite web |last=Sephiawardhani |first=Diffa |date=3 March 2025 |editor-last=Martina |editor-first=Lasti |title=Two RI Climbers Died of Hypothermia on Carstensz Pyramid, Papua |url=https://rri.co.id/en/national/1362922/two-ri-climbers-died-of-hypothermia-on-carstensz-pyramid-papua |url-status=live |access-date=5 March 2025 |website=RRI |publisher=Radio Republik Indonesia}}

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{{reflist|2}}

{{Commons category|Puncak Jaya}}

• [http://peaklist.org/WWlists/ultras/indonesia.html "Mountains of the Indonesian Archipelago"]- Peaklist.org
• [http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/blog/tag/indonesia-puncak-jaya/ Racing Time on Oceania's Highest Peak] by The Earth Institute
• [https://www.peakware.com/peaks.php?pk=333 Puncak Jaya on Peakware] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414160055/https://peakware.com/peaks.php?pk=333 |date=2020-04-14 }}
• [http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=11360 Puncak Jaya on Peakbagger]
• [http://www.travelthewholeworld.com/carstenszpyramid.html Carstensz Expedition Report] – 90+ Photos
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180209052919/http://www.oysteinlundandersen.com/new-guinea-west-papua/puncak-jaya-mountain/ Aerial photos from the Puncak Jaya region]

• [https://www.google.com/maps/@-4.0782286,137.1573466,3a,75y,130.79h,96.38t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPZwXwUjI1VaLdOfLRM-S6BW6WmgjnfhYJ5Wpgy!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPZwXwUjI1VaLdOfLRM-S6BW6WmgjnfhYJ5Wpgy%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-20-ya231.1178-ro0-fo100!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e4?coh=205409&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAyMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D Landscape provided by Puncak Jaya]

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