Going for No. 4, Carstensz!

November 2, 2007 by Lei.

It was a quick decision to take on a trip today to climb Carstensz Pyramid (4884m / 16,023ft), the highest peak of Oceania (Austral-Asian continent).

Carstensz Pyramid is on the island of New Guinea, the world’s third largest island, in the province of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), a remote corner of Indonesia. Though it’s not so high compared to other mountains, it involves fifth class rock climbing on beautiful limestone structures with some sections up to 5.8 in difficulty, and it takes 16 rappels to get off the summit ridge. This makes it the most technical peak among the seven summits, and this peak is what motivated me to start rock climbing three years ago.

Gaining access to Carstensz Pyramid is also very challenging, complicated by it’s proximity to the Freeport Mine, the world’s largest open pit gold mine. From 2002 through 2005, the peak was off limits to climbers because of conflicts between local authorities. Starting in 2005, climbers finally could obtain legal permits to fly in via helicopter after paying a sky-high fee. Even so, the local authorities still sometimes obstruct the operation of helicopters, thus some climbing groups have dressed up like dirty mine worker to cross the mine field in the night in a vehicle without headlights.

The climbing part aside, gaining access itself is a gamble, which is what stressed me most for this trip. We originally planned to fly in via helicopter, but less than two weeks before the trip, we were told that the helicopter operation was halted indefinitely because locals are having issues with the landing and refueling of helicopters. The good news is, we were granted legal permit to cross Freeport Mine in a “legal” vehicle provided by them. Just as it is in China, rules are made by humans here and can be changed by humans at any time. You never know what will happen on this cartel controlled land.

The island of New Guinea itself is one of the most exotic and fascinating places left to travel in the world. A few weeks ago, I read a book called “Deadly Feast”, which talks about the origin of diseases such as Mad Cow that have spread through cannibalism. Cannibalism sounded like an ancient practice, but it actually was still in practice just a decade ago on this island! But don’t worry, they have stopped such practices today, and are now known for their colorful aboriginal culture. Our schedule on this trip is very tight, though I hope to have a chance to visit the Dani tribe, where the men still wear the traditional penis gourd and little else.

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