Carstensz Pyramid - Climbing History
At 16,023ft (4,884 m), Carstensz Pyramid, or Puncak Jaya (pronounced as pun-chak jai-ya for "Victory Peak") as the Indonesians call it, is located in the western central highlands and is the highest peak in the continent of Oceania. This section will deal on the History of the men who discovered it, attempted to Climb it and the things that make it one of the most elusive mountains of Seven Summits.
The mountain was named after Jan Carstensz, a Dutch explorer who was the first European to catch sight of the peak in 1623. He reported having seen a very high mountain range with snow on many parts of it. Nobody believed him back home and even ridiculed him about how snow can exist in an equatorial region.
In 1909, Carstensz' snowfield had already been reached by another Dutch explorer, Hendrik Lorentz. But it was only more than 50 years later before anyone was recorded to have reached its summit. In 1936, the Royal Netherlands Geographical Society sponsored the team of Colijn, Dozy and Wissel in another attempt to climb the island's highest peak. They climbed Ngga Pulu, which they thought to be the highest. However, with the rapid shrinking of the region's glaciers, the rocky summit of Carstenz has since been found to be higher. The Second World War then interrupted any further expeditions there, and throughout the 50s, the Himalayas and Andes were the focal point of Mountaineering. It was not until 1960s that climbers began to think seriously of Carstensz once more.
In 1962, its summit was reached by the team of Austrian Heinrich Harrer (of Seven Years in Tibet Fame), Philip Temple, Bert Huizinga, and Russel Kippax.
Since then, only a handful of other Climbers have had the opportunity to reach its summit because of two major factors. First is its inaccessibility because it is hidden in the thick jungles of Papua. Aside from the natural barrier, there is also the political barrier brought about by the political instability in that area. Separatist guerrilla movements have been fighting there to make Papua independent of Indonesia. That is why in November 1995, the Indonesian government closed off the mountain to public access when things got out of control. Today, anyone who wishes to Climb Carstensz must first get a government permit, but getting that requires a long wait and will be denied until the situation in the area stabilizes. For now, anyone who wishes to make another Climbing History of the Carstensz will have to wait until the Indonesian government issues the green light.
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