MOUNTAINEERING INFORMATION ARTICLES

Carstensz Pyramid - Approach and Climbing Routes

There are several ways to reach Carstensz' summit which will be discussed in this Approach and Climbing Routes section. We hope that this would give you an idea regarding the amount of preparation you have to make if you are planning to climb the Carstensz Pyramid.

Carstensz Approach Routes

Approach Routes

Most climbers Approach Carstensz Pyramid from the north, although early expeditions chose the southern Approach as it offered the shortest Route from the nearest coastline. Now, the Dani village of 10000 people, named Ilaga northern from the Carstensz Pyramid is the starting point. One can take a charter flight from either Nabire or Wamena to Ilaga whereby you skip the jungle. From Ilaga, the highland village, it is a six-day walk from Base Camp with local porters. The Route to Carstensz passes thorugh rainforest and large areas of equatorial bog to reach the uneven limestone plateau. It finally crosses the New Zealand Pass, descending to Base Camp by the lakes in the Upper Meren Valley and then takes an hour to reach the start of the Normal Route on the North Face. One can cut this trip shorter with 2 days by charting a helicopter that takes you to the base of the New Zealand Pass.

Some people, some teams have been Approaching from the south, via Timika through the Freeport copper mine. Special permission is required for this. This Route is much shorter to Base Camp than the above mentioned Route.

Carstensz Climbing Routes

Climbing Routes

While getting to the place itself is already hard enough, it is an even greater challenge to scale the heights of the Carstensz Pyramid. Good thing that you have several choices of Routes to take to reach the summit, which is considered as the most technically challenging mountain of the Seven Summits. Read on below to learn more about the different Climbing Routes.

The Normal Route
Most parties climb directly out of the first notch via a strenuous pitch, but the first Carstensz climbers avoided this by descending on to the South Face and following broken ledges until the crest could be regained. The average ascent time is seven hours.

East Ridge
A long ascent in a fine position, mostly scrambling but with several more difficult narrow sections and some loose rocks.

The American Direct
A direct line straight up the summit fall-line giving superb Climbing at a continuous grade on the top headwall.

The different Climbing Routes and Approaches of Carstensz give you almost every kind of Climbing challenge you need. Want the high level of difficulty thrown at you by the East Ridge or would you prefer a more straightforward Route? The choice is yours. To spice up your Climbing some more, it would also be good to check out our page on Cartensz' Climbing History.

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