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Puncak Jaya)
Carstensz Pyramid is the traditional name among mountaineers for Puncak Jaya, the highest mountain in Oceania. (Jan Carstensz was the Dutch explorer who first reported it to Europeans; Puncak means peak, and Jaya means victory.) It 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 of New Guinea.
The peak was formerly known as Puntjak Soekarno (Simplified Indonesian: Puncak Sukarno) meaning Peak of Sukarno, named after the first President of Indonesia. Carstensz Pyramid is the second highest mountain in Southeast Asia, behind Hkakabo Razi in Myanmar, and is also the highest island peak in the world.
Carstensz is a peak on the more demanding of the two principal Seven Summits peak-bagging lists. It is held to have the highest technical rating (but not the greatest physical demands) of that list's ascents. 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 with three friends - Temple, Kippax and Huizenga.
During the 1990s, separatist guerrilla violence erupted in the province between local groups and the Indonesian military. 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.
Last updated: 05-17-2005 10:49:54
