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Posts for Carstensz Pyramid from 07/2012

Carstensz Pyramid: Expedition Recap

Posted by: Alex Van Steen | July 19, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Carstensz Pyramid

As we descended the path leading to the Moni tribal village Ugimba, two men - wearing only traditional kotekas (penis gourds) and tribal markings and wielding large bow and arrow sets - stepped out of the bush and onto the path, raising their weapons toward us as they did so. Our hearts stopped, but just for a breath. A moment later two pairs of young women also stepped into our path. Equally modestly dressed in grass skirts and colorful jog bras – I guess that’s what I should call their tops – also with a variety of facial paintings and tribal markings, the women began a series of repetitive calls that sounded very much like an old style emergency alert siren. The sound that issued from them rang amazingly loud and clear and others, further toward the village, responded in kind, setting up a sort of path of sonic bread crumbs for us to follow. We were being treated to an entirely genuine and traditional village welcome ceremony, complete with dance and song.

The welcome committee, now growing rapidly as additional warriors, women and children joined in, guided us patiently toward Ugimba. Running ahead about fifty feet, then stopping to dance as we caught up, and all the while calling out, the six of us were soon engulfed in a small sea of Moni tribes-peoples. In the distance, even from entirely across the valley and opening meadows, we could see all eyes on us.

I asked Sara, one of the two teens on our trip - and a stalwart kid at that! - if she would like to lead. I was afraid that perhaps she was not able to see some of the traditional welcome ceremony as I was walking in front and blocking her view. I wanted for her to experience this as fully as possible since this was by far a most unexpected and exceptional experience. She responded, a bit reservedly, “Oh, I’m experiencing this!” And we were.

What a fantastic climax to our day of trekking through the heat, humidity and wetness of the jungle. We knew we had a lot to look forward to on this trip as we were engaged on an excellent adventure via a route that has seen few western travelers, with a two-fold goal: first, safely reach and return from the summit of Carstensz Pyramid and second, build relationships with indigenous people which would respectfully balance our visit with their way of life. This excursion represented our inaugural effort and we were full of hope that we might attain our goals. 

The village of Ugimba lies in the heart of Moni land in Papua, deep in the jungles of New Guinea. It is the deepest of the tribal villages; only immensely dense jungle and the high marshes and limestone plateau’s of the Sudirman mountain range lie further afield. We would travel this road less traveled en route to Carstensz Pyramid, the jutting high point of the Australasian continental mass (or the high point of Oceania as some call it.)

Six days of arduous trekking eventually led us to our Carstensz Base Camp at 13,900 feet alongside a pair of sky blue alpine lakes known as the Peacock Pools. Rising all around and above camp, amazing rock ridges and towers fought for our attention. If this were the U.S. Rockies or Cascades, the place would be inundated with routes. Here, however, only the most significant line of weakness on the highest peak – the original route – remained the solitary choice for climbers. (Sadly, we knew others had travelled here as plenty of garbage had been left strewn about Base Camp. We have since begun an initiative to help clean this beautiful area, and look forward to working cooperatively with locals and visiting climbers in the future.)

The climbing of Carstensz Pyramid is rather spectacular, with rock that just won’t let you go, even when it runs with rain water (and it rains every day.) The route initially climbs a series of 4th and low 5th class rock gullies before traversing along the narrow summit ridge and over several small notches, toward the summit. The climbing involves mostly scrambling, with dramatic exposure and a few short sections of mid 5th class climbing. Fixed lines and a Tyrolean traverse bypass many of the difficulties. Even with rain, fog and a bit of snowfall, and the altitude, it remains an imminently do-able adventure.

After a long day of effort, two of us - including 17-year old Sara - reached the summit, and all of us returned tired but unscathed. Still some distance from the summit, with the lateness of hour and deteriorating weather on our shoulders, Tuck and I, as guides, made the choice to split the team: Sara and I headed for the summit, with the expectation that we would catch the remainder of the team just before the Tyrolean, and rejoin to complete the descent. Even with more than two hundred high altitude peaks between the two of us, guiding thousands of climbers on hundreds and hundreds of climbs, decisions like this remind us that professional mountain guiding is a most serious profession.

Sara’s dad, Bill (who climbed phenomenally well), and I plan to return to Ugimba in the following six months to help the Ugimba Moni explore options for healthy community development. Bill and I were both strongly and positively impacted by the Ugimba people who helped make this adventure a reality for our team. As we continue to support the development of local enterprise and promote the rights of indigenous peoples both to develop tourism and maintain their traditional lifestyles and customs, we invite you to follow us. I will be posting monthly at http://climbcarstensz.wordpress.com.

RMI Guide Alex Van Steen

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Carstensz Pyramid: Team arrives back in Timika

Posted by: Alex Van Steen, Mark Tucker | July 07, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Carstensz Pyramid

Hello All,

We have just finished a fun dinner after returning to Timika late this afternoon. Admittedly though, the dinner, as delicious as it was, paled in comparison to a shower after all these days in the humid & muddy jungle!

This trip has been demanding in so many ways that the whole adventure is just that much sweeter now that it has ended. Mark Tucker and I are off to Bali for a day of body surfing (oh how I hate my job!) and then back to the U.S.

Thanks for following along.

All the best,
RMI Guide Alex Van Steen

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Carstensz Pyramid: Summit!

Posted by: Alex Van Steen, Mark Tucker | July 05, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Carstensz Pyramid
Elevation: 16,023'

Good morning, this is Alex Van Steen from the Carstensz Expedition. And my oh my, what a day we had yesterday. And here is the great word: RMI has summitted Carstensz Pyramid! We had a long day but everybody, despite being exhausted, did, really, really well. We all have a little bit of an altitude hack and the desire to head the other direction, but we are just loving this experience. I wish I could send photos via this dispatch, but they will be posted later. We’ve got lots of photos, and lots more stories. Stay tuned. Thanks, good-bye.

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Carstensz Pyramid: Team Readies for Summit Attempt

Posted by: Alex Van Steen, Mark Tucker | July 04, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Carstensz Pyramid
Elevation: 13,900'

Mark Tucker checking in from the Carstensz Pyramid Expedition.  All is well.  We had a great training day today.  We climbed a portion of the route just trying to familiarize ourselves with the terrain and technique.  Our team is doing very well.  We were pleasantly surprised at the abilities of our group here.
So, of course, it had to starting raining.  We did start out in some clear weather but the spicket turned on and it is raining right now.  We are going to take a look at the weather starting about midnight tonight.  And at some point we’ll pull the trigger and give it our best shot.  Safety is our number one priority but we are going to push it hard and hope that we get a chance to make the summit.
We look forward to climbing tonight but for now, we have to get some rest.
Thanks for checking in.

RMI Guide Mark Tucker

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Carstensz Pyramid: Team Arrives Basecamp and Preps for Climb

Posted by: Alex Van Steen, Mark Tucker | July 03, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Carstensz Pyramid
Elevation: 13,900'

Good afternoon,
This is the Carstensz team checking in. We had a hike today into our base camp we got in pretty early this morning, and have spent the day getting ready for a prep day tomorrow.  So tomorrow we will probably climb 6 - 8 pitches of rock as a warm up for Carstensz which we hope to attempt the following day.  Things are going great.  We are well established at base camp. It is raining still but there are long breaks of good weather during the day. And we’re certainly hoping to take advantage of that. That’s it for right now. We’ll check in again tomorrow after we’ve done our training.  Good night to all.

RMI Guide Alex Van Steen

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Carstensz Pyramid: Team Almost to Basecamp

Posted by: Alex Van Steen, Mark Tucker | July 02, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Carstensz Pyramid

The weather is beautiful today and our team is about 3 hours away from Basecamp.  After we arrive, we’ll use the rest of the day for training and practice.  We may try for the summit as early as tomorrow.  Everyone is in good health, strong and excited for the summit attempt. We are presently in a valley where it’s difficult to get a signal but we will do our best to dispatch again soon.

RMI Guides Alex Van Steen & Mark Tucker

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Carstensz Pyramid: Team Checks in after Their Hike

Posted by: Alex Van Steen, Mark Tucker | July 01, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Carstensz Pyramid

Today our team completed a 10 hour hike through beautiful marshland.  We are getting into an area with limestone masses, passing by caves in the limestone cliffs. Quite spectacular!  Today’s hike was the first we’ve had in the rain.  But despite the wet conditions, everyone is in high spirits and doing very well.

RMI Guide Alex Van Steen

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