There are three permanent snow glaciers on the slopes of Puncak Jaya (4884 m). Puncak Jaya is the tallest peak in the Oceania region and the second highest in SE Asia. It is also the highest island peak in the world.


Puncak Jaya (in Dutch times: Carstensz Pyramid, in Sukarno times: Puncak Sukarno) is located in the Sudirman Range, in the central part of West Papua province, near to the giant Freeport-McMoran gold and copper mine.


View of Puncak Jaya from base camp


The smallest snowfield, the North Wall Firn.

The Puncak Jaya summit today is visited by many professional climbers, eager to set foot on the summit of Oceania's highest peak. The first person to climb Puncak Jaya is Heinrich Harrer in 1962. Harrer is the character played by Brad Pitt in the movie Seven Years in Tibet.

The first Indonesian team to reach the summit and plant the red-and-white flag on the highest point of the country is Tim Kuskus led by Lieut-Colonel Hadji Anwar Hamid on 1 March 1964. He later wrote an account this Indonesia's first alpine expedition in his book Madju Terus Pantang Mundur.

Scenery of Sudirman and Mandala Ranges surrounding Puncak Jaya

Map of Puncak Jaya area


Map of glacier areas of West Papua province. Unfortunately, the glacier on Puncak Trikora (Wilhelmina-top) disappeared in the 1950s. Other than Puncak Jaya, snow glaciers today exist on Ngga Pilimsit (Idenburg-top) and Puncak Mandala (Juliana-top).

It looks absolutely beautiful! Very un-Indonesian, if you know what I mean. Too bad the area is not exactly tourist-friendly isn't it? There are tons to do in terms of infrastructure for the area, and I somehow have the impression that it is still not quite safe to travel in the region? Tribal warfare? OPM? Maybe just my ignorance. However, if Puncak Jaya is the second highest peak in SEA, would no. 1 be Mt. Kinibalu? If so, does Kinibalu also have snow in its peak?

From what I read, there were some security problems in 1999-2002 period of unrest following fall of Suharto. However, today there is no security problem, as proven by the many foreign mountaineers who've visited and climbed the peak.

If you want to visit Puncak Jaya, you can enlist with the many adventure-tourism travel agencies. There'll be a Carstensz Expedition on November 7-12 by Adventure Indonesia travel agency. Other travel expeditions to Puncak Jaya:
1) Alpine Ascents
2) 7 Summits
3) MountainGuides
4) Mountaintrip
5) Jagged-Globe
Type "Carstensz" in Google and you'll find many more travel options.

Appearantly most travellers stayed in Sheraton Timika hotel before going to a one-day trek to base camp below Puncak Jaya.

The highest peak in SE Asia is Hkakabo Razi in Myanmar's part of Himalayan Mountains (5881 m), it is snow-capped. Mount Kinabalu is 4095 m, 800 m shorter than Puncak Jaya.

wow, never known this fact about Hkakabo Razi before.. You learn something new everyday! Thanks.

^ kembali






Happy foreign tourists in Puncak Jaya, some posing joyfully with the Indonesian soldiers posted in this remote area of our country 2

purnomor,, r u corduroy from skyscrapercity?? hehehehehe

cool place~

WOW those are some of the rugged peeks I've ever seen!

Been really busy and I have been missing my Indonesian brothers and sisters here at AF! Shouts out to all my friends and hope to come back soon!

Mas purnomor, nice thread as usual!

^
welcome back, Papa Linglung! hopes the twins are okay! I'd love to see them again

Cool Pict Mas Pur.....!

BTW I wonder Do Puncak Jaya is the highest and the only snow-capped mountain range in tropical area?

that's right

I think Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania-Kenya border has snow-cap, it's very near to equator.

This thread is awesome, but what shocked me alot is that purnomor actually corduroy in SSC. LOL. nice to see you dude.

Anyway, I heard that they would develop a resort in puncak jaya, the resort including two exclusive hotels with ski's and helicopter landing (helipad). It was proposed during the financial crisis, i dont know if the project is still in place.

cheers

*winks*

Some pics from TV7 show Jejak Petualang's episode of climbing Puncak Jaya:




Base camp at Danau Biru (Blue Lake)


Steep wall near the base camp, the Zebra Wall, used for training the climbers



Climbing the steep cliffs



Reaching the Meren Glacier



At the summit of Puncak Jaya (4882 m)

They're so lucky. Working and having fun at the same time!

wow! really a great place to go. but to climb it?

haii im from skyscraper too!! haha

How i wish its snowin in my country 2...duhh, it somethings that won't happen..duhhh

I thought Puncak Jaya was 5030m tinggi, or is this wrong?

According to CIA factbook, Puncak Jaya is 5030 metres, but according to wikipedia, it is 4884 metres tall, which one is correct?

years years ago when I lived in Bandung, I experienced hale a couple of times- hujan es- that's the closest thing to snow we have ever experienced down there. I wonder if it is still like that right now, because nowadays Bandung's temperature is not as cool as before because it has grown a lot, like the Sundanese prophecy: Bandung heurin ku tangtung! Bandung (akan) penuh sesak.

An exotic place indeed, although the place looks a bit scary.

By the way, I've got a picture of an igloo built by the native Puncak Jayans.


A native Puncak Jayan's igloo.

wow. very nice pictures indeed. beautiful place it is.
but did it just started to snow there? if yes, this is quite weird/bad.
the icecap of kilimanjaro melted last year and then now snow appears in
puncakjaya.

never heard they hv igloo in puncak jaya .....

err.. it has been snowing in puncak jaya since god created earth.

BTW there are three peaks in papua province (puncak jaya, puncak trikora, and puncak mandala) that have permanent icecaps..

hahahah hellooww..!
we noe each other rite?! hhehehe u're XxRyoChanxX in ssc.com and i'm cOcO_cHaneL hehhehe
(how random am i)

I think the man on the picture is not a Papua but an Inuit.
You can also see on the background its not mountainious...so this picture is from the northpole.

2

Puncak Jaya by night.
Lovely!

yeah rite..

LOL. Afif's at it again!

I always thought that Puncak Jaya was SEA's tallest peak, and not Kinabalu. Maybe there could be an official ASEAN petition on this matter to give the title to its rightful Indonesian owner.

LOL at afif

Actually the tallest peak in SE Asia is the Hkakabo Razi (5880 m) in the Myanmarese portion of Himalayan Mountains. Hkakabo Razi is nearly 2kms taller than Kinabalu and 800 m taller than Puncak Jaya.

However, since Indonesian West Papuan province is considered geographically part of Oceania, Puncak Jaya at 5030 m is the tallest mountain in the Oceania/Australasian region.

Puncak Jaya from the north


Puncak Jaya from the south


Puncak Jaya and the glaciers on its west


Puncak Jaya from the west


Cave in glacier


Lowest reach of glacier


Earth embedded in the glacier


Algae growing on the glacier


Waterfall on the glacier

I like this thread, so informative.

yea..not like me..i have to be a singer to work and have fun at the same time

too bad im not...i cant exactly...

^Yes, it is still like that, ussually with strong wind.
Last time happened in the middle of July this year and several big trees had fell.

Climbing and descending from the snow-capped Puncak Jaya

SOURCE: http://www.carstenszpapua.com/seven-summits-photos.html

^ wow...beautiful.. ...looks like somewhere in 4 seasons countries

There is no question, what so ever that you simply have an very valid point there.

WOW !! Amazing indonesia

i heard someone from indonesia died because it was slightly below 0 degrees. it is true tropical people can't bear the cold?

Dewi often described the regular evening showers in Pontianak as "bringing a cold wind".
However, from a bule perspective, the evening's drop in temperature down to 24 °C was not quite cold enough.

Another place that is often described as "cold" by Indonesians, is Bandung. In a freak storm, they can get hail.

well in my case.. I ♥ the cold. Been in -45C weather and loved it! I am an eskimo in the inside.. I find this quite common in people who come from warm countries.