Carstensz Pyramid



The officially recognized height of the Carstensz Pyramid is 4884 m (16023 feet some sources claim 16013 feet). Despite that many sources still claim its height is 5030 meters (16503 ft). Australian navigational air maps quote 16503 feet (5030 meters). Still, in 1994, the height of the world recognized publisher of maps and guides from Verlag noted on the map „Indonesien Ost“ the height 5030 m.

All our equipment (both altimeters and GPS"s) showed its height lower than 5000 meters (16400 feet) at the top of the Carstensz Pyramid. Therefore, in line with other reputable mountaineers, we denote the official height of Carstensz Pyramid 4884 meters (16023 feet). However, we are still in doubt about the reasons behind air navigational maps and Verlag being wrong.

Carstensz Pyramid – Puncak Jaya (4884 m, 16023 ft), Puncak Mandala (4640m, 15223 ft), and Puncak Trikora (4730m, 15518 ft), are the three tallest and most well known mountains of west Papua. Carstensz Pyramid is the tallest of them, and it belongs to the Snow Mountains (Pegunungan Maoke in the local language). They are situated in the west of the central highland Jayawijaya.



The legendary tropical Snow Mountains are situated in the middle of endless jungles in West Papua. They are the logical ending of Cembalo Plato. Out of the three mentioned mountains, only Carstensz pyramid belongs among them. Although the massif of the Snow Mountains is not too high, and it lies 4 degrees south of the equator, it contains four relatively large glaciers. The largest of them is not the Carstensz Glacier, but Meren Glacier which fringes the Nga Pulu peak (4862 m, 15951 ft). Some Indonesians call this peak Puncak Jaya, because it was long considered to be the highest peak of Papua.

And where does the name Snow Mountains come from" There are not only glaciers on the summits, but the reason is also the fact that snowing is not unusual there. Tropical snow storm often bring snow to areas situated as high as 4000 m (13123 ft).