When the Seven Summits were first climbed, Mount Kosciuszko was chosen as the summit for this region because it is the highest mountain on mainland Australia at 7,310 feet (2,228 meters). As a Seven Summit, Kosciuszko was hardly much of a mountaineering challenge. Today, a road and nearby resort infrastructure make the summit reachable with only a few hours of hiking.
The difficulty, though, is irrelevant. If mainland Australia is considered the continent, Kosciuszko earns its place simply by being the highest mountain. The controversy began when climbers instead defined the region as the broader continent of Oceania, bringing New Guinea and the surrounding Pacific islands into consideration.
At 16,024 feet (4,884 meters), Carstensz Pyramid, also known as Puncak Jaya, is more than twice the height of Kosciuszko and the highest mountain in Oceania. This distinction created two versions of the Seven Summits. The Bass list uses Kosciuszko, while the Messner list uses Carstensz Pyramid. For mountaineers following the Messner list, Carstensz is the summit.
There is another complication. Carstensz Pyramid is located in the western half of New Guinea, which is politically part of Indonesia. Indonesia extends across both sides of the commonly recognized geographical division between Asia and Oceania, so using the country containing the mountain to determine its continent doesn’t really solve the question.
Geographically and culturally, New Guinea is closely associated with the broader region of Oceania. Political borders have also changed repeatedly while the mountain obviously hasn’t moved. For that reason, I consider Carstensz Pyramid the logical choice for the Seven Summits and the highest mountain in Oceania.
Politics were nevertheless impossible to ignore during my expedition. Shortly before my trip, renewed political tensions in Papua threatened access to the region and nearly caused the entire expedition to be canceled. Carstensz was going to be a completely different experience from any mountain I had climbed before.
With that in mind, I set off in October to attempt what would become my fifth of the Seven Summits.
Sugapa
For those who approach Carstensz Pyramid overland, the adventure begins in villages dozens of miles from the mountain itself. My journey started in Sugapa, where we encountered nearly a dozen roadblocks and were forced to pick up local porters before our expedition could continue.
Sugapa was my last real settlement before we began trekking into the remote interior of Papua. From here, reaching Carstensz Pyramid would become an expedition in itself.
The Rainforests
The rainforests of Papua receive enormous amounts of rainfall, and there was no escaping the water and mud during our approach. Heavy rain transformed an already difficult trail into deep mud and made progress considerably slower and more exhausting.
This is one of the things that makes Carstensz so different from the other Seven Summits. Long before reaching the mountain, we first had to fight our way through a tropical rainforest.
The Highlands
Eventually the dense rainforest gave way to the highlands. There was still plenty of rain and mud, but now it came with colder temperatures and a completely different landscape.
With less vegetation blocking the views, I could finally appreciate how unusual this part of New Guinea really was. During the trek through the highlands, we crossed elevations above 14,000 feet (4,000 meters), higher than the summit of Mount Rainier.
The Summit
After days of traveling through villages, rainforest, mud, and highlands, it was finally time to climb Carstensz Pyramid itself.
Beginning early in the morning, the route climbs steep limestone toward the summit. Unlike most of the Seven Summits, this isn’t primarily a snow climb or high-altitude hike. The route involves extensive scrambling and rock climbing, ascending fixed ropes with mechanical ascenders, and even crossing an exposed gap by Tyrolean traverse.
At 16,024 feet (4,884 meters), the summit isn’t exceptionally high by Seven Summits standards, but technically Carstensz Pyramid is one of the most interesting mountains on the list. After everything it took just to reach the base of the mountain, standing on top of Oceania would complete my fifth of the Seven Summits.
