Jakarta, Indonesia - the beginning of the journey to Carstensz

Nabire, on the western edge of Irian Jaya/Papua

Great seafood and friendly people as we wait for the weather to fly

Loading up all the gear before flying to our staging area at Enarotali

Loading up the Pilatus Porter aircraft

A tight squeeze gets us all in!

Leaving Nabire on the coast...

...arriving at Enarotali in west central Papua

Locals greeting the rare plane arriving at Enarotali

We stay at the local hotel as we wait (again) for the weather

A local woman preparing to head out fishing

Traditional net fishing from dugout canoes

Great views of the surrounding lakes and jungles on a short hike

Taking in the views of the Papuan lowlands

The local children are very friendly and playful

Enarotali

This area of Papua is used mainly by water travel

Many people live above the lakes and rivers

Finally, we fly by helicopter to Carstensz base-camp at 4,200 meters

On the flight in over the Freeport open-pit mine

Looking down on one of the largest mines in the world next to Carstensz Pyramid.

Base camp at an idyllic series of glacier-fed alpine lakes

Meals under cover from the regular rain showers

An acclimatization climb to the 2nd highest summit, Punkak Jaya

On the glaciated summit of Punkak Jaya at over 4,800 meters

Descending along the equatorial glaciers of Punkak Jaya

Looking up the lower walls of limestone on Carstensz with fantastic morning weather

Low on the route in the early morning sun

Climbing through some steeper sections with the mist moving in below

High on the upper ridge of Carstensz

Pulling through on some great rock high above the alpine lakes

Looking down at the mining scars from the Freeport copper and gold mine

Ascending the upper ridge

A high alpine Tyrolean traverse across a very exposed gap

A committing Tyrolean rope traverse in order to cross a notch high on the ridge

Extensive rope systems help speed up the climbing

Traversing out on some fine weathered rock

The summit of Carstensz!

Back at base camp with Carstensz Pyramid in the background

Flying back down over the lowlands of Papua and ready to head home