March 5, 2014 – From the Beaches of Bali to the Thick Jungles of Papua in One Day

“The most challenging part of climbing Carstensz is just getting there” one experienced high altitude mountaineer has noted.

For our Berg Adventures team the journey into the thick rain forests on the north side of the Sudirman Range in New Guinea has gone well, but not without the normal compliment of wild stories that Carstensz climbers collect during their journey. In one long day on July 5th they were transported by car, two airplanes, motorcycle and finally by foot all the way from the beaches of Bali to a dense tropical forest wilderness, home of some of the wildest and most unique people you will meet anywhere in the world.

Heinrich Harrer, famed for the first ascent of the Eiger North Face and for writing the book Seven Years in Tibet, came here to make the first ascent of Carstensz Pyramid in 1962. He titled the book he wrote about this adventure I Came from the Stone Age. Our team members, Brent, Jen, Ursula, Don, Bill, Chet and Dick rode on motorcycles today, so they perhaps feel at least one generation removed from that first ascent era, but they still know that they have reached perhaps the wildest location of all that a Seven Summit climber will get to visit.

Brent called us by sat phone just after it got dark and he was far into the forest already at Camp I, no delays in Timika! The long forest trek has begun and the real adventure is underway now!

Brent’s Call:

Hello this is Brent calling from the north side of Carstensz. This has been our first full day on the climb and it has been nothing but full value! We left the hotel at 11:30 PM on the 4th and it was smooth sailing. There was a model of efficiency in getting us to the airport.

We had a couple hours to kill as we waited at the airport for our flight from Bali to Timika. Everything is interesting when you are traveling; we saw mice that were followed by rats that were followed by cats! It really was a fascinating experience.

Then we were off on our flight to Timika and we were impressed again by the efficiency at the airports and the organization of getting our stuff prepared for our next flight to Sugapa. We were able to get our gear weighed and organized and loaded on to our twin otters that took us to our next destination without any problems.

But then the fun started in Sugapa! We grabbed our gear and were leaving the tarmac. We were stopped by the Dani tribesman who decided to negotiate – or rather extort payment from our guides in order to let us pass through Sugapa. So we were able to finally leave with our gear. There was no hostility and it was evident that no one was going to pick up or take any of the Berg Adventures bags or gear.

Then we went on to have lunch in Sugapa. We even took a motorcycle ride from the village of Sugapa to our pick up point for our 5-day trek to base camp! The road is pitted out gravel that starts as a two land and ends as one. It certainly made for an interesting adventure.

Once we arrived to the gateway for our adventure our guides took part in MORE negotiations with the surrounding tribes about letting us pass to begin our trek. After about an hour or so of our guides Meldy and Poxy patiently negotiating with the local tribe we were off again to complete our first adventure filled day to Camp 1 on our Carstensz Pyramid Expedition.