From the Yellow Valley Base Camp on Carstensz Pyramid!

The second of the Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid expedition teams arrived in their base camp, filled with energy and excitement after a short delay in Timika while awaiting their flight to the mountain.  Once settled into their tents, the team laced up their shoes and took to the route, making a trip up the lower section of the mountain which they plan to repeat again in the near future, only this time on the way to the summit. The weather for our arrival on the mountain was magnificent, offering unobstructed views from the air and once we touched down on the helipad in our temporary home. With more good weather in the forecast, the team looks forward to making their summit push! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Carstensz Pyramid:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid (4884m/16,024ft) private climb – today is March 8.

This morning we woke up at 4:45, caught a ride from our hotel in Timika (31m/103ft) at 5:30, and a couple hours later we were on a helicopter en route to Carstensz Pyramid Base Camp (4285m/14,050ft)! It was a beautiful day for the flight, clear skies as we flew with excellent views of the rainforest and the canyons, the spectacular canyons beneath Carstensz Pyramid with towering waterfalls and amazing cliffs. Anyway, we came in over the mine and then landed here at base camp in the Yellow Valley.

We got settled into our tents and then we went for a foray up the beginning of the climbing route. We went as high as the second terrace. The route follows a system of ledges up to the summit ridge, and we went up to the second one of those ledges. It was really fun climbing, very textured limestone, lots of handholds and footholds. Since the weather has stayed good, we had great views of the surrounding ridge lines and peaks.

So now we’ve had lunch! It was really nice – some sautéed vegetables, rice, and prawns. And, we’re relaxing until this evening! We are trying to decide weather or not we will go for the summit this evening. But, so far all is well. We’re both feeling great! So most likely, we will make our summit attempt tomorrow morning. So, we will be in touch tomorrow and all is well here in West Papua in Indonesia!

Our climber, Scott, in the air over the rainforest.

Follow the Oromana River toward the highest peak in Oceania.

Our climber, Scott, getting a taste of the limestone climbing on Carstensz Pyramid.

Our climber, Scott, soaking up some Papuan sunshine and good vibes with guide Terray Sylvester.

In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

• Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions.  Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.“

– Instagram:

• @MadisonMtng
• @GarrettMadison1
• @terray_s