Tag Archive for: Bali

Carstensz climb comes to a close!

Our Carstensz Pyramid expedition has come to a close! That marks the second successful climb in 2025, with two more climbs scheduled later this year. Today, the team flew back to Bali where they’ll spend one last night before saying their goodbye’s and heading back home, with good memories from their time on the highest peak in Oceania. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this closing dispatch for this Carstensz climb:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid (4884m/16,024ft) private climb – today is March 12th!

Yesterday morning we woke up to starry skies a little bit before dawn in Yellow Valley Base Camp (4285m/14,050ft) up at Carstensz Pyramid. By a little after 6:00 helicopters were landing in base camp, so we caught a really scenic flight over the mine and down across the forests of West Papua and back to Timika (31m/103ft)! When we arrived here, it was a bit too late for flights back to Bali (4m/13ft), so we spent one last night in our really pleasant hotel here in Timika and this morning we’re getting ready to catch out flight back to Denpasar and the beaches of Bali.

So, all in all it’s been a really great trip and successful summit. I’m looking forward to coming back again! So, this will be the last dispatch of this trip.

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:

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Standing by in Timika

Madison Mountaineering guide, Terray Sylvester with our climber, Scott at the hotel in Timika after their flight from Bali!

The Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid expedition team has arrived in Timika and is awaiting their flight to the mountain! There, they’ll settle into the Yellow Valley Base Camp, do some acclimatization, and technical skills review before making their summit push. In the meantime, the team is enjoying lots of oxygen down low, and the luxuries of what feels more like a vacation than a mountaineering expedition at our hotel! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Timika:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the next Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid  (4884m/16,024ft) expedition – today is March 3rd.

Last night we headed to the airport in Bali and this morning, we arrived in West Papua! Our flights were uneventful, smooth all the way around. We just got settled in at the Ossa de Villa Hotel which is very pleasant here in downtown Timika (31m/103ft). We’re surrounded by tropical plants and the sound of birdsong. So, we’ll get sorted out here and be prepared to fly to the mountain as soon as possible!

All is well here in Indonesia and we’ll be in touch!

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:

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Expedition wrap-up!

The Madison Mountaineering team on the summit of Carstensz Pyramid on February 27, 2025!

The first of our Carstensz Pyramid expeditions in 2025 has come to a close. Despite a delay getting to the mountain, our team remained patient and were treated with a glorious summit day climbing through the night and emerging above the clouds as they topped out on the highest peak in Oceania! The team is now making their way back to Bali and then onto their homes, with good memories and new friends from the expedition. Congratulations to everyone on the team, and a special shoutout goes out to our climbers, Jeff and Bjarni who successfully completed their ‘seven summits‘ journey! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this celebratory dispatch from Carstensz Pyramid:

Hello! This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid (4884m/16,024ft) expedition team.

We had a great climb of Carstensz Pyramid! Everybody who stuck with the expedition and made it up to base camp made it to the summit! Congratulations to our team, Robin and Lauren, Daniel, Bjarni and Jeff. Awesome climb, very winter-like conditions up there, and was the last of the ‘seven summits‘ for Bjarni and Robin. Big congrats finishing the ‘seven summits!’

We’ve been delayed a little bit on the flight out of here due to weather and some situation on the mountain. But fortunately, three of our team got off a few days ago and myself, Jeff, and Bjarni are waiting to fly out, hopefully tomorrow. Fingers crossed, hopefully good weather in the forecast!

We’re looking forward to our next Carstensz Pyramid team with Terray starting up here shortly!

The team en route to the summit!

The team en route to the summit!

Crossing an airy traverse on the way to the summit.

Crossing an airy traverse on the way to the summit.

All smiles amongst the clouds!

All smiles amongst the clouds!

Above the clouds and clear visibility of the route to the summit.

Above the clouds and clear visibility of the route to the summit.

Another airy traverse that must be crossed to get to the summit.

Another airy traverse that must be crossed to get to the summit.

Climbers nearing the top!

Climbers nearing the top!

Climbers, Lauren and Robin celebrating the completion of Robin's 'seven summits' journey on top of Carstensz Pyramid! Nice job, Robin.

Climbers, Lauren and Robin celebrating the completion of Robin’s ‘seven summits’ journey on top of Carstensz Pyramid! Nice job, Robin.

Summit!

Summit!

More summit photos.

More summit photos.

A climber crossing one of the traverses en route to the summit.

A climber crossing one of the traverses en route to the summit.

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:

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Another Carstensz climb is underway!

Carstensz Pyramid as seen from afar.

The second of our Carstensz Pyramid expeditions in 2025 is off! After 100% of our team who left base camp on the first climb successfully reached the top of the highest peak on the continent on February 27, 2025, another team has come together with their sights set on the summit. With a gear check complete and final logistical items now in place, the team looks to move to their base camp soon! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester check in with this dispatch from Bali:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the next Madison Mountaineering Carstensz peak (4884m/16,024ft) expedition – today is March 2nd here in Bali, Indonesia.

The team arrived here over the last 24 hours or so. So, we spent most of yesterday getting ready to move on closer to the mountain, doing gear checks and making other arrangements. This evening, if all goes according to plan we will fly over to the island of New Guinea to Timika (31m/103ft). We’ll arrive there early tomorrow morning and then as soon as possible, hopefully we’ll fly on to Yellow Valley Base Camp (4285m/14,050ft) at the foot of the peak.

So far, all is well! It’s been really beautiful weather here in Bali, perfect temperatures in our hotel right on the beach! It’s a really nice place to start a mountaineering expedition. And when we arrived, we were lucky enough to coincide with our guests arriving back from the previous successful ascent of Carstensz Pyramid! So, we spent the last day and a half socializing with them as they prepare to head off home!

So, all is well and we’ll be in touch from Timika!

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:

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Good to be back on Carstensz Pyramid!

The team together with Carstensz Pyramid in the background!

We are thrilled to have been back on Carstensz Pyramid after a five-year hiatus due to the mountains closure! The Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid expedition team successfully reached the summit on October 27th at 9:00 AM local time with all members reaching the top. It was the perfect way to return to the mountain and we look forward to coming back again this February! Expedition leader, Garrett Madison checks in with this dispatch from Carstensz Pyramid:

Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Carstensz Pyramid (4884m/16,024ft) expedition team. We are back in Timika on the island of Papua, Western Papua New Guinea after a great Carstensz Pyramid expedition! Our team flew up from Timika to the Yellow Valley base camp on Carstensz Pyramid October 26th. The weather was good, so the next day we departed base camp around 3:00 AM and climbed up to the summit reaching the top around 8:30 – 9:00 AM. Beautiful day, we spent some time up there celebrating, taking a few photos, and congratulating one of our climbers who finished the last of his 7 summits, and then descended back down to base camp.

The following day it rained and there were no helicopter flights, so we waited until the 29th. It was a beautiful day and we were able to helicopter back down to Timika and we’re looking forward to catching our flights back to Bali later today and relaxing a few days in Bali before heading on home.

It was a wonderful expedition, 100% success! Madison Mountaineering is happy to be back on Carstensz Pyramid after a five-year hiatus during the mountains closure. We look forward to returning again with some of our climbers in February!

Signing off for Carstensz Pyramid.

The team on the summit of Carstensz Pyramid!

The team on the summit of Carstensz Pyramid!

Expedition leader, Garrett and climber, Laura during the climb.

Expedition leader, Garrett and climber, Laura during the climb.

Descending back down the mountain.

Descending back down the mountain.

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:

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Carstensz Pyramid team 100% summit success!

Our Carstensz Pyramid team reached the summit and has now returned to Bali today, after a helicopter flight early this morning from the base camp.  The weather over the last 48 hours since we got down from the summit has been very stormy, so we were laying low at our base camp until the storm passed and the clouds and rain cleared up for a brief window to let the helicopter fly in.  Most of the kitchen and dining tents in the base camp were destroyed in the wind storm, but our personal tents held up fine throughout the storm, thanks to the great engineering from Mountain Hardwear for our Trango 3 tents!

The climb was an epic day on the tallest peak in Australasia, a rock pyramid jutting out of the surrounding jungle landscape.  We departed before dawn, climbing up the route over varying degrees of steepness on sustained slopes until we reached the summit ridge.  We then traversed the ridge to the famous “abyss” crossing, where we tip toed across a wire cable to the other side.  That wasn’t the crux, as there were a couple more challenging crossings where we literally had to leap across to the other side!  We lucked out with great weather the whole day and reached the top around 9 AM, then began the long series of rappels back down to base camp.  This has truly been an epic adventure!  We are all now on our way home after a wonderful time in Indonesia, climbing one of the world’s “7 summits“!

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Carstensz Pyramid team

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Carstensz Pyramid team

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Carstensz Pyramid weather delays return flight

Carstensz Pyramid weather has our climbing team positioned at base camp for another day. Garrett checks in below via satellite phone and relays that George and Audrey are enjoying the adventure while they wait for their return helicopter flight. Pictures coming soon!

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Carstensz Pyramid weather

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Carstensz Pyramid climbers make safe descent from the summit

Garrett checks in with the Carstensz Pyramid team after a safe descent from the summit yesterday. Currently our team is socked in at base camp waiting for suitable weather to fly back to Timika and then to Bali. Stay tuned!

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Carstensz

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Carstensz

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Carstensz Pyramid team reaches the summit at 4,884m / 16,024ft!

Follow our progress on this real-time tracking map

Carstensz Pyramid team reaches the summit at 4,884m / 16,024ft! Listen to the audio dispatch below as Garrett checks in from the summit. Reports of variable cloud cover and stable climbing conditions. Way to go team!

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Carstensz Pyramid team

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Carstensz Pyramid team

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Carstensz Pyramid team

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Carstensz Pyramid team .

Carstensz Pyramid team

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Carstensz Pyramid team

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Carstensz Pyramid team

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Autumn 2017 Carstensz Pyramid expedition has launched!!

Follow our progress on this real-time tracking map

 
Our autumn 2017 Carstensz Pyramid expedition has launched!! Our team flew by helicopter and arrived safely at Yellow Valley base camp today. Listen in below for a audio dispatch from Garrett and climbers Audrey and George as they prepare for the ascent. Onward and upward!

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After a few days patiently waiting for the sky to clear we are off to the mountain! Carstensz Pyramid here we come!

2017 Carstensz Pyramid

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2017 Carstensz Pyramid

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