Facts
Photos
Bagging It!
Puncak Trikora is the most accessible of the 3 tallest mountains in Papua. The starting point for Trikora is the Dani town of Wamena in the Baliem Valley – from where you can see the peak itself in clear weather. You can fly from Jakarta to Jayapura and then take a local flight to Wamena. From the Baliem Valley, there is a trekking route up to Lake Habbema (3,300m) and on to Somalek cave. Both of these places are suitable for camping. There was a glacier on the summit ridge until the 1960s. A rope and rock-climbing skills are needed to reach the very top of the peak. As is the case with most peaks in Papua you need a government permit and at least a week for a serious attempt at reaching the summit.
In December 2010, Ricky Munday got onto the summit ridge but was unable to reach the true highest point.
Local Accommodation
Practicalities
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- Getting there: Fly to Wamena from Jayapura.
- Accommodation: Available in Wamena
- Permits: Government permit required
- Water sources: Unknown – assume none
Local Average Monthly Rainfall (mm):
Location
Origins and Meaning
Trikora is a shortened form of Tri Komando Rakyat, the People’s Threefold Command announced by Indonesia’s President Soekarno on December 19, 1961.
Links and References
Wikipedia English
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Looking for information about hiking in Kalimantan I came across to this fantastic web site and I decide to leave a comment here about a solo climb I did in september 1993 in Mt. Trikora. I remember I’ve got a surat jalan whithout climb permission, I walked from Wamena something like 3 days to lake Habbema. I got lost many times in the montane forest. There was no information in that time and I don’t want to take any guide because of my surat jalan.Once in the swamps, I visualised the mountain and I walked straight ahead. In the base of the cliff I tried to find the safest way for the ascent but, finally I did some kind of solo rock climbing with some seccions of 4 grade or even more in the french scale. I was lucky because my route drops me in the east ridge, an easy scramblig to the summit. Once in the summit I decided to descent the same way. A bit risky descent. I think I was something like 9-10 days in the full trip from Wamena. For me was one of the most challenging solo ascent I have done as an alpinist.
RICKY MUNDAY FIRST WESTERNER IN YEARS TO GET WITHIN 30M OF PAPUA PROVINCE PEAK PUNCAK TRIKORA – THE FIRST OF 3 PEAKS HE WILL ATTEMPT IN THE AUSTRALASIA 3 PEAKS GLACIER EXPEDITION
London, December 2, 2010 – Ricky Munday reported last night that after a two day delay due to problems finding a safe route, he finally climbed Puncak Trikora solo (4,730m) and got to within 30m of the summit. The last 30 meters was simply too exposed and dangerous to continue alone, particularly given the extreme remoteness of the region. Very few people have climbed Puncak Trikora and little is known about this remote peak in Papua Province. A recent expedition in July 2008 only succeeded in getting to within 200m of the summit.
Munday was forced to trek for nearly two days through difficult rainforest to find the best route to climb the mountain, helped by a guide. After sheltering from heavy rain in a cave at the base of Puncak Trikora, Munday will trek back to Lake Habbema and then travel to Wamena to begin his journey to meet the Carstenzsz Pyramid expedition team in Jayapura.
Named after the Dutch explorer Jans Carstensz, Carstensz Pyramid is the highest island peak in the world and the highest in Oceania. It was first climbed in 1962 by Heinrich Harrer on whom the film ‘Seven Years in Tibet’ was based on.
Munday reports that, after negotiations, he has now secured a permit to climb Puncak Mandala but he now will have to do this last, after Carstensz Pyramid. On November 24 Munday was asked by the headman or Kepala Desa of the district to depart from the village of Bime when he first arrived to climb Mandala. He had to fly back to Jayapura and begin new negotiations with the headman for access.
Mandala can be reached on foot from Bime in two days. The mountain is about the same height as Mont Blanc and is extremely steep with sharp limestone above the tree line. The temperatures will fall well below zero and Munday will need a large team of porters for this, the most challenging of the three peaks. Bruce Parry and Mark Anstice were the last Westerners to climb Mandala.
An expedition in Papua Province is one of the most difficult that can be undertaken anywhere. The jungle terrain is extremely remote and inhospitable; getting permits to access mountains is fraught with complexities and there are very few locals willing and able to act as guides and porters in the mountainous regions.
Ricky Munday still remains focused on his goal to be the first to attempt to summit the three peaks in one expedition. He is also raising funds for the Raleigh youth programme and providing photographs for the Alpine Club of Canada, who part funded the expedition, to show the extent of glacial recession around the three peaks.
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