Tragedy struck last night on 4,884m Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia.
According to high-altitude guide Garrett Madison, his Madison Mountaineering team awoke at 6:30 am in Base Camp to the news that two climbers had perished during the night while descending. Three other climbers were trapped high on the ridge near the summit.
The three trapped climbers were immobile and barely able to communicate on the radio after a frigid and unplanned night out.
Madison, Ben Jones, and Tashi Lakpa Sherpa immediately set off up the mountain with hot water and food to rescue the stranded trio. As they had summited just two days ago with their teams, they were well-acclimatized.
Carstensz Pyramid today. Photo: Garrett Madison
Two lifeless bodies
After 45 minutes, the rescuers found two lifeless bodies. Jones confirmed that the fallen climbers had no pulse.
They then continued up the ridge of Carstensz Pyramid, passed the cable traverse and the first “step across” section. There, they found the three stranded climbers huddled together. According to Madison, they were alive but hypothermic, exhausted, and unable to move on their own.
Madison, Jones, and Tashi Lakpa Sherpa began to warm them up and administered Dexamethasone, as well as hot water with electrolytes, energy gel, and warm clothing.
Working together, the three rescuers started to descend with the three hypothermic climbers. By mid-afternoon, they all safely reached Base Camp.
Back in Base Camp. From left to right, Ben Jones, Garrett Madison, and Tashi Lakpa Sherpa. Photo: Garrett Madison
”We were blessed with great weather today [and] arrived in Base Camp just before the rain started,” recalled Madison on social media. “It would have been another story if the typical heavy rain or wet snow was falling.”
In the meantime, other guides worked to bring the two bodies down. Currently, their identities and the exact circumstances of the tragedy are not known.
Garrett Madison’s team on the summit of Carstensz Pyramid two days ago, in ‘Scottish conditions.’ Photo: Garrett Madison
Carstensz Pyramid, or Puncak Jaya, was reopened to international climbers in 2024 for a period of one month. Since 2019, the peak had been closed because of a conflict in Western Papua between the Indonesian government and the members of the Free Papua movement. In the 2024 season, two climbers perished.
