Details have emerged about the fatalities that occurred on Carstensz Pyramid this past weekend. Lilie Wijayati and Elsa Laksono, both friends from Jakarta, apparently died of cold after overnighting in the open. Three other climbers in their group survived but needed rescue.
Carstensz, also known as Puncak Jaya, was Lilie Wijayati’s latest peak in her quest to become the oldest woman to climb her country’s seven highest peaks, Tempo.co reported.
Late summits
Wijayati and Laksono were in a group of 20 local and foreign climbers. Five of them, presumably the slowest to reach the 4,884m summit, became trapped in bad weather as they descended late on February 28.
The last climber reached the summit of Carstensz at 2 pm Eastern Indonesian Time, the Indonesian Mountain Guides Association told Tempo.co.
Carstensz can be climbed in one 10 to 15-hour day from Base Camp, but timing is important, as the weather usually worsens in the afternoon, with heavy rains and a sharp drop in temperatures.
The five climbers became stuck on the ridge at a passage known as the second terrace as night fell. Wijayati and Laksono didn’t survive the night. Garrett Madison and two of his guides, Ben Jones and Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, rescued the other three — Indira Alaika, Alvin Reggy, and Saroni — the following morning. The victims were hypothermic and unable to move down on their own at first but eventually managed to descend to Base Camp after their rescuers gave them warm drinks, clothes, and Dexamethasone.
Survivor Indira Alaika posted yesterday from the hospital, where she was being treated for hypothermia and High Altitude Pulmonary Edema. Alaika wrote that the 20-person team had spent two days acclimatizing on the mountain.
Indira Alaika posted some details from the hospital after her rescue from Carstensz Pyramid. Photo: Indira Alaika/Instagram
Harsh climate
Until 2024, Carstensz Pyramid had been closed to foreigners for five years because of political unrest in the region. The deaths of Wijayati and Laksono are the third and fourth to occur since the mountain’s brief reopening last fall. An Indonesian climber of Chinese descent died on September 29, apparently of a heart attack, and another suffered a fatal fall on October 24.
Despite its isolated location in the Jayawijaya Mountains of Papua, Carstensz’s status as the highest peak in Oceania and so one of the Seven Summits attracts an increasing number of climbers. It is also the lowest of them all, not quite reaching 5,000m. However, the peak is subject to deceptively variable weather, from tropical heat during the jungle approach trek to subzero temperatures high on the mountain at night. Afternoons are often stormy. Most incidents on Carstensz come from Acute Mountain Sickness or hypothermia on the upper sections.
Benjamin Jones posted some pictures of Carstensz on February 27, showing fresh snow on the ridge. Guide Garrett Madison confirmed that they had climbed in “Scottish conditions,” with ice on the rocks. The ill-fated group summited the day after Madison’s comments.
At 4,884m, Puncak Jaya (in Indonesian) or Carstensz Pyramid (after its Dutch discoverer) lies on the island of New Guinea. It is the highest peak in Oceania, considered the seventh continent by some listers. Unlike the normal routes on Everest, Aconcagua, McKinley, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, and Vinson, it is a rock climb rather than a high-altitude snow slog.
