News Choose 2005-06 2005-05

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Expedition Sine Metu

Carstensz Pyramid. Also known as Puncak Jaya. Rising 4884 meters above the Arafura Sea. The highest mountain in Oceania. Situated deep within the jungles of Indonesian New Guinea. Without a doubt the most technically challenging climb in the Se7en Summits series. Near vertical black volcanic rock from Base Camp to the summit. But as usual the climbing is not the real challenge on this expedition. The bureaucracy poses the greatest problem. The mountain is extremely remote and has not been climbed in many years. Few have ever seen the summit, to our knowledge no Swedes. The combination of an instable political situation, no fly zones, lack of infrastructure, difficult terrain, paramilitary forces in the area and the impossibility of getting a climbing permit (or a visa for that matter), complicates our approach. We will thus sail from Sweden to the town of Timika on the southern coast of Irian Jaya and rely on our charm, rhetorical skills, dollar bills and the cover of night to get to the mountain. Probably the first time anyone has ever brought skis to New Guinea. Definitely the first time anyone will ever ski Puncak Jaya, if our expedition were to succeed in defying the odds. But nothing gambled, nothing gained. Only those who dare… win.

Coming soon in English.