This Famous Peak was First Climbed 62 Years Ago Today

The first ascent of the Puncak Jaya, known to mountaineers as Carstensz Pyramid, was made on Feb. 13, 1962, by New Zealand climber Philip Temple, 22, Austrian Heinrich Harrer, 49, Australian rock climber Russell Kippax, 30, and Dutch patrol officer Bert Huizenga, 25. It stands at 4,884 metres above sea level.

Of the four climbers, none is likely more famous than Harrer, who made the first ascent of the north face of the Eiger in 1938 with Andreas Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg and Fritz Kasparek. Earlier that year, the Alpine Journal editor Edward Lisle Strutt calls the face “an obsession for the mentally deranged” and “the most imbecile variant since mountaineering first began.”

Puncak Jaya was given the name Carstensz Pyramid in 1623 after Dutch explorer Jan Carstenszoon became the first European to see the glaciers on the mountain. Carstenszoon’s claim that he saw snow or ice near the equator went unverified for nearly 200 years. The name of the mountain in the Indigenous Amungme peoples’ language is Nemangkawi Ninggok meaning Peak of the White Arrow. The name Puncak Jaya is Indonesian for Glorious Peak. It is also known as Mount Jayawijaya and Mount Carstensz.

The peak appears on one of the Messner List variation of the Seven Summits – the highest mountains on every continent, along with Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Vinson and Elbrus. The first climber up them all was Canadian Pat Morrow: Denali (1977), Aconcagua (1981), Mount Everest (1982), Kilimanjaro (1983), Mount Kosciuszko (1983), Mount Vinson (1985), Mount Elbrus (1985) and finally the Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid) on May 7, 1986. Morrow was also the first to complete the other Seven Summits list called the Bass List.