Carstensz Pyramid (Part II)

Indonesian communists called it Puncak Jaya (the summit of victory), even though this name belonged to a different summit was considered to be the highest (Nga pulu). Yet another name for Carstensz Pyramid which is also often used, is Jaya Kesuma. This name is used in books published by Mapala University. However, these days Indonesia uses (rather inconsistently) both names of the mountain - Cartensz Pyramid and Puncak Jaya.

Carstenz Pyramid-Puncak Jaya (4884 m, 16023 ft), Puncak Mandala (4640m, 15223 ft), and Puncak Trikora (4730m, 15518 ft), are the three tallest and most well known mountais of west papua. Carstensz Pyramid is the tallest of them, and it belongs to the snow mountain. They are situated in the west of the central highland Jayawijaya.

The legendary tropical snow mountains are situated in the midlle of endless jungles in West Papua. They are the logical ending of Cembalo Plato. Out of the three mentioned mountains, only Cartensz Pyramid belongs among them. Although the massif of the snow mountains is not too high, and it lies 4 degrees south of the equator, it contains four relatively large glaciers. The largest of them is not the Cartensz Pyramid, but meren glacier which fringes the Nga Pulu peak (4862 m, 15951 ft). Some Indonesians call this peak Punck Jaya, because it was long considered to be the highest peak of Papua.

And where does the names snow mountains come from? there are not only glacier on the summits, but the reason is also the fact that snowing is not unusual there. Tropical Snow Storm often bring snow to areas situated as high as 4000 m (13123 ft).