Huisa and Lopez face the challenge of the Cartensz Pyramid

January 23, 2007

The climbers from Sevilla (Spain), Juan Antonio Huisa and Pedro López, will leave on the early morning of next Thursday 25 to Indonesia to face the challenge of the Cartensz Pyramid.  They were there on 2003 trying to climb the highest peak of Indonesia and Oceania but the unstable situation of the country and problems with the guerrillas kept Huisa and Lopez even from seeing the mountain.  This 5,030m mountain has been closed for several years and it looks like it was recently open, but under very exhaustive controls and the permits require a great amount of money, and they don’t guarantee the possibility of climbing.   

The highest peak of Oceania is not really defined, that means there are two opinions on which is the continental roof.  For political reasons some say the highest peak of Oceania should be in Australia , which occupies the largest part of the oceanic continent, so if it was so, the highest peak should be Kosciusko, 2,228m, and also Indonesia belongs to Asia and not to Oceania .  The second opinion, because of geographical and geological reasons, assures that the Carstenz Pyramid is on the island of New Guinea ( Indonesia ) and that it belongs to the same tectonic layer as Australia , so it is part of the oceanic continent, although politically it belongs to Asia .  So the climbers who make this ‘seven summits’ project avoid controversy by climbing both.

Huisa and López crowned Mount Kosciusko in Australia in 2003, and from there they left to Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia ) with the intention of climbing the inaccessible pyramid.  After being greeted by the Spanish ambassador himself, he begged them not to fly to New Guinea, because the situation was very hostile, but being already on the other end of the world they could not turn around without even trying; so they flew to New Guinea and after landing on Jajapura, they rented a private plane where the climbers barely fit inside with the pilot and the material, and they arrived to Ilaga, in the heart of the jungle.  When they got off the plane they found another civilization, another age, the clothes of the people were just feathers on their heads and a cane that hid their penis, called “Koteka”.  The inhabitants of the primitive tribes of the zone lived in the Neolithic era, in the jungle, with guerrilla problems that want the independence from the government of Jakarta .  The army cut their way and mentioning security reasons they didn’t let them pass and they were there for four days without being able to move away from the zone.

Some days ago the climbers of CD Siete Cumbres got a call telling them the possibility of starting the expedition, which begins day after tomorrow after making preparations in record time. The group is made by a guide, a cook, the two climbers from Sevilla, two Americans, two Frenchmen and one more climber.  Uneasy because of the situation they lived on 2003, and knowing that Indonesia is a chaotic country, Huisa and López will leave at 6:30 on Thursday 25 to Madrid, where they will catch a flight to Doha (the capital of Qatar), they will continue to Singapore (the capital of Malaysia) and from there to Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia).  A very long trip to the other end of the world.  Once on the capital of Indonesia they will take domestic flights to get to Timika, on the island of New Guinea, from where the expedition will leave to the mountain. 

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

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