February 15, 2013
The view of the Sudirman Range from the north, on the trek approach to Mt Carstensz. Semantri is on the left (Jason Edwards)
IMG guide Dan Zokaites called today to report that his team successfully climbed Ngga Pulu (Puncak Jaya). Â The weather was excellent when they started, and it lasted until they reached the summit, but deteriorated into the normal (wet!) conditions as they descended.
In 1936 when the Dutch first climbed in this area, Ngga Pulu was estimated to be higher than Semantri. Now, however,  the rocky summit of Semantri is a little higher (maybe 10m) due to the melting of the glaciers.  Dan mentioned that they climbed both the snow and rock summits of Ngga Pulu today, and that the snow peak is still a little higher, but will eventually melt to be lower than the rock summit. Great job you guys, that is quite an adventure!
Eric Simonson