The team is out of the mountains.

I just heard from Bill that everyone is down, out of the mountains. Everyone is happy to have stood on the top of Carstensz Pyramid and should be heading back to Bali later today.

Bill will post more detailed versions of these updates when he gets back home, ad we'l post photos from the climb as well.

Congratulations to the team and safe travels back to your respective homes.

On the Summit!!!!

Bill just called from the summit of Carstensz Pyramid!

He reports that all the climbers made it to the top by 8:30 in the morning. It was a cloudy day, but so far it has not rained on the group. There was a fair amount of snow on the route, which made the fixed lines pretty tricky to negotiate.

They will descend in a few minutes and probably head back to Timika this afternoon.

A hearty congratulations to all the climbers on gaining the top of this most elusive of the 7 Summits!

Carstensz Basecamp is a surreal moonscape punctuated with stunningly beautiful lakes.

Second time's a charm!

Bill called during the night and said that they were on the move towards Basecamp. He said everything looked good for getting in and that he would call if there were any reason that they did not make it.

No calls, makes me think that they are snuggled down in their tents near the beautiful azure lakes of Basecamp!

Still in Timika

As is often the case in Indonesia, things did not go as planned, and the team has been delayed another day in Timika. Getting to the mountain is often very challenging and involves many layers of getting permission. Yesterday, the crew was scheduled to go to Basecamp, but at the last minute, plans were put on hold.

Bill said that things look good for getting in to BC today, so hopefully the next report will be from high in the alpine moonscape that surrounds Basecamp.

Delays are frustrating, but they are par for the course with this expedition...

Ahh, Expedition Life...

Expedition training at the Sheraton in Timika.

All is going well!

I just heard from Bill Allen. The team has all arrived in Timika, on the island of Papua. Everyone made it to Bali and so did their gear. The plan is to spend a day or two in Timika before heading in to the mountain.

There isn't too much to see or do in Timika, so I expect the crew will enjoy the very nice Sheraton Hotel and it's beautiful pool. They might venture into town to purchase some of thenative wood carvings that Papua is famous for, but the town is a hectic, dirty place, with not too much to offer the visitor.

We're All in Indonesia!

This is Bill in Makassar, Sulawesi. The team all arrived in Bali, we broke a long standing streak for Alastair, and all of the bags showed up. We've all recovered from the long flights, checked our equipment one last time, and we're ready to go!!!

Everything is on schedule so far, we have the permits, and should be to base camp in just a couple of days.

We had the opportunity to spend some time seeing the sights in Bali yesterday, and visited the Tanah Lot temple on the southern coast. Chris and Alistair bravely posed with the giant Python draped over their shoulders. We've got some great pictures.

Our next update should be from base camp.

Ahh, Bali...

Remind me again; why do we start our expeditions in Bali...?

Taking to the air!

Well, our November 15, 2007 Carstensz Pyramid expedition is officially under way. Our guides, Bill Allen and Kevin Koprek are about to board a plane for Bali, Indonesia where they will meet the other members of the expedition.

The other climbers are:

Biff Palmer from Texas who climbed Denali and Mount Vinson with us.
Alistair Sutcliffe from England who climbed Denali with us.
Chris Nichols from Nevada who was also climbed with us on Denali.
Tim Ralph from England who climbed Denali with Mountain Trip.
Vivian Rigney from Ireland, who (you guessed it!) also climbed Denali with us.
Helmut Linzbichler who splits his time between Michigan and Austria.
Kurt Gusinde from Arizona.

We will post updates as we receive them. Safe travels, everyone!

Welcome to the Dispatch Blog for our Carstensz Pyramid Expedition!

Welcome to the dispatch pages for Mountain Trip's November 15th, 2007 expedition to Carstensz Pyramid. At 16, 023 feet, Carstensz is the lowest of the famed 7 Summits, yet it is paradoxically the least climbed. This elusive peak has always been challenging to access and it remains so today.

Our team will meet in Bali, Indonesia, and make their way to the island of Papua. Papua is a lush, tropical island located about 4 degrees below the equator. It is rich in both mineral wealth as well as with cultural diversity. The tribal people of the island speak hundreds of different languages and some of them still live in a manner considered to be very primitive by our Western standards.

We'll update this blog as we receive information from the team.