Climbers hoping to tick off Oceania's highest peak this year are out of luck. Severe wildfires across Papua have forced the official cancellation of the fall season on Carstenz Pyramid, with no summits expected and outfitters already looking ahead to future expeditions.
Local operator Tropic Adventure Papua says thick haze has smothered the island, pushing air quality and visibility to levels that make transport, logistics and climbing impossible. The culprit is an unusually intense El Niño — dubbed a 'Super Niño' — which has brought prolonged drought and bone-dry air, with little rain in sight to douse the flames. Some foreign climbers had already made it as far as Timika, the usual gateway town, before the season was called off. American guide Garrett Madison, among the outfitters affected, confirmed his team has moved planned trips to March and October next year.
The closure is a small slice of a much bigger disaster. Fires are burning across the Indonesian archipelago and choking Malaysia and Singapore with smoke. The toll on wildlife has been grim: a video of a young orangutan rescued from a treetop with burned hands and feet went viral, and rescue teams in Borneo evacuated numerous primates, returning many to the forest once fires eased.
So what's the deal with the mountain itself? Carstenz Pyramid, known locally as Puncak Jaya, stands at 4,884m in Central Papua and counts as one of the Seven Summits — the highest point of the entire Oceania region. Thanks to its tropical location it can technically be climbed year-round, though February to November offers drier, more reliable windows. It's also a notoriously complicated peak: permits are issued only twice a year, political unrest has repeatedly kept climbers away, and mining operations restrict ground access. Most teams skip the jungle trek entirely and get airlifted straight to Base Camp.
For travellers, the takeaway is simple: if Carstenz is on your list, plan well ahead and book through an outfitter with current permit access. With this season scrapped, 2027 slots will fill fast among climbers chasing the Seven Summits, and anyone booked this year should be talking to their operator about deferrals now.
