Puncak mandala

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Puncak mandala
Puncak Mandala from the northwest.

Puncak Mandala from the northwest.

height 4760  m
location Papua Province , Indonesia
Mountains Maoke Mountains
Notch height 2758 m
Coordinates 4 ° 42 '30 "  S , 140 ° 17' 21"  E Coordinates: 4 ° 42 '30 "  S , 140 ° 17' 21"  E
Puncak Mandala (Moluccan Papua)
Puncak mandala
First ascent September 9, 1959 by Herman Verstappen, Arthur Escher, Max Tissing, Jan de Wijn & Piet ter Laag
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The Puncak Mandala , formerly Julianatop , is a mountain in the Indonesian western part of the island of New Guinea ( Papua Province ). It lies in the Jayawijaya chain of the eastern Maoke Mountains . According to current knowledge, the summit height is given as 4760  m . The Puncak Mandala was heavily glaciated until a few decades ago, but global warming caused the ice cap to melt completely in the course of the 20th century.

Some sources have listed the Puncak Mandala as the second highest mountain on the island of New Guinea , after the Puncak Jaya ( 4884  m ). He was therefore considered in mountaineering as one of five candidates on the continent of Oceania for the status of the Second Summit . Today the Puncak Mandala is the third highest mountain on the continent, after the Sumantri ( 4870  m ).

Surname

The mountain was named Puncak Mandala after the Indonesian occupation of West New Guinea in 1963. The name refers to the Mandala Command ( "Komando Mandala Pembebasan Irian Barat" ), which had played an important role in the military "liberation" of the region . The term mandala stands for a political power model in Southeast Asia. In addition to Puncak Mandala (German: Mandala summit ), Gunung Mandala (German: Berg Mandala ) and the English Mount Mandala are common names.

During the Dutch colonial era, the mountain was named Julianatop (German: Juliana summit ), and the English name Mount Juliana was also used. This colonial naming referred to the Dutch heir to the throne and later Queen Juliana of Orange-Nassau (1909-2004).

The local Papuan people call it Abom .

geography

location

The Puncak Mandala is located in the east of the Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea, about 50 km from the border with the state of Papua New Guinea . It is the highest point in the Jayawijaya Mountains, the eastern part of the Maoke Mountains. The mountain ranges around the Puncak Mandala and the 4595 meter high Puncak Yamin (formerly Prins Hendrik Top ) in the far east of the province of Papua are also known as the Sterrengebergte or English Star Mountains . The limestone massif of the Puncak Mandala slopes steeply to the southwest, the slope is less pronounced to the northeast. The lower mountains to the north and south are covered by dense tropical rainforest and grass and bush vegetation. North of the Puncak Mandala, at an altitude of about 3000 m, the river Digul rises, which flows east of the mountain and continues to the south coast of the island.

There are no major settlements in the vicinity of the Puncak Mandala. Access to the mountain is extremely difficult from all sides due to extensive rainforests and marshland . It is made even more difficult by political restrictions due to the ongoing Papua conflict .

glacier

In 1909, today's Puncak Mandala was recorded - also for the first time - as a heavily glaciated peak. A sketch was made of its ice cap. The mountain was considered to be permanently covered with snow or ice. In aerial photos taken by the United States Army Air Forces in 1945, a summit glacier can be seen that extends over the gently sloping north side of the mountain. By the middle of the 20th century, researchers and mountaineers had already documented the retreat of other glaciers in the high mountains of New Guinea. At the Puncak Mandala, the Dutch expedition of the first to climb in 1959 estimated the glacier thickness to be about 100 meters. Compared to the aerial photos from 1945, the glacier already appeared significantly reduced.

A study by Texas A&M University , dated 2007 and published in 2008 in the Journal of Glaciology , based on the evaluation of satellite images, came to the conclusion that in 1989 there were still remnants of a melting ice cap, the extent of which did not exceed 15,000 square meters. At an unknown point in time between 1989 and 2003, the remains of the summit glacier had completely melted. The exact time is unknown because continuous monitoring of the glaciers could not take place. The British expedition that climbed the Puncak Mandala in 1999 could no longer document an ice cap at the summit.

height

According to current knowledge, the summit height of the Puncak Mandala is 4760 meters. In the past, the various sources indicated significantly different values. The oldest survey was made around 1915; the summit height of the southern coastal region of New Guinea was determined to be 4700 meters. In 1959, the expedition of the first climbers determined a height of 4640 meters on the summit by means of barometric measurements. In 2000, radar measurements ( Shuttle Radar Topography Mission , SRTM) by the US space agency NASA showed an approximate value of 4737 m for the summit of the Puncak Mandala.

In mountaineering , at the beginning of the 21st century, the height comparison between the Puncak Mandala and the Puncak Trikora became more important. The Puncak Trikora ( 4730  m ) is located in the central section of the Maoke Mountains, is much easier to access and was therefore better researched in contrast to the Puncak Mandala. Both mountains were considered candidates for the status of the second highest mountain in Oceania (see Seven Second Summits ). Various evaluations, including by NASA, showed that the Puncak Mandala is about 30 meters higher than the Puncak Trikora.

Today, the Puncak Mandala is considered the third highest mountain in Oceania after the Carstensz pyramid ( 4884  m ) and the Sumantri ( 4870  m ) .

Alpinism

Because of the remote location in the far east of the colony, exploration of the region began very late. In 1959, the Royal Dutch Geographical Society ( Koninklijk Nederlands Aardrijkskundig Genootschap , KNAG) organized the first expedition to what is known as the Sterrengebergte (German: Stern Mountains ) in the interior of the island. Scientists from various disciplines (geology, geography, zoology, botany and anthropology) were represented in order to ensure comprehensive research work. The group of first climbers consisted of five people: Herman Verstappen (geomorphologist), Arthur Escher (geographer), Piet ter Laag (cameraman) and two members of the military, Sergeant Jan de Wijn and Max Tissing (marine doctor). The team spent several nights of bivouac on the mountain, with the last bivouac the two tents were in the snow at an altitude of about 4000 meters. There they spent four nights in unfavorable weather (snowfall) and, at last, short supplies. On September 9, 1959, all five climbers were able to reach the summit of Julianatop via the northeast flank .

In 1999, English mountaineers and adventurers Bruce Parry and Mark Anstice embarked on an expedition from the south coast of New Guinea to the Puncak Mandala. To reach the foot of the mountain, the team and a group of local porters, on foot and in a kayak, took about 80 days. The ascent was made over the southwest face and in the last section on the southwest ridge. The two climbers found no more ice cap at the Mandala summit. The film material about the expedition and the first ascent of the Puncak Mandala Southwest Face was later turned into a documentary for the BBC.

In 2012 the Austrian mountaineer Christian Stangl climbed the Puncak Mandala, for him the mountain was part of the climbing projects Seven Second Summits and Triple Seven Summits . For this ascent, a route directly from the north to the summit was chosen. Thus, to date, only three ascents on three different routes have been documented for the Puncak Mandala (status: 2014). For all three expeditions, the long approach through rainforests and marshland was the main difficulty.

literature

  • Andrew G. Klein, Joni L. Kincaid: Correspondence. On the disappearance of the Puncak Mandala ice cap, Papua . In: Journal of Glaciology . Vol. 54, No. 184 , 2008, p. 195–198 (English, article online [PDF; 225 kB ; accessed on March 15, 2011]).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bilveer Singh (2001): West Irian and the Suharto Presidency: a perspective , p. 86, download as PDF, accessed on May 8, 2015.
  2. ↑ cf. en.wikipedia.org: Mandala (Southeast Asian political model)
  3. ↑ a b gunungbagging.com: Puncak Mandala , accessed May 8, 2015
  4. ^ A b c John J. Staats and Herman Verstappen (2003): Sterrengebergte , report and film about the 1959 expedition (Dutch), accessed on May 8, 2015
  5. ↑ a b Christian Stangl (2012): Puncak Mandala ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 8, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / skyrunning.at
  6. ^ A b Andrew G. Klein, Joni L. Kincaid: Correspondence. On the disappearance of the Puncak Mandala ice cap, Papua . In: Journal of Glaciology . Vol. 54, No. 184 , 2008, p. 195 f .
  7. ^ A b c Mark Anstice and Bruce Parry (2002): Extreme Lives - Cannibals and Crampons , BBC documentary.
  8. ^ Manlio Castiglioni (ed.): The International Atlas - International Atlas , Chicago: Rand McNally; Braunschweig: Westermann. 1994. pp. 164f.
  9. ^ National Geographic Society (ed.): Atlas of the World , 7th Edition, Washington, DC: 1999, pp. 120f.
  10. ↑ Jonathan de Ferranti and Aaron Maizlish (2005): Indonesia Ultra-Prominence Mountains - peaklist.org , (P. Mandala: altitude 4760 m, topographic prominence: 2760 m) accessed on May 8, 2015
  11. ↑ Eberhard Jurgalski (2012): Seven 2nd / Seven 3rd Summits (pdf) (Puncak Mandala: altitude 4760 m), accessed April 18, 2012
  12. ↑ G. Kolff & Co (ed.): Map of the Dutch colony of New Guinea (1915) , Batavia / Jakarta, Dutch East India, December 1915; accessed on May 8, 2015
  13. ^ Hermann Haack (Ed.): Stielers Hand-Atlas , 10th edition, Gotha: Perthes Verlag , 1927, pp. 90f.
  14. ↑ Eberhard Jurgalski (2012): Kammerlander / Stangl: "Seven Second" and "Third" Facts , accessed on May 8, 2015
  15. ↑ Andreas Lesti: Kammerlander's "Seven Second Summits" on Spiegel Online accessed May 8, 2015
  16. ↑ The SRTM data evaluation at NASA (Tom Farr, "Earth and Space Sciences Division") showed a difference in altitude of 26 m (Puncak Mandala: 4737 m, Puncak Trikora: 4711 m, approximate values). Source: A. Lesti (2012): Kammerlanders "Seven Second Summits" , retrieved from Spiegel-Online on May 8, 2015.
  17. ↑ The alpine chronicler Eberhard Jurgalski gives the difference in altitude as 30 meters (Puncak Mandala 4760m, Puncak Trikora 4730 m). He also refers to the findings of the Ultras Project of 2005, in which the Puncak Mandala with 4760 m and 2760 m of topographical prominence was recorded as an "ultra-prominent mountain" . Sources: Indonesia Ultra-Prominence Mountains - peaklist.org (2005) ; Eberhard Jurgalski: Kammerlander / Stangl: "Seven Second" and "Third" Facts (2012) , accessed on May 8, 2015.
  18. ↑ The mountaineer Christian Stangl confirmed the difference in altitude in 2012 after climbing both mountains, he had used GPS or DGPS technology to measure and came to a value of 24 meters (Puncak Mandala: 4,769m, Puncak Trikora: 4,745m), source: Puncak Mandala ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 8, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / skyrunning.at
  19. ↑ The map service Google Maps shows the Puncak Mandala about 40 meters higher than the Puncak Trikora on the topographic maps of the region. Google Maps topographic display: Puncak Mandala and Puncak Trikora , accessed May 8, 2015.
  20. ↑ journeyswithoutamap.com - Mark Anstice on the 1999 expedition , accessed May 8, 2015

See also

Web links

Commons : Puncak Mandala  - collection of images, videos and audio files