Manado, Day 2 (Again...)

Here is another email I just received from David Marchi:

Hey Todd- Well I spoke to you on the phone at about 1 AM last night and after I
spoke to you Franky informed us that the plane didn't show up. We were waiting for
a twin Otter which was sketchy enough, and Guy actually lost a client due to the
fear of flying in such a machine. Anyway, Franky told us that tonight the plane
will be arriving and if it doesn't we will arrange a charter flight back to Jakarta
which will make it easier to get to Jayapura where at least we will be in the right
country.

Anyway, me and the ladies have been checking out the shops while Guy went to check out
Bunaken Island. We are all waiting in the wings so to speak just as much as a rainy
day in Talkeetna, only the weather is beautiful and we have an awesome hotel at our
disposal. Not a bad place to sit around and wait. Soo, the only problem that we
forsee is the fact that the big Russian helicopter that is waiting for us in
Enarotali must go back to Russia on October 8th, so we might have to either rush the
trip to get up and down before that or after the climb, call security and walk
through the mine to get out. Either way, we are all just chalking it up the
adventure of climbing this mountain, and like we thought we will be relieved when we
get to base camp. That will be the easiest part of the trip.

Soo, hopefully this will be the last email transmission for a while. Which will
mean that we have gotten on a plane and have started the marathon travel to Base
Camp. Franky is all good and this is just the way it goes. Good spirits here!
Cheers,
David

The Chicas Locas have arrived in Indonesia!

I just received an email from David Marchi, our guide on our third Carstensz Pyramid expedition of the season. Rather than edit his eloquent(?) words, I'll just post the whole thing so you can get a sense of what's really going on over there:

Hey Todd- I flew from SF on Monday afternoon after a while wind tour of Berkeley stopping at Target, Trader Joes, the North Face Outlet, Rei back to Target and then some cocktails with a friend. After a couple of Singapore Slings and some good food on Singapore Airlines, I crashed out for a solid 6 hours, and stopped off in Seoul for a 30 minute refuel.

From there I landed in Singapore, zombied through some DutyFree Shops from 12-2 am then slept in the corner until 6 am. Once I got on the plane I heard a couple of ladies yell my name from the back of the plane. It was Robyn and Roxanne with Guy (Cotter) and two of his clients. Things were working out perfectly until one of Guy's clients from Mexico was denied entrance into Manado and had to fly back to Singapore to get a visa. Right now we are trying to figureout ways to get her into the country while Andrew and I try to do some scuba diving because we have to wait for two clients who arrive tomorrow.

The ladies enjoyed a small party (100 people) for Franky's son's birthday, where they roasted some pigs and a dog. Needless to say, the ladies slept in and passed on the whole idea of snorkeling. Anyway, we will be in Manado for a couple more days, so I'll continue to email. I haven't gotten the SAT phone yet because Franky has been busy trying toget this whole Visa squared away. I'll keep you posted, but so far so good (I guess ...when it comes to international travel in Indonesia where anything can happen).

Manado, Day 2 of the "Chicas Locas" Expedition

I received the following update from our guide, David Marchi:

Sooo....I couldn't get any information about Franky's son's birthday party thatRobyn and Roxanne went to the first night in Manado because they slept until noon and when they got up for breakfast(?) I had already taken one of Guy's (Cotter's) clients out to Bunaken Marine Reserve to do some much needed snorkeling and sightseeing. Apparently, the R&R team were the life of the small party (80+ people) and ate dog and roasted pig. Needless to say they didn't show for the 6 am breakfast to go snorkeling. Anyway, we got back from the Marine Reserve and went out to dinner, which took about a half hour to get there because we went into the highlands.

After a long and windy road back down and my bout of motion sickness we all met up for breakfast and did a thorough gear check. Guy and I got together with Franky regarding logistics and we will be leaving for Biak tonight at midnight. Guy, Rox and I are still trying to figure out why the flight is at 2 am but just realize thatFranky does have it together and once we get to Zebra Wall Guy and I will have a bit more control. We got all the laminated topos from Clark which will be a huge help as well as all the group gear excluding the solar panel, which will bound to turn up by the end of the day.

From all the reports Franky really does have it together but business just operates a little differently here. Lots of middle men and behind the scenes arrangements. Much different from expedition logistics in the US. That's part of the adventure though. I spoke with Franky about the porters and instead of making those arrangements, we will be just be dropping the majority of the gear at base camp with the helicopter. Talk about luxury. Anyway, Guy and I have arranged to spend an extra day at Zebra Wall to review jugging and hopefully will leave some time for him and I to set up a Tyrolean traverse across the rap/climb section. Good idea, eh!

Everything is going well and we're looking forward to getting out of Manado and onto the mountain. I'll try to give you a call at some point with the SAT phone. This is probably the last email transmission, so I'll talk to you soon.
Cheers,
David

We'll call them Chicas Locas!

Well, our third trip to Carstensz Pyramid is officially underway! Roxanne and Robyn Faike will be joined by our guide, David Marchi, on the rollercoaster adventure of attempting to climb this most exotic of the seven summits.

Everyone is in the air, heading over the Pacific to rendezvous in Manado, Indonesia.

I'll post updates as I receive them.

Carstensz Team is heading home!

There are a bunch of happy climbers heading home today. I spoke at length with Clark and he said everyone was in great spirits and thrilled with getting to the top of Carstensz Pyramid. They are probably pretty pooped with the amount of travel that they've been doing, but hopefully they will get some well deserved sleep on the trip home.

Again, Congratulations to everyone who summitted!

Kay LeClaire from Spokane, WA USA
Gene Rehfield from Golden, CO USA
Kiek Stam from the Netherlands
Sally Berg from Golden Colorado, USA
Clark Fyans from Girdwood, AK (or wherever his very cool van is parked!)

The Team Reaches The Summit!!

I just heard from Clark and the entire team reached the summit yesterday!

They departed Base Camp at 1 a.m. and returned with huge smiles 21 hours later. Clark said everyone did great and that they took their time on the descent in order to beef up some of the anchors. The summit ridge was wild with BIG EXPOSURE at a number of places.

Congratulations to Gene Rehfield for his Seventh Summit! Kay LeClaire, Kiek Stam and Sally Berg summitted with Clark Fyans and Franky Kowaas. Great work!

The group is up early right now, awaiting the arrival of the helicopter that will take them back to Wamena for hot showers and some tasty Indonesian food.

The team's first summit bid is rained out!

Clark called to report that torrential rain kept the team from attempting the summit today. He added that the front seemed to have passed through, because they later had the first blue skies since leaving Wamena.

He was going to climb up to the ridge to inspect the condition of the fixed ropes make repairs as needed in preparationfor tonight's summit attempt.

Good luck to all!

The Carstensz Team Has Reached Basecamp!

Clark called tonight with the good news that the team has reached Basecamp at the foot of the north face of Carstensz Pyramid. If the weather holds, the team will go for the summit tonight!

Clark reports that the team is in good spirits despite the lengthy travelling it took them to finally arrive at the mountain. One thing we have learned about Indonesia, is that you need to be flexible and patient. The group left Jayapura for Wamena, in the heart of West Papua. They spent a day in Wamena before boarding a huge Russian helicopter which took the entire group and their gear to Zebra Wall.

Two nights were spent acclimatizing at Zebra Wall before moving camp to the Island Lakes Basecamp. On their last day at Zebra Wall, it rained five inches! Clark raved about the Hilleberg tents that he is using on the trip. It is our first experience with them and they are performing great.

Ya gotta be flexible!

Clark called today from Jayapura, Indonesia. Apparently the helicopter that was supposed to fly the group from Nabire to the mountain needed some work done, so the team has shifted to "Plan B".

The new plan is to leave Jayapura in the wee hours of the morning to fly to Wamena, near the famed Baleim Valley, east of Carstensz Pyramid. From there, they have arranged for another helicopter to fly them to Zebra Wall. The group is pretty pooped from all the flying around, but they are excited to visit Wamena and to be one step closer to their goal!

Mountain Trip's Second Carstensz Expedition is in Indonesia

Mountain Trip guide Clark Fyans called to say that our second Carstensz Pyramid expedition is off and running. Kay LeClaire, Gene Rehfield, Kiek Stam and Sally Berg are with Clark in Pulau Biak, off the north shore of the island of Papua.

Clark reports that everyone made it to Manado with all their bags and that the 1000 mile flight to Biak went without incident.