Puncak Trikora

Puncak Trikora
Ettiakup
Puncak Trikora from north. Main summit (center left) and west ridge (right)
Highest point
Elevation	4,750 m (15,580 ft)
Prominence	1,268 m (4,160 ft)
Listing	Seven Third Summits Ribu
Coordinates	4°15′44″S 138°40′54″E / 4.26222°S 138.68167°E / -4.26222; 138.68167Coordinates: 4°15′44″S 138°40′54″E / 4.26222°S 138.68167°E / -4.26222; 138.68167
Geography
Puncak Trikora Location in Papua
Location	Papua province of Indonesia
Parent range	Maoke Mountains
Climbing
First ascent	21 February 1913 by Franssen Herderschee, Hubrecht and Versteeg

Puncak Trikora, until 1963 Wilhelmina Peak, is a 4,730 or 4,750 m (15,584 ft) high mountain in the Papua province of Indonesia on New Guinea. It lies in the eastern part of the Sudirman (Nassau) Range of the Maoke Mountains.

Behind Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid) at 4,884 m (16,024 ft), it is either the second or third highest mountain on the island of New Guinea and the Australasian continent. As such it appears on some Seven Second Summits lists, although SRTM-data support that Puncak Mandala (Juliana Peak) in the Jayawijaya (Orange) Range is higher with 4,760 m (15,617 ft).

At the beginning of the 20th century all the highest mountains in New Guinea, including Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid), Puncak Mandala (Juliana Peak), Ngga Pilimsit (Idenburg) and Puncak Trikora (Wilhelmina Peak), were covered by glaciers. The first expeditions to Maoke Mountains documented a strong recent retreat of all glaciers in the area. The ice cap of Puncak Trikora melted between 1936 and 1962. In 1909 the ice cap still reached as low as 4,400 m (14,436 ft).

Puncak Trikora is a high point on the central range (Sudirman (Nassau) Range), which was created in the late Miocene Melanesian orogeny, caused by oblique collision between the Australian and Pacific plates and is made of middle Miocene limestones.

The navigable Noord River made the mountain more accessible than the other snow-covered peaks of Dutch New Guinea and the Dutch organized a series of scientific expeditions in the early 20th century to reach the equatorial eternal snow and climb the mountain. The leader of the first two expeditions was the diplomat and amateur biologist H.A. Lorentz. Each expedition was accompanied by soldiers, porters and dayaks, who were employed for their expertise with boat journeys.