Mount Wilhelm

Mount Wilhelm is one of the main natural attractions and the highest mountain in Papua New Guinea. It has an elevation of 4,509 meters. Mount Wilhelm is located near the equator, but its summit is covered in snow. Wilhelm Peak is part of the Bismarck Range, and its specialty is that it is the meeting point of three provinces of Papua New Guinea: Madang, Chimbu and Western Highlands.

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General Information

Among the Papuans, in their language, the mountain is better known as Enduwa-Kombuglu. The mountain received its name Wilhelm in 1888. Then a German correspondent climbed Mount Finisterre and gave the mountain range a name in honor of the German Chancellor – Bismarck. The four highest mountains in the range were named after the chancellor and his three children: Ottoberg, Mariaberg, Wilhelmberg and Herbertberg (“berg” means “mountain” in German). However, the correspondent was mistaken about the highest peak, he thought it was Ottoberg, but in 1938 it was found that its height was 3540 meters, that is, almost a thousand meters less than Wilhelm Peak.

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Mount Wilhelm is a witness to many historical events, particularly World War II. It is a well-known fact that on May 22, 1944, an American plane, whose task was to photograph the island of Padaidori in New Guinea. Padaidori Island in New Guinea, crashed into a mountain slope. Most of the debris fell into a lake almost at the foot of Mount Wilhelm, but some parts of that plane can still be seen today, such as the wing.

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Many people never conquered Mount Wilhelm, moreover, the peak took more than one human life. In memory of an army sergeant

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But despite all this, Mount William is the most accessible mountain in Papua and New Guinea to climb. There are two routes to get to the top. The first, easier and shorter route, from the village of Keglsugl in the Chimbu District, winds through rainforest, past picturesque alpine meadows and glacial valleys, and takes a little over three hours to climb. The second route is more difficult and longer, about four days, it starts from the village of Ambullua in the Western Highlands.

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Whichever route you choose, you should never climb by yourself, you should always use the services of a guide and carefully listen to the instructions before the ascent. Then the conquest of Mount Wilhelm will be safe, interesting and will give a lot of impressions.

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