Julianatop, Suriname Highpoint
First Accurate Elevation Survey
On Sept 7, 2025, a team of eight climbers led by Scott Beems made the first accurate elevation survey of the highest peak in Suriname, Julianatop. The mountain is located in Southwest Suriname and is very remote, over 100km from the nearest road in dense jungle. Julianatop had previously been surveyed approximately by airplane and satellite-based methods, but never accurately by ground survey. The 2025 climb was only the fifth documented ascent of the peak.
Earlier expeditions attempted to climb Julianatop in 1963, 2006, and 2007, but these all climbed the wrong mountain due to a labeling error on topographic maps. The true summit of Julianatop was first climbed in 2011 by an expedition led by Martin Beems, and the 2025 expedition followed the same route.
The 2025 expedition took 14 days and started with the team flying fixed wing aircraft from Paramaribo to Kayser Airstrip. They then spent three days boating down the Zuid River and up the Lucie River, navigating many difficult rapids. Some rapids required wading into the river to push the boat, and others required dragging boats through the jungle on portages. The team caught fresh anjumara for dinner each night.
They reached a point on the river 18km line-of-sight from the summit, and this was the closest they could get by boat. They then bushwhacked through the jungle for five days, sometimes only covering 5km in a day in such difficult terrain. Edinho and Guiano took the lead cutting a path through the dense vegetation, and the team reached the summit at 2pm, September 7.
Team geodesist Eric Gilbertson used a differential GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) device (Trimble DA2) to take elevation measurements on the summit. He collected data for one hour and needed to fashion a custom 8ft tall tripod to mount the device to receive satellite signals through the dense vegetation. This device is capable of sub-meter vertical elevation accuracy and is the most accurate technology available to measure mountain elevations. Eric is attempting to climb and survey the highest mountain in every country on earth, and this trip marked his 147th country highpoint climbed.
The team encountered a jaguar, tapirs, capybara, and howler monkeys on the journey. They spent three more days bushwhacking out, then boated three days back to Kayser to fly home.
Survey results: Julianatop has an elevation 1256.1m +/-0.2m (EGM2008 geoid).
Team members included Eric Gilbertson, Serge Massad, Viri Alvarez, Fernando, Scott Beems, Dean Veldhuizen, Edinho, and Guiano.