Nov 22 2023
Machu Picchu (Machu Pikchu) “Few romances can ever surpass that of the granite citadel on top of the beetling precipices of Machu Picchu, the crown of Inca Land.” -Hiram Bingham High above Peru’s Urubamba River, surrounded by steep green mountains and cloud forest, Machu Picchu is one of the most extraordinary archaeological landscapes in the …
Nov 21 2023
Fitz Roy (Cerro Chaltén, Cerro Fitz Roy, Mount Fitz Roy, Fitzroy) Fitz Roy rises from the Patagonian landscape like an enormous granite fortress, its sheer walls, jagged ridges, hanging glaciers, and frequently cloud-wrapped summit creating one of the most recognizable mountain silhouettes in the world. Also known as Cerro Chaltén and Monte Fitz Roy, the …
Nov 21 2023
Licancabur Rising almost perfectly above the high desert on the border of Chile and Bolivia, Licancabur is one of the most recognizable volcanoes of the Central Andes. Its steep, symmetrical cone towers above salt flats, turquoise lagoons, barren volcanic plateaus, and the extraordinarily dry landscapes surrounding the Atacama Desert. Licancabur is remarkable for far more …
Nov 21 2023
Cerro Torre Cerro Torre is one of the most extraordinary mountain spires on Earth. Rising from the glaciers and forests of southern Patagonia, its nearly vertical granite walls culminate in a summit frequently crowned by a strange overhanging mushroom of wind-sculpted rime ice. Powerful storms sweep across the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, clouds can engulf …
Nov 20 2023
Alpamayo (Shuyturaju) Alpamayo rises from Peru’s Cordillera Blanca as an almost impossibly elegant pyramid of snow and ice. Its southwest face is etched with deep vertical flutings that converge toward a narrow summit ridge, creating a mountain so geometrically striking that it has been celebrated for decades as one of the most beautiful peaks on …
Nov 20 2023
Tungurahua Rising steeply above the lush valleys of central Ecuador, Tungurahua is one of the country’s most recognizable volcanoes. Its symmetrical cone towers more than three vertical kilometers above the valleys around Baños de Agua Santa, creating a dramatic transition from subtropical vegetation and cloud forest to páramo, barren volcanic slopes, and the summit crater. …
Nov 14 2023
Vinicunca (Montaña de Siete Colores, Montaña de Colores, Rainbow Mountain) Striped in bands of red, rose, gold, green, white, and earthy brown, Vinicunca is one of the most visually unusual landscapes in the Andes. Better known internationally as Rainbow Mountain or the Mountain of Seven Colors, this high ridge in Peru’s Cusco Region has transformed …
Sep 26 2023
Cerro Risco Plateado Cerro Risco Plateado is a remote 4,999-meter (16,401-foot) stratovolcano rising in the Andes of Mendoza Province, Argentina. Positioned in the rugged Cordillera Principal near the Chilean border, the mountain combines exceptional topographic prominence with a complex volcanic history, a broad summit caldera, ancient lava flows, and terrain heavily modified by glaciers. Despite …
Sep 25 2023
Volcán Altar | El Altar Volcán Altar, usually called El Altar, is one of the most spectacular eroded volcanic massifs in the Ecuadorian Andes. Rising to approximately 5,319 meters (17,451 feet) at its highest summit, El Obispo, the mountain forms a dramatic semicircle of jagged, glacier-carved peaks surrounding the turquoise waters of Laguna Amarilla. Located …
Sep 25 2023
Quitaraju Quitaraju is a formidable 6,036-meter (19,803-foot) mountain in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca, rising immediately beside the much more famous Alpamayo in the spectacular Santa Cruz massif. Although its neighboring pyramid attracts most of the photographs, Quitaraju is actually higher and presents an impressive combination of steep glaciers, sharp snow ridges, technical ice climbing, and extraordinary …
