Category: South America

Sosneado

Sosneado Sosneado, commonly known as Cerro Sosneado, is a massive high-Andean peak in Mendoza Province, Argentina. Rising to approximately 5,189 meters (17,024 feet), the mountain dominates a remote section of the upper Atuel River watershed and is notable for both its volcanic origins and exceptional topographic prominence. Sosneado is often described as the southernmost 5,000-meter …

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Chopicalqui

Chopicalqui (Chopicallqui) Rising immediately east of Peru’s enormous Huascarán massif, Chopicalqui is one of the great glaciated peaks of the Cordillera Blanca. Its summit reaches 6,354 meters (20,846 feet) above sea level, placing it among the highest mountains in Peru and among the highest tropical mountains anywhere on Earth. Chopicalqui is particularly striking because it …

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Huantsán

Huantsán (Huantsan, Tunsho) Rising above the high valleys southeast of Huaraz, Huantsán is one of the great mountains of Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. Its main summit is commonly listed at approximately 6,395 meters (20,981 feet) in modern Peruvian and mountaineering references, making it one of the highest mountains in the range. Huantsán is also one of …

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Chinchey

Chinchey (Rurichinchay) Rising east of Huaraz in Peru’s spectacular Cordillera Blanca, Chinchey—also known as Rurichinchay—is a remote, heavily glaciated Andean summit and the highest point of the Chinchey-Palcaraju massif. Its elevation presents an unusual mapping problem. Traditional climbing literature, Austrian Alpine Club maps, and many modern Andean references place Chinchey at approximately 6,309 meters (20,699 …

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Machu Picchu

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 …

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Fitz Roy

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 …

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Licancabur

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 …

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Cerro Torre

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 …

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Mount Roraima

Mount Roraima (Monte Roraima, Tepuy Roraima, Cerro Roraima) Mount Roraima looks less like a conventional mountain than an enormous stone fortress rising from the tropical landscape of northern South America. Vertical cliffs surround a broad, cloud-covered plateau where blackened sandstone formations, crystal-filled valleys, waterfalls, pools, carnivorous plants, and tiny endemic amphibians create one of the …

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Alpamayo

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 …

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