Chacaltaya is a mountain in Bolivia with an elevation of 5421 m (17,785 feet). It is about 30 km from La Paz and is near Huayna Potosí. La Paz, Bolivia Central La Paz Panoramic sight of the city of La Paz La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of La Paz Department. ... Huayna Potosà is a mountain with an elevation of 6095 m (19,996 feet). ...
Ski area
La Paz's closest snow field, a glacier on Chacaltaya is the only ski area in Bolivia. It is notable for being the world's highest lift-served ski area as well as the most equatorial. The rope tow (the first in South America) was built using an automobile engine; it is notoriously fast and difficult. The road to the base of the 200 m drop is reached by a road, built in the 1930s. It is actually too cold to ski in the winter, and operates only on weekends from November to March. The site was developed and still operated by the Club Andino Boliviano. The equator is an imaginary circle drawn around a planet (or other astronomical object) at a distance halfway between the poles. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...
Observatory
Located at 16°19′ S 68°10′ W at 5220 m, the Chacaltaya Astrophysical Observatory (Observatorio de Fisica Cosmica) is operated by Bolivia's San Andres University in collaboration with other universities worldwide. It is an important site for gamma ray research. This article is about electromagnetic radiation. ...
Chacaltaya is a mountain in Bolivia with an elevation of 5421 m (17,785 feet).
It is notable for being the world's highest lift-served ski area as well as the most equatorial.
Located at at 5220 m, the Chacaltaya Astrophysical Observatory (Observatorio de Fisica Cosmica) is operated by Bolivia's San Andres University in collaboration with other universities worldwide.
But not even Chacaltaya's lofty heights can save it from the ravages of climate change, though it is not clear whether its glacier is melting so fast because of global warming or its proximity to the growing cities of El Alto and La Paz, some 19 miles away across the Andean plateau.
Velarde said Chacaltaya's glacier has shrunk by 80 percent in the last 15 years, and the experts measuring its decline say that at this rate it will be gone in four or five years.
Chacaltaya is already an important acclimatization center for climbers preparing to ascend the next-door peak of Huayna Potosi and the club is considering opening a path to the neighboring mountain.
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