Chacaltaya

Chacaltaya carried a small ski area from the 1930s, served by a rope tow and a wooden lodge at around 5,300 metres, and for decades it was described as the highest ski run in the world; the glacier it depended on shrank steadily through the late twentieth century and was gone by 2009, several years earlier than the projections had suggested. The lodge and the abandoned tow machinery still stand, and the mountain is now visited for the road, the altitude and the view: a short walk from the lodge reaches the summit at around 5,400 metres, with the Cordillera Real on one side and the altiplano, La Paz and Lake Titicaca on the other. It is the highest point most visitors to Bolivia will stand on.

Highlights

• The abandoned ski lodge - the wooden building and rusting tow.
• The vanished glacier - bare rock where the ski run was.
• The summit walk - a short steep climb to over 5,400 metres.
• The double view - the cordillera one way, the altiplano and city the other.

When to go

May to September for clear skies and the least snow on the road. Mornings are clearest. The road is rough at any time and impassable after heavy snow.

Before you go

At 5,400 metres altitude sickness is a real risk, especially for anyone recently arrived; the short walk to the summit leaves most people breathless. It is bitterly cold and windy. The road is rough and tours can turn back. There is nothing at the top but the ruin and the view.

Nearby

La Paz lies southwest; Huayna Potosí is northeast.

Key facts