The Mount Chacaltaya at 5,421 meters (17,785 ft) above sea level, the Cordillera Real, Bolívia, South America.
Image by ER’s Eyes – Our planet is so beautiful.
The glacier on Chacaltaya served as Bolivia’s only ski resort. It was the world’s highest lift-served ski area and the northernmost in South America as well as the world’s second most equatorial after Maoke, Indonesia. The rope tow, the very first in South America, was built in 1939 using an automobile engine; it was housed in the site’s original clapboard lodge, and is now inoperable.
The road to the base of the 200-meter (660 ft) drop is reached by a narrow road, also built in the 1930s.
Traditionally, due to the extreme cold weather, the lift operated exclusively on weekends from November to March. Since 2009, skiing is restricted to a 600-foot (180 m) stretch that sometimes receives sufficient snowfall for a run during the winter.
The mountain is also popular with amateur mountaineers, as the road stops only 200 metres (660 ft) from the summit. Guinness World Records considers the ski resort restaurant to be the highest restaurant in the world.
