Chimborazo | |
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Chimborazo from the West |
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![]() Chimborazo
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Elevation | 6,268.2 metres (20,565 ft) [note 1] |
Location | ![]() |
Range | Andes, Cordillera Occidental |
Prominence | 4,123 m Ranked 17th |
Coordinates | |
Topo map | IGM, CT-ÑIV-C1 [2] |
Type | Stratovolcano |
Age of rock | Paleogene[3] |
Last eruption | 640 AD ± 500 years [4] |
Easiest route | glacier/snow climb PD |
Listing | Country high point Ultra |
The inactive stratovolcano Chimborazo (pronounced [tʃimboˈraso]) is Ecuador's highest summit. Its last eruption is thought to have occurred some time in the first millennium AD. Its summit is generally regarded as the spot on the surface farthest from the center of the Earth (since the Earth is not a perfect sphere), measuring 6,384.4 km (3,968 mi) from the Earth's core to the peak.
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Chimborazo is located in the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes of central Ecuador, 150 km (93 mi) south-southwest of the capital Quito. It's neighbored by 5,018 m high Carihuairazo. Chimborazo's majestic summit rises 2,500 m above the surrounding highlands (~3,500 to 4,000 m) with a ~20 km wide base. Under clear conditions the summit of Chimborazo can be seen from the coastal city Guayaquil. The nearest cities are Riobamba (~30km to the southeast), Ambato (~30km to the northeast) and Guaranda (~25km to the southwest).Chimborazo is surrounded by the "Reserva de Produccion Faunistica Chimborazo" which forms a protected ecosystem to preserve the habitat for the Andes native camelids Vicuña, Llama and Alpaca.
The top of Chimborazo is completely covered by glaciers with some north-eastern glacier arms flowing down to 4,600 m. Its glacier is the source of water for the population of the Bolivar and Chimborazo provinces of Ecuador. Chimborazo glacier's ice mass has decreased over the past decades due to the combined influences of global warming, ash covers from recent volcanic activity[note 2] of Tungurahua and the El Niño phenomenon.[6][7]
As on other glaciated Ecuadorian mountains, Chimborazo's glacial ice is mined by locals (the so called Hieleros from Spanish Hielo for Ice) to be sold in the markets of Guaranda and Riobamba. In earlier days the ice was transported down to coastal towns like Babahoyo or Vinces.[8]
Chimborazo is a dominantly andesitic-dacitic stratovolcano. About 35,000 years ago a collapse of Chimborazo produced a debris avalanche, the deposits of which underlie Riobamba. Chimborazo then erupted several times during the Holocene, the last time around 640 AD ± 500 years.[4] Today Chimborazo is considered inactive.
With an elevation of 6,268 m,[note 1] Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador and the Andes north of Peru; it is higher than any more northerly summit in the Americas.
The summit of Mount Everest reaches a higher elevation above sea level, but the summit of Chimborazo is widely reported to be the farthest point from Earth's center,[9]although Huascarán is a near-tie second.[10][note 3] Chimborazo is one degree south of the equator and the earth's diameter at the equator is greater than at the latitude of Everest, nearly 28° north, with sea level also elevated. Despite being 2,581 m (8,568 ft) lower in elevation above sea level, it is 6,384.4 km (3,968 mi) from the Earth's center, 2.1 km farther than the summit of Everest.[note 4]
Several theories regarding the origin of the name Chimborazo exist. After one theory it is a combination of the Cayapa Schingbu for Women and the Colorado/Quichua Razo for Ice/Snow resulting in Women of Ice. After another theory Chimbo is Jivaro for Throne of Master/God resulting in Icethrone of God. The locals also used to call the mountain Urcorazo, with the Quichua Urco for Mountain resulting in Mountain of Ice.[11] For the local indigenous mysticism the Chimborazo represents Taita (Father) whereas neighbouring Tungurahua is seen as Mama, Taita Chimborazo and Mama Tungurahua.
Until the beginning of the nineteenth century it was thought that Chimborazo was the highest mountain on Earth (measured from sea level), and such reputation led to many attempts on its summit during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1802 during his expedition to South America, Baron Alexander von Humboldt, accompanied by Aimé Bonpland and the Ecuadorian Carlos Montúfar attempted to reach the summit. From his description of the mountain it seems that before he and his companions had to return suffering from altitude sickness they reached a point at 5,875 m, higher than previously attained by any European in recorded history.[note 5] In 1831 Jean Baptiste Boussingault and Colonel Hall reached a new "highest point", computed to be 6,006 m.[12][13] In 1880 Chimborazo's summit was first climbed by Edward Whymper and the brothers Louis and Jean-Antoine Carrel. As there were many critics who doubted that Whymper had reached the summit, later in the same year he climbed to the summit again choosing a different route (Pogyos) with the Ecuadorians David Beltrán and Francisco Campaña.[14]
In August 1976 SAETA Flight 232 carrying 55 passengers and four crew members aboard a Vickers Viscount from Quito to Cuenca disappeared en route. In October 2002, after 26 years, the aircraft was found with the bodies of its 59 occupants at 5,400 metres (18,000 ft) elevation on Chimborazo by Ecuadorian climbers on the rarely used eastern route Integral.[15]
As Ecuador's highest mountain, Chimborazo is a very popular climb and can be climbed year round with the best seasons being December-January and July-August.
The easiest (Grade: PD) and most climbed routes are the Normal and the Whymper route. Both are western ridge routes starting at the Whymper hut and leading via the Ventemilla summit to the main (Whymper) summit. There are several other less used and more challenging routes on the other mountains faces and ridges leading to one of Chimborazo's summits: Main (Whymper, Ecuador), Politecnico (Central), N. Martinez (Eastern). The mountain is contained on the IGM (Instituto Geografico Militar) 1:50000 Map Chimborazo (CT-ÑIV-C1).[2]
There are two functioning Huts, the Carrel Hut (4,850 m) and the nearby Whymper Hut (5,000 m). The Carrel Hut can be reached by car from Riobamba, Ambato or Guaranda. On the north-west side there is the now defunct Zurita hut (4,900 m) which served as base for the Pogyos route.[11]