Chimborazo () is a
stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...
situated in Ecuador in the
Cordillera Occidental range of the
Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
. Its last known
eruption
A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior has ...
is believed to have occurred around AD 550.
Although not the tallest mountain in the Andes or on Earth relative to
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
, its summit is the farthest point on Earth's surface from the Earth's center due to its location along the planet's
equatorial bulge
An equatorial bulge is a difference between the equatorial and polar diameters of a planet, due to the centrifugal force exerted by the rotation about the body's axis. A rotating body tends to form an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere.
On ...
. Chimborazo's height from sea level is 6,263 m (20,548 ft), well below that of
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
at 8,849 m (29,031 ft).
Chimborazo is the highest mountain in
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
and the 39th-highest peak in the entire Andes. It is a popular destination for
mountaineering
Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...
due to its challenging climbing routes, which involve traversing snow, ice, and rocky terrain.
Etymology
Several theories regarding the origin of the name Chimborazo exist. In many dialects of
Quechua, "chimba" means "on the other side" as in "on the other side of the river" or "on the opposite bank". Other dialects pronounce this word "chimpa". Also, "razu" means "ice" or "snow". Local Quichua speakers say that Chimborazo is a Hispanicized pronunciation of "chimbarazu", meaning "the snow on the other side". Another theory suggests it is a combination of the Cayapa ''Schingbu'' for ''Women'' and the Colorado/
Quichua
Kichwa (, , also Spanish ) is a Quechuan language that includes all Quechua varieties of Ecuador and Colombia ('' Inga''), as well as extensions into Peru. It has an estimated half million speakers.
Classification
Kichwa belongs to the Nor ...
''Razo'' for ''Ice/Snow'' resulting in ''Women of Ice''. According to another, ''Chimbo'' is
Jívaro for ''Throne of Master/God'' resulting in ''Icethrone of God''. The locals also used to call the mountain ''Urcurazu'', with the Quichua ''Urcu'' for ''Mountain'' resulting in ''Mountain of Ice''.
In local indigenous mysticism, Chimborazo represents ''Taita'' (Father) whereas neighbouring
Tungurahua
Tungurahua (; from Quichua ''tunguri'' (throat) and ''rahua'' (fire), "Throat of Fire")) is an active stratovolcano located in the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador. The volcano gives its name to the province of Tungurahua. Volcanic activity re ...
is seen as ''Mama'', and ''Guagua'' (Child) for
Pichincha hence ''Taita Chimborazo, Mama Tungurahua and Guagua Pichincha''.
Geography
Location
Chimborazo is in the
Chimborazo Province
Chimborazo () is a Provinces of Ecuador, province in the central Ecuadorian Andes. It is a home to a section of Sangay National Park. The capital is Riobamba. The province contains Chimborazo (volcano), Chimborazo (6,267 m), Ecuador's highest mou ...
of Ecuador, south-southwest of the city of
Quito
Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...
, Ecuador. It is a neighbor to high
Carihuairazo
Mount Carihuairazo (also ''Carihuayrazo'') is an eroded stratovolcano neighboured by Ecuador's highest mountain Chimborazo.
Geography
Location
Carihuairazo is located in the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes of central Ecuador, south-southw ...
, another inactive stratovolcano. Chimborazo's summit rises above the surrounding highlands (~) with a ≈ wide base.
Under clear conditions, the summit of Chimborazo can be seen from the coastal city
Guayaquil
Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...
, nearly away. The nearest cities are
Riobamba
Riobamba (, full name San Pedro de Riobamba; Quechua: ''Rispampa'') is the capital of Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, and is located in the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is located south of Ecuador's capital Quito and situated at ...
(~30 km to the southeast),
Ambato (~30 km to the northeast) and
Guaranda
Guaranda () is a city in central Ecuador. It is the capital of Bolívar province located in the Andes mountains. The city is connected by road with other hubs, including Riobamba, Babahoyo and Ambato.
Guaranda is a market town located in a '' ...
(~25 km to the southwest). Chimborazo is surrounded by the ''Reserva de Producción Faunistica Chimborazo'', which forms a protected ecosystem to preserve the habitat for the Andes native
camelids of
vicuña
The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', Vicugna, its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine tundra, alpine areas of the Andes; the other cameli ...
,
llama
The llama (; or ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era.
Llamas are social animals and live with ...
and
alpaca
The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. Traditionally, alpacas were kept in herds that grazed on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile. More recentl ...
.
Chimborazo is at the main end of the Ecuadorian Volcanic Arc, northwest of the town of
Riobamba
Riobamba (, full name San Pedro de Riobamba; Quechua: ''Rispampa'') is the capital of Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, and is located in the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is located south of Ecuador's capital Quito and situated at ...
. Chimborazo is in la Avenida de los Volcanes (the Avenue of Volcanoes) west of the Sanancajas mountain chain.
Carihuairazo
Mount Carihuairazo (also ''Carihuayrazo'') is an eroded stratovolcano neighboured by Ecuador's highest mountain Chimborazo.
Geography
Location
Carihuairazo is located in the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes of central Ecuador, south-southw ...
,
Tungurahua
Tungurahua (; from Quichua ''tunguri'' (throat) and ''rahua'' (fire), "Throat of Fire")) is an active stratovolcano located in the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador. The volcano gives its name to the province of Tungurahua. Volcanic activity re ...
,
Tulabug, and
El Altar are all mountains that neighbor Chimborazo. The closest mountain peak, Carihuairazo, is from Chimborazo. There are many microclimates near Chimborazo, varying from desert in the Arenal to the humid mountains in the Abraspungo valley.
[
]
Glaciers
The top of Chimborazo is completely covered by glaciers
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
, with some northeastern glacier arms flowing down to 4,600 m. Its glacier is the source of water for the population of the Bolivar and Chimborazo
Chimborazo () is a stratovolcano situated in Ecuador in the Cordillera Occidental (Ecuador), Cordillera Occidental range of the Andes. Its last known Types of volcanic eruptions, eruption is believed to have occurred around AD 550. Although not ...
provinces of Ecuador. Chimborazo glacier's ice mass has decreased over the past decades, which is thought to be in large part due to climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
, as well as ash cover from recent volcanic activity at Tungurahua
Tungurahua (; from Quichua ''tunguri'' (throat) and ''rahua'' (fire), "Throat of Fire")) is an active stratovolcano located in the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador. The volcano gives its name to the province of Tungurahua. Volcanic activity re ...
, and the El Niño
EL, El or el may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional entities
* El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit
* Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things''
* El, fami ...
phenomenon.
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
Guaranda () is a city in central Ecuador. It is the capital of Bolívar province located in the Andes mountains. The city is connected by road with other hubs, including Riobamba, Babahoyo and Ambato.
Guaranda is a market town located in a '' ...
and Riobamba
Riobamba (, full name San Pedro de Riobamba; Quechua: ''Rispampa'') is the capital of Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, and is located in the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is located south of Ecuador's capital Quito and situated at ...
. In earlier days, the people transported ice for cooling uses down to coastal towns such as Babahoyo or Vinces
Vinces is a city in the Los Ríos Province, Ecuador. It is the seat of the Vinces Canton and is located at the Vinces River.
Vinces, known as "Little Paris", is characterized by its ancient buildings, constructed in wood, that belonged to the ric ...
.
Elevation
With an elevation of , Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador and the Andes north of Peru; it is higher than any more northerly summit in the Americas.
Farthest point from Earth's center
The summit of Mount Everest
Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
is higher above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
, but the summit of Chimborazo is widely reported to be the farthest point on the surface from Earth's center
Earth's inner core is the innermost internal structure of Earth, geologic layer of the planet Earth. It is primarily a solid ball (mathematics), ball with a radius of about , which is about 20% of Earth's radius or 70% of the Moon's radius.
T ...
,[A diagram that compares the height of Chimborazo and ]Mount Everest
Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
could be found in with Huascarán
Huascarán (), ( Quechua: Waskaran), Nevado Huascarán or Mataraju is a mountain located in Yungay Province, Department of Ancash, Peru. It is situated in the Cordillera Blanca range of the western Andes. The southern summit of Huascarán (Huasc ...
in Peru a very close second.
The summit of Chimborazo is the fixed point on Earth that has the utmost distance from the center this because of the oblate spheroid shape of the planet Earth, which is thicker at the Equator
The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...
than it is from pole to pole.[ Resolving this issue definitively has been problematic due to error margins in both summit elevations and ]geoid
The geoid ( ) is the shape that the ocean surface would take under the influence of the gravity of Earth, including gravitational attraction and Earth's rotation, if other influences such as winds and tides were absent. This surface is exte ...
data. Application of the formula at Earth radius#Radius at a given geodetic latitude shows that the Earth's radius is greater at Chimborazo than at Huascaran, with most recent data showing another due to local variations in gravity, for a total of . Two heights are given for Huascarán - from the Peruvian National Geographic Institute (IGN) map, and from the Austrian Alpine Club (OeAV) survey map. Chimbaro is now . Thus Chimborazo's summit is roughly either or further from the Earth's center than that of Huascaran. Chimborazo is one degree south of the Equator and the Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
's diameter at the Equator is greater than at the latitude of Everest ( above sea level), nearly 28° north, with sea level also elevated. Despite being lower in elevation above sea level, it is from the Earth's center, farther than the summit of Everest ( from the Earth's center).[In this ranking, several other Andean peaks as well as Africa's highest mountain, ]Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...
, exceed Everest. However, by height above sea level, Chimborazo is not the highest peak of the Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
.
Centrifugal force from the Earth's rotation, and distance from the center of the Earth, cause the force of gravity
In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
to be slightly reduced near the equator. The summit of Chimborazo has about one percent less gravity than the point with the highest gravitational force. Yet, due to its height above the surrounding terrain and local gravity anomalies, the summit of Huascarán is the place on Earth with the smallest gravitational force.
Geology
Chimborazo is an ice-capped inactive volcano. It is a double volcano composed of one volcanic edifice on top of another.[Alcaraz et al. (2005) "The debris avalanche of Chimborazo, Ecuador", 6th International Symposium on Andean Geodynamics (ISAG 2005, Barcelona), Extended Abstracts: 29-32] Chimborazo shows four summits; Whymper, Veintimilla, Politecnica, and Nicolas Martínez. The Whymper peak is the highest point on the mountain at 6,263 meters. The Veintimilla peak is about high. The Politecnica peak is high. The last peak, Nicolas Martínez, is high and was named after the father of Ecuadorian mountaineering. The volcano is categorized as a stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...
. This type of volcano is characterized as having low slopes at the bottom that gradually get steeper the higher up the mountain.[ Chimborazo has a circumference of and a diameter of . Chimborazo's upper elevations are covered in glaciers that are decreasing in size due to climate change and falling ash from the nearby volcano, ]Tungurahua
Tungurahua (; from Quichua ''tunguri'' (throat) and ''rahua'' (fire), "Throat of Fire")) is an active stratovolcano located in the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador. The volcano gives its name to the province of Tungurahua. Volcanic activity re ...
. In addition to the glaciers, the volcano is covered with craters. The volcano is dominantly andesitic
Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...
to dacitic. This means that the lava is blocky, or flowing down the sides of the volcano, or somewhere in between.[
Chimborazo is 73.5 meters higher than the highest mountain in North America. Chimborazo is often associated with the nearby volcano ]Cotopaxi
Cotopaxi () is an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located near Latacunga city of Cotopaxi Province, about south of Quito, and northeast of the city of Latacunga, Ecuador. It is the second highest summit in Ecuador (after Chim ...
, although the two volcanoes have completely different structures.
Volcanism
Chimborazo is a dominantly andesitic
Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...
- dacitic stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...
. About 35,000 years ago a collapse of Chimborazo produced a debris avalanche with an average thickness of forty meters, which underlies the city of Riobamba
Riobamba (, full name San Pedro de Riobamba; Quechua: ''Rispampa'') is the capital of Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, and is located in the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is located south of Ecuador's capital Quito and situated at ...
. It temporarily dammed the Río Chambo, causing an ephemeral lake.
Chimborazo then erupted several times during the Holocene
The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...
, the last time around 550 AD ± 150 years. The eruptions after the collapse were primarily andesitic
Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...
, or blocky, coagulated lava flow. These eruptions produced pyroclastic surge
A pyroclastic surge is a fluidised mass of turbulent gas and rock fragments that is ejected during some volcanic eruptions. It is similar to a pyroclastic flow but it has a lower density or contains a much higher ratio of gas to rock, which makes i ...
s that went down as far as 3800 meters altitude.
Surveys and expeditions
Until the beginning of the 19th 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 17th and 18th centuries.
In 1746, the volcano was explored by French academician
An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life.
Accor ...
s from the French Geodesic Mission
The French Geodesic Mission to the Equator (), also called the French Geodesic Mission to Peru and the Spanish-French Geodesic Mission, was an 18th-century expedition to what is now Ecuador carried out for the purpose of performing an arc measu ...
. Their mission was to determine the sphericity of the Earth. Their work along with another team in Lapland established that the Earth was an oblate spheroid
A spheroid, also known as an ellipsoid of revolution or rotational ellipsoid, is a quadric surface obtained by rotating an ellipse about one of its principal axes; in other words, an ellipsoid with two equal semi-diameters. A spheroid has circu ...
rather than a true sphere. They did not reach the summit of Chimborazo.
In June 1802, during his expedition to South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
, the Prussian-born traveler Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...
, accompanied by the French botanist Aimé Bonpland
Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland (; 22 August 1773 – 11 May 1858) was a French List of explorers, explorer and botany, botanist who traveled with Alexander von Humboldt in Latin America from 1799 to 1804. He co-authored volumes of the scie ...
and the Ecuadorian Carlos Montúfar, tried 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
Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is a harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People's bodies can respond to high altitude in different wa ...
they reached a point at 5,875 m, higher than previously attained by any European in recorded history ( Incans had reached much higher altitudes previously; see Llullaillaco). In 1831, Jean-Baptiste Boussingault
Jean-Baptiste Joseph Dieudonné Boussingault (2 February 1801 – 11 May 1887) was a French chemist who made significant contributions to agricultural science, petroleum science and metallurgy.
Biography
Jean-Baptiste Boussingault – an agric ...
and Colonel Hall reached a new "highest point", estimated to be 6,006 m. Other failed attempts to reach the summit followed.
On 4 January 1880, the English climber Edward Whymper
Edward Whymper FRSE (27 April 184016 September 1911) was an English mountaineer, explorer, illustrator, and author best known for the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. Four members of his climbing party were killed during the descent. W ...
reached the summit of Chimborazo. The route that Whymper took up the mountain is now known as the Whymper route. 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.[
]
SAETA Flight 232
In August 1976, SAETA Flight 232 carrying 55 passengers and four crew members aboard a Vickers Viscount
The Vickers Viscount is a retired British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner.
T ...
from Quito to Cuenca disappeared en route. In February 2003, after almost 27 years, the aircraft was found with the bodies of its 59 occupants at an elevation of on Chimborazo by Ecuadorian climbers, on the rarely used eastern route ''Integral''.
Mountaineering
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.
Routes
The easiest (IFAS Grade: PD) and most climbed routes are the Normal and the Whymper routes. 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 mountain's other 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)''.
Huts
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 northwest side there is the now defunct Zurita hut (4,900 m), which served as base for the Pogyos route.
Climbing
El Castillo is the most popular route up the volcano. This route is usually climbed from December to February and June to September. This route involves climbing the west side of the volcano. The route starts at Whymper hut to a saddle above El Castillo. From the saddle, there is a glacier ridge. Then climbers go to the Veintemilla summit. Veintemilla summit is often the turnaround point for climbers. There is a 30-minute snow-filled basin between Veintemilla summit and Whymper summit. Whymper summit is the highest point of the mountain. The El Castillo route takes around eight to twelve hours to ascend and about three to five hours to descend. Climbing Chimborazo is dangerous due to the risk of avalanche
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...
s, the severe weather conditions, and the fact that it is covered in glaciers. Climbing begins at night in order to reach the summit before sunrise when the snow melts, which increases the chance of avalanche and rockfall.
The climb itself demands skill. The climb is often on black ice, so crampons and other technical climbing equipment are required. On November 10, 1993 three parties of climbers, one ascending and two descending, were caught in an avalanche on the steep slopes below the Veintimilla summit. This avalanche buried ten climbers in a crevasse
A crevasse is a deep crack that forms in a glacier or ice sheet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pieces above a plastic substrate have different rate ...
at . These climbers comprised six French, two Ecuadorians, one Swiss, and one Chilean. After the ten climbers were buried in snow, it took twenty people and ten days to find their bodies. This was considered the worst climbing accident in Ecuador. Nearly thirty years later, a similar accident occurred on October 24, 2021. An avalanche swept 16 climbers at 6,100m (20,000ft), killing six.
Cultural references
* Chimborazo is featured on the Ecuadorian coat of arms, to represent the beauty and richness of the Ecuadorian Sierra (Highlands).
* Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
's poem, "Mi delirio sobre el Chimborazo", was inspired by the mountain.
* In his central essay " The Poet", Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...
uses the Chimborazo as metaphor for the poet (and the creative genius in general), who "must stand out of our low limitations".
* Walter J. Turner's poem "Romance" contains the couplet "Chimborazo, Cotopaxi/They had stolen my soul away!"[
* The American landscape painter Frederick Edwin Church features the Chimborazo in the background of his famous work '']The Heart of the Andes
''The Heart of the Andes'' is a large oil-on-canvas landscape painting by the American artist Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900). It depicts an idealized landscape in the South American Andes, where Church traveled on two occasions. Measuring m ...
'' (1859) as well as in his painting ''Chimborazo'' (1864).
* Miguel Ángel León wrote a poem entitled "Canto al Chimborazo" (Song to Chimborazo).
* David Weber
David Mark Weber (born October 24, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He has written several science-fiction and fantasy books series, the best-known of which is the Honor Harrington science-fiction series. His first nov ...
's novel '' The Armageddon Inheritance'' mentions Mount Chimborazo as the site for a massive planetary defense installation.
* American Dad! season 21, episode four is centered around the family's trip to Ecuador to climb Mount Chimborazo after Stan cannot afford to take them to Mount Everest
Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
. Chimborazo's summit height due to the equatorial bulge
An equatorial bulge is a difference between the equatorial and polar diameters of a planet, due to the centrifugal force exerted by the rotation about the body's axis. A rotating body tends to form an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere.
On ...
is mentioned frequently throughout the episode.
* Rafael Salas “Vista del Chimborazo” 1870-1880. Oil paintings.
See also
* Lists of volcanoes
**List of volcanoes in Ecuador
This is a list of active and extinct volcanoes in Ecuador.
In Ecuador, National Polytechnic School (Ecuador), EPN monitors the volcanic activity in this Andean nation.
Mainland
Galápagos Islands
References
Volcano page, Institu ...
*List of mountains in the Andes
A sortable list of mountains above 4,000 metres in the South American Andes.
Considerations
The list is an incomplete list of mountains in the Andes. There are many named and unnamed peaks in the Andes that are currently not included in this lis ...
* List of Ultras of South America
* List of mountains in Ecuador
Notes
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chimborazo (Volcano)
Mountains of Ecuador
Stratovolcanoes of Ecuador
Geography of Chimborazo Province
Andean Volcanic Belt
Extreme points of Earth
Glaciers of Ecuador
Pleistocene stratovolcanoes
Quaternary South America
Tourist attractions in Chimborazo Province
Highest points of countries
Six-thousanders of the Andes
Climbing areas of Ecuador
Holocene stratovolcanoes