Illampu is the fourth highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

in Bolivia. It is located in the northern section of the Cordillera Real, part of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, east of

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, i ...

. It lies just north of the slightly higher Janq'u Uma, near the town of

Sorata Sorata ( Aymara: ''Surat'a'') is a small town in the La Paz Department in the Bolivian Andes, northwest of the city of La Paz and east of Lake Titicaca. It is the seat of the Larecaja Province and the Sorata Municipality. At the time of census ...

. Laguna Glaciar, located in the Illampu-Janq'u Uma massif, is the 17th highest lake in the world. Despite being lower than Janq'u Uma, Illampu has a steeper peak, with more local relief, and is a somewhat harder climb. In fact it has "the hardest normal route on any of the 6,000 metre peaks in Bolivia."Yossi Brain, ''Bolivia: a climbing guide'', The Mountaineers, 1999, ; pages 18, 96-99. The easiest route, by the Southwest Ridge, is rated AD (Fairly Difficult), with snow slopes up to 65 degrees. It is accessed from a high camp on the north side of the massif. The peak was first climbed on June 7, 1928 via this route, by Hans Pfann, Alfred Horeschowsky, Hugo Hörtnagel (

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

) and Erwin Hein (

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n). Other routes include the "German Route" on the southwest face and the South Face route, both approached from the west side of the massif.

References

Mountains of La Paz Department (Bolivia) Glaciers of Bolivia Mountains of Bolivia Six-thousanders of the Andes {{LaPazBO-geo-stub