Ausangate or Auzangateescale.minedu.gob.pe - UGEL map of the Quispicanchi Province 1 (Cusco Region) (in Hispanicized spellings) is a

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 higher t ...

of the Vilcanota mountain range in 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 ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. With an elevation of 6,384 metres, it is situated around 100 kilometres southeast of

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

in the

Cusco Region Cusco, also spelled Cuzco (; ), is a department and region in Peru and is the fourth-largest department in the country, after Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto. It borders the departments of Ucayali on the north; Madre de Dios and Puno ...

, Canchis Province, Pitumarca District, and in the Quispicanchi Province, Ocongate District. The mountain has significance in

Incan mythology Inca mythology of the Inca Empire was based on pre-Inca beliefs that can be found in the Huarochirí Manuscript, and in pre-Inca cultures including Chavín culture, Chavín, Paracas culture, Paracas, Moche culture, Moche, and the Nazca culture. T ...

. Every year the Quyllur Rit'i ( Quechua for "star snow") festival which attracts thousands of Quechua pilgrims is celebrated about 20 km north of the Ausangate at the mountain Qullqipunku. It takes place one week before the Corpus Christi feast. The region is inhabited by llama and alpaca herding communities, and constitutes one of the few remaining pastoralist societies in the world. High mountain trails are used by these herders to trade with agricultural communities at lower elevations. Currently, one of these trails, "the road of the Apu Ausangate", is one of the most renowned treks in Peru. The area has four major geological features, the Andean uplift formed by Granits, the hanging glaciers and glacial erosional valleys, the Permian formation with its singular colors: red, ochre, and turquoise and the Cretaceous, limestone forests.

Archaeological sites on the Ausangate and Vinicunca Route

* Colonial Bridge of Checacupe * Colonial Temple of Checacupe * Siwinaqocha * Laguna Ausangate * Ananiso Canyon * Rock Climbing - Huayllasqa * Uchullucllo Thermal Baths

Climbing activity

The north face of Ausangate was first climbed in 2023 by Japanese climbers Yudai Suzuki and Kei Narita. That face is able to see easily from the last small village Pacchanta. The normal route is located at opposite side (south face) of the mountain; however, only 0 to 4 teams successfully climb that route each year.

The legend of the Ausangate Mountain

Protagonist of legends told through generations since the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

, the nevado is still venerated as a

divinity Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single ...

(called

Apu (god) In the ancient religion and mythology of Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, an is the term used to describe the spirits of mountains and sometimes solitary rocks, typically displaying anthropomorphic features, that protect the local people. The term dat ...

) by the inhabitants of its surroundings.

Gallery

File:Mountain pearls1.jpg, Handicraft seller in Ausangate, near Jampa Pass File:Mountain pearls2.jpg, Women of Ausangate, near Tinki village

References

{{Authority control Six-thousanders of the Andes Mountains of the Department of Cusco

Archaeological sites on the Ausangate and Vinicunca Route

Climbing activity

The legend of the Ausangate Mountain

Gallery

See also

References