Mount Illimani

The prominent peak that that dominates the skyline over the city of La Paz is the beautiful snow capped Mount Illimani. It lies just south of La Paz at the eastern edge of the Altiplano.

Mount Illimani has an elevation of 6,438 meters (21,122 ft), making it the highest mountain in the Cordillera Real mountain range (name of mountain chains in the Andes Mountains) of western Bolivia. It is the second highest peak in Bolivia, after Nevado Sajama and the eighteenth highest peak in South America.

The mountain has five main peaks. The highest is the south summit known as Pico Sur. On the west side is Nevado Illimani, where the normal climbing route is located, which is a popular ascent for mountain climbers.

Mount Illimani was first attempted in 1877 by C. Wiener, J. de Grumkow, and J. C. Ocampo. They failed to reach the main summit, but did reach a southeastern subsummit. In 1898, British climber William Martin Conway and two Swiss guides, A. Maquignaz and L. Pellissier, made the first recorded ascent of the peak, again from the southeast. (They found a piece of Inca rope at over 6,000 m (20,000 ft), so an earlier ascent cannot be completely discounted.)

The current standard route on the mountain climbs is the west ridge of the main summit. It was first climbed in 1940, by the Germans R. Boetcher, F. Fritz, and W. Kühn, and is graded French PD+/AD-. This route usually requires four days, whereas the summit is reached in the morning of the third day.