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Chacaltaya
Chacaltaya is a glacierial mountain range in Bolivia with an elevation of 5421 m and a view of Lake Titicaca in the distance. The glacier is about 30 km from La Paz, near Huayna Potosi mountain. As it is one of the highest glaciers in South America, Chacaltaya is also one of the first glacial ranges to decrease markedly in size due to climate change. Although the glacier is over 18,000 years old, over 80% of it has melted since 1987 and it is expected to disappear by 2008.
Ski area
The glacier on Chacaltaya serves as Bolivia's only ski resort. It is the world's highest lift-served ski area, the northernmost ski area in South America as well as the world's most equatorial. The rope tow, the very first in South America, was built in 1939 using an automobile engine; it is notoriously fast and difficult, housed in the site's original clapboard lodge where it is rumored currently to be inoperable. The road to the base of the 200 m drop is reached by a narrow road, also built in the 1930s. Because it is too cold to ski in the winter, the lift operates exclusively on weekends from November to March, making Chacaltaya the only ski resort in South America to have a ski season corresponding to that of North America. The site was developed and still operated by the Club Andino Boliviano, though increased global-warming has diminished the annual snowfall and dramatically decreased skiing areas.
Observatory
Located at 5220 m, the Chacaltaya Astrophysical Observatory (Observatorio de Fisica Cosmica) is operated in collaboration with other universities worldwide. It is an important site for gamma ray research.
See also
Apex (altitude physiology expeditions)
External links
The International HAPE Database
Bolivian Mountains Certified guides
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Chacaltaya
