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Parinacota Volcano


Parinacota is a massive potentially active stratovolcano on the border of Chile and Bolivia. It is part of the Nevados de Payachata volcanic group. The other major edifice in that group is the Pleistocene peak of Pomerape. Parinacota's last eruptive phase has been dated using the helium surface exposure technique, which ties the eruption to 290AD 300 years.

One of the most dramatic eruptive events in the volcano's past was 8,000 years ago, when a major collapse of the edifice produced 6 km debris avalanche. That avalanche blocked drainage patterns in some of the local area, creating Chungara Lake.

The volcano and Pomerape straddle the border between Sajama National Park (Bolivia) and Lauca National Park (Chile).

Climbing

Climbing the volcano is relatively easy, alpine F grade, on a snow/rubble slope of about 35 degrees. A camp can be established at 5,300m at the saddle between Parinacota and Pomerape. Depending on the season, the main difficulty can be penitentes which make the ascent physically difficult or impossible. It is attempted by about 1 party per week in the season. If needed, guides and transport can be hired from Sajama village, 27 km away on the Bolivian side of the mountain.

See also

List of volcanoes in Bolivia

List of volcanoes in Chile

Parinacota at SummitPost.org

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Parinacota Volcano


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