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(Redirected from
Mount Chimborazo)
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Coordinates:
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01°28′ S 78°48′ W
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First ascent:
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1880 by
Edward Whymper guided by J. and L. Carrel
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route:
<td style="border-top:1px solid #999966" width=220>glacier/snow climb
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Type:
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Stratovolcano
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Age of rock:
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Holocene
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Last eruption:
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The
Chimborazo is an extinct
volcano located in the
Andes mountains of central
Ecuador, 150 kilometres (93 miles) south-southwest of the capital
Quito.
The mountain's claim to fame relies on a peculiarity of the Earth's diameter at the equator. Since the Earth bulges at the
equator and Chimborazo is just one degree south, this means the summit of Chimborazo is the furthest point from the center of the Earth (6384 km/3,968 mi). However, since the elevations of mountains are given in relation to mean sea level,
Everest (8,850 meters; 29,035 feet) is given the glory of highest point on Earth. Chimborazo is higher than any other mountain in the Americas north of it.
Until the beginning of the nineteenth century it was thought that Chimborazo was the highest mountain on Earth (measured from sea level), and such reputation led to many attempts on its summit during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1802 during his expedition to South America, Baron
Alexander von Humboldt, accompanied by
Aimé Bonpland and the Ecuadorian
Carlos Montúfar attempted to reach the summit. From his description of the mountain it seems he reached a point at 5,875 metres, from where he and his companions returned suffering from
altitude sickness. At that point they had reached the highest point attained by any human being in recorded history. Finally it was climbed by
Briton Edward Whymper and the brothers Louis and Jean-Antoine Carrel in 1880. As there were many critics who doubted that Whymper had reached the summit, later in the same year he climbed to the summit again choosing a different route with the Ecuadorians David Beltrán and Francisco Campaña.
External links
Reference
Edward Whymper "Travels Amongst the Great Andes of the Equator", ISBN 1904466249
