Bolivia Chacaltaya and Huayna Potosi Ski

Overview

Chacaltaya was once the highest ski resort on Earth — a lift at 5,421 m above La Paz. The glacier that hosted it died in 2009, decades ahead of prediction, and the derelict lift station now stands as the starkest climate memorial in the Andes. You can still walk from the road to the summit in under an hour and, in a good snow year, link turns on remnant patches. The real objective is next door: Huayna Potosí, 6,088 m, one of the most accessible 6,000 m peaks anywhere, whose glacier gives a committed ski mountaineering descent from the summit ridge back towards the Zongo Pass. Altitude is the whole story. La Paz's airport sits at 4,061 m; spend at least three or four days acclimatising (Chacaltaya itself is the perfect test walk) before attempting Huayna Potosí, and take any symptom escalation seriously. June to August brings dry-season stability and hard, cold snow. A guided three-day Huayna Potosí climb with ski kit runs to around £900 including refugio nights and transfers — a fraction of what a 6,000 m ski summit costs anywhere else on Earth.

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Prefilled for 1 June 2027 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.