Also called Nevados, there are only a few of them left. You may be thinking, “Snow in COLOMBIA?!” Well, yea… but more than snow, glaciers. And instead of boring you with a ton of information and bad news about Colombia’s melting glaciers, I thought it would be more fun to give you some fun facts about Colombia’s snowy mountains:
General things to think about:
- Part of Colombia is right on the equator, so the weather is proportionally warmer at the same altitude as anywhere further north or south. To really help you understand this, I’ll tell you a story. I hiked around the glacier on Mt. Baker in Washington State a few years ago in shorts because it was August. The summit of Mt Baker is at 3,200 meters. Now, you have to climb to about 4,800 meters to see any snow in Colombia! So if you think about it, if Colombia were further north or south, it would have snow EVERYWHERE!
- There used to be snow on Monserrate and all of the mountains above Bogota! Of course, this was like 30,000 years ago, but its really fun to think about!
- In the 20th century, there were 14 snowy peaks in Colombia, among which were some well-known places like Puracé and El Cumbal. Now there’s only 6 of them!
More specific fun facts:
- Nevado Santa Isabel is set to lose its glacier by the end of the decade. Actually, it currently has less than 1 square kilometer of snow on it. It is currently Colombia’s lowest, most accesible summit with snow. I think its worth paying it a visit!
- Summiting Cocuy is not allowed right now because of a scandal! Back in 2017, a video came out of people “playing soccer” on the summit. It caused an uproar and the local indigenous people closed access and destroyed the road. But that video was just the needle that broke the camel’s back. The real reason was a lack of respect for such a treasure – a treasure that also happens to be diminishing a little too quickly. Was the reaction a little much? Maybe. I think something could be worked out for everyone’s benefit.
- Throughout history, there has been an ongoing debate as to which one of the Sierra Nevada’s peaks is the tallest one. The consensus right now is that Cristobal Colon is the highest, just a few meters above Simon Bolivar. But from what I’ve read, no one’s 100% sure yet. Goes to show how much attention Colombia pays its glaciers.
If you read until here, you must really be interested in Colombia’s snowy peaks! I hope you enjoyed these fun facts about Colombia’s snowy mountains.
We’re planning on summiting as many as we can, just for the fun of it. I’ve always wanted to because I felt like they were a national treasure that will soon be no more. There’s a sort of appeal to that. We’ll be making videos about our summit project, so if you’d like to support us, head over to our YouTube and subscribe! Can’t wait! WOOOOOOOOOOO
You may like to read: How to Get to Choachi
