Yerupaja

Description

Yerupajá is the third highest mountain in Peru, the second highest if you count the two high peaks of Huascarán as a single mountain. Its name locally is El Carnicero, which means Butcher and refers to the incredible knife-sharpness of its summit ridge. Beneath the summit, sharp ridges and tangled glaciers drop with awesome sheer faces. This is considered by many to be the most spectacular peak in South America. A second peak known as Yerupajá Chico (20,082 ft.) is equally rugged, rising steeply just north of the high peak. For many years prior to its first successful ascent in 1950, Yerupaj? was the highest unclimbed peak in the Western Hemisphere. Today an approach to the mountain from the west requires only two days on foot (36 km).  Mining development on the northern edge of the Cordillera will soon provide road access near the mountain, further eroding its remoteness.