Mountain·Peru

Alpamayo

5,947m

Cordillera Blanca

Summit weather

KSszilas · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 5,947m
Relief: 1,884mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 65°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
Summit: 8.8783°S, 77.6544°W

Mountain in Peru

Alpamayo is a mountain in the Cordillera Blanca (Peru). Its summit stands 5,947 m above sea level.

From the lowest point within 5 km (4,063 m), it rises 1,884 m. The steepest side is the north-east face: 44° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 65° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Huaripampa, 20 km away at 2,990 m: 2,957 m below the summit.

Alpamayo for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

6.6/10

Difficulty to the top

Alpine climb

Most path sections around the top are T5 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

1.5/2.54 waymarked routes and 24 path sections nearby
0.0/1.50 huts and shelters
2.0/22,957 m of ascent from the valley
1.3/1.51,130 m of prominence
1.5/1.512 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
0.3/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

—

No ski runs within 12 km in OpenStreetMap.

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

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Snow

When there is snow on Alpamayo

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit5,947 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up4,468 mno snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow
Huaripampa2,990 mno snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Alpamayo, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average November afternoon the summit reaches about 2 °C; on July nights it falls to about -14 °C. Afternoons at the top are above freezing in every month of the average year. In November the 0 °C line climbs to about 6,260 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, August is the driest month (12 mm) and December the wettest (65 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Huaripampa high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	1	-11	20	6,110	50	12	4.8
February	1	-11	20	6,090	57	13	4.0
March	0	-11	20	6,010	62	14	3.8
April	1	-11	20	6,070	40	9	5.2
May	1	-12	20	6,110	33	6	6.6
June	0	-13	20	6,010	14	4	7.6
July	0	-14	20	6,010	15	3	7.8
August	1	-13	20	6,140	12	3	7.3
September	2	-12	21	6,210	16	6	5.4
October	2	-11	21	6,230	33	8	5.1
November	2	-11	21	6,260	49	11	5.5
December	1	-11	20	6,120	65	14	4.5

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 3,844 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. Heights drawn 2× taller than lengths, so the shape can be seen.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Alpamayo

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

N 5 km

ViewpointsOther summitsGlaciersCampsites

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

—mountain huts and shelters
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
—ski areas
4waymarked hiking routes
Alpamayo Trek, Quitaraju Trek, Santa Cruz Trek, Alpamayo Circuit
—via ferratas
—climbing crags and routes
3named glaciers
Glaciar del Nevado Alpamayo, Glaciar del Nevado Huandoy, Glaciar Arhuay
4viewpoints
Mirador Alpamayo, Arhuaycocha, Punta Union
18campsites
High camp 5491m, Base Camp Alpamayo North, Jancarurish, Arhuaycocha - Alpamayo Base Camp and 14 more
—hotels, B&Bs and chalets
—restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

24 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2T3T4T5

T1 hiking
T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Huaripampa20 km · 2,990 m
Pomabamba21 km · 3,388 m
Sucre23 km · 2,436 m
Huallanca24 km · 1,771 m
Huayllán24 km · 2,988 m

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OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Alpamayo 12 — Frank R 1981 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Alpamayo summit Peru — Blueoceansky1234 · CC0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	2	2	2	1
2020	+0.2	+0.2	+1.4	+1.4	+1.5	+2.0	+0.6	+1.0	−0.2	+0.6	+0.4	−0.5
2021	−0.6	+1.4	+0.2	+0.7	+0.7	+0.4	+1.4	+0.8	+0.5	+1.6	+0.2	+0.8
2022	+0.4	+0.4	+0.7	+0.8	+1.2	+0.3	+1.4	+1.3	+0.8	+1.9	+1.7	+0.5
2023	+0.2	+0.8	±0.0	+0.3	+1.3	+1.9	+2.5	+2.0	+1.1	+1.9	+2.0	+0.9
2024	+2.0	+2.3	+2.0	+2.5	+2.5	+3.0	+1.9	+1.7	+1.7	+0.7	+0.3	−0.3
2025	−0.6	−0.9	−0.7	−1.3	−1.4	−1.6	−1.4	−1.2	−0.6	−1.7	−1.4	+2.3

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q829688) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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