Volcano·Ecuador

Cayambe

5,790m

Andes

Fabricio Guzmán T. · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 5,790m
Prominence: 2,075m
Relief: 2,005mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 53°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
First ascent: 1880
Summit: 0.0253°N, 77.9889°W

Volcano in Ecuador

Cayambe is a volcano in the Andes (Ecuador). Its summit stands 5,790 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 2,075 m. It was first climbed in 1880.

From the lowest point within 5 km (3,785 m), it rises 2,005 m. The steepest side is the north face: 32° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 53° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Cayambe, 18 km away at 2,911 m: 2,879 m below the summit.

Cayambe 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

6.3/10

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.

0.6/2.51 waymarked routes and 3 path sections nearby
0.5/1.52 huts and shelters
2.0/22,879 m of ascent from the valley
1.4/1.52,075 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 Cayambe

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
Summit5,790 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 up4,350 moccasional snow from June to September	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	No snow	No snow	No snow
Cayambe2,911 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

Cayambe, 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 October afternoon the summit reaches about -2 °C; on August nights it falls to about -13 °C. Even in the warmest month the summit stays below freezing all day: ice and snow all year round. Even at its highest, in October, the 0 °C line reaches only about 5,500 m: 290 m below the summit. Across the region, August is the driest month (37 mm) and April the wettest (164 mm).

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

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Cayambe high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-2	-11	17	5,480	117	23	3.0
February	-2	-11	17	5,480	122	22	2.6
March	-2	-11	16	5,450	151	26	2.7
April	-2	-11	16	5,420	164	26	3.3
May	-3	-11	16	5,370	122	24	3.4
June	-4	-12	15	5,170	71	17	3.5
July	-4	-12	15	5,170	52	12	3.7
August	-4	-13	15	5,230	37	10	3.7
September	-3	-12	16	5,390	50	13	3.5
October	-2	-12	17	5,500	93	20	3.3
November	-2	-11	17	5,500	111	21	3.2
December	-2	-11	16	5,450	107	21	2.8

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 3,141 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. True scale: no vertical exaggeration.

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 Cayambe

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

N 5 km

HutsViewpointsOther summitsGlaciers

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

2mountain huts and shelters
Refugio Oleas Ruales (4,600 m), Choza
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
—ski areas
1waymarked hiking routes
Vía normal
—via ferratas
—climbing crags and routes
1named glaciers
Nevado Cayambe
4viewpoints
Mirador, Alpachaca
—campsites
1hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Punanti Hostal de Montaña
—restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

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

T2T4T5

T2 mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Cayambe18 km · 2,911 m
Cangahua22 km · 3,306 m
Tupigachi22 km · 2,850 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

Cayambe from Pichincha — Marc Figueras ( Oersted in catalan wiki ) · Public domain

Cayambe View from Nevada Suites to the northwest — Ymblanter · CC BY-SA 4.0

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	-2	-2	-2	-2	-3	-4	-4	-4	-3	-2	-2	-2
2020	+0.1	+0.7	+0.7	+0.5	+0.3	+0.5	−0.1	+0.6	−0.1	+0.1	±0.0	−0.2
2021	−0.8	−0.3	−1.1	−0.4	−0.6	−0.2	−0.7	−0.3	−0.8	−0.3	−0.9	±0.0
2022	−0.3	−0.4	−0.9	−0.6	−0.7	−0.4	−0.5	−0.4	−0.3	−0.6	−0.1	−0.3
2023	−1.2	−0.1	−0.7	−0.3	±0.0	±0.0	+0.1	±0.0	+0.1	+0.2	+0.1	+0.5
2024	+0.6	+0.7	+1.1	+0.7	+0.5	+0.5	−0.3	+0.2	±0.0	+0.3	−0.1	+0.2
2025	−0.6	−0.3	−0.5	−0.2	−0.9	−0.4	−1.0	−0.3	−0.4	−1.1	−0.5	+0.6

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

4,610 mImbabura Volcano

5,758 mAntisana volcano

Ecuador59 km away

4,935 mCotacachi

Ecuador55 km away

4,776 mPichincha Volcano

Ecuador72 km away

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q754734) · 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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