Mountain·Colombia

Nevado del Huila

5,364m

Cordillera Central

SaNtiAgO dE CaLi · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 5,364m
Prominence: 2,650m
Relief: 2,303mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 63°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
First ascent: 1944
Summit: 2.9339°N, 76.0303°W

Second highest mountain in Colombia

Nevado del Huila is a mountain in the Cordillera Central (Colombia). Its summit stands 5,364 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 2,650 m. It was first climbed in 1944.

From the lowest point within 5 km (3,061 m), it rises 2,303 m. The steepest side is the west face: 39° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 63° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

Nevado del Huila 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

7.1/10

Difficulty to the top

Mountain walk

Most path sections around the top are T3 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

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

1.5/2.56 waymarked routes and 12 path sections nearby
0.2/1.51 huts and shelters
2.0/22,303 m of ascent from the valley
1.5/1.52,650 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 Nevado del Huila

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
Summit5,364 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 up4,212 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
Foot of the mountain3,061 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

Nevado del Huila, 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 September afternoon the summit reaches about 1 °C; on July nights it falls to about -10 °C. In 7 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In September the 0 °C line climbs to about 5,510 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, August is the driest month (28 mm) and November the wettest (150 mm).

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

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	0	-9	5,370	55	12	4.4
February	0	-9	5,400	67	13	4.0
March	0	-8	5,350	97	18	3.5
April	0	-8	5,340	128	19	4.0
May	0	-9	5,320	103	17	4.1
June	0	-10	5,290	50	11	4.3
July	0	-10	5,370	36	9	4.5
August	1	-10	5,460	28	7	4.4
September	1	-9	5,510	44	10	4.4
October	0	-9	5,350	116	18	4.1
November	-1	-9	5,240	150	20	4.0
December	-1	-9	5,260	92	16	4.1

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 2,321 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 Nevado del Huila

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

Nevado del Huila seen from above (Sentinel-2)

N 5 km

HutsOther summitsCampsites

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

1mountain huts and shelters
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
—ski areas
6waymarked hiking routes
Ascenso al Pico Norte (F), Ruta directa al Campamento Colombiano, Ruta via Q. Verdún al Campamento Colombiano, Ruta al Pico Central and 2 more
—via ferratas
—climbing crags and routes
—named glaciers
—viewpoints
3campsites
Campamento Marte, Campamento Colombiano
—hotels, B&Bs and chalets
—restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

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

T2T3T4

T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking

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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

Vocan Nevado del Huila — Alaincho67 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Nevado del Huila 23-10-2009 (1) — Martin Roca · CC BY 3.0

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	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	-1	-1
2020	+0.4	+1.0	+0.4	+0.8	+1.0	+0.4	−0.3	−0.1	±0.0	+0.5	+0.2	−0.4
2021	−0.5	−0.4	−1.1	−0.7	−0.2	−0.9	−0.9	−1.1	−0.8	+0.2	−0.2	+0.4
2022	−0.1	−0.7	−0.8	−0.6	−0.2	−0.9	−0.5	−0.6	−0.4	−0.7	−0.3	−0.5
2023	−1.6	−0.3	−1.0	−0.2	+0.5	+0.3	+0.1	+0.2	+1.2	+0.6	+1.1	+1.3
2024	+2.1	+1.0	+1.7	+1.3	+1.0	+0.5	±0.0	+0.5	+1.3	+1.1	+0.6	+0.4
2025	+0.1	−1.0	−0.9	−0.5	−0.6	−0.7	−1.1	−1.0	−1.0	−0.9	−0.1	+0.1

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

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4,276 mGaleras

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About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q648551) · 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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