Mountain·Argentina / Chile

Ojos del Salado

6,893m

Andes

sergejf · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 6,893m
Prominence: 3,688m
Relief: 1,585mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 41°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: Dec–AugSee month by month ↓
Summit: 27.1097°S, 68.5414°W

Highest volcano in the world

Ojos del Salado is a mountain in the Andes (Argentina). Its summit stands 6,893 m above sea level. It is the highest point of CL. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 3,688 m.

From the lowest point within 5 km (5,308 m), it rises 1,585 m. The steepest side is the north face: 29° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 41° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

Ojos del Salado 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

5.3/10

Difficulty to the top

Expedition

Above 6,500 m: an expedition peak (altitude, logistics, often permits). Glaciers around the top.

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

0.4/2.50 waymarked routes and 7 path sections nearby
0.8/1.53 huts and shelters
1.6/21,585 m of ascent from the valley
1.5/1.53,688 m of prominence
0.8/1.53 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 Ojos del Salado

At the summit, snow from December to August (some years all year). Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit6,893 msnow from December to August (some years all year)	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 some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up6,100 msnow from December to August (some years all year)	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 some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow on the ground all month
Foot of the mountain5,308 msnow from March to April (some years from October to June)	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow on the ground all month

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

Ojos del Salado, 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 January afternoon the summit reaches about -2 °C; on July nights it falls to about -29 °C. Even in the warmest month the summit stays below freezing all day: ice and snow all year round. Even at its highest, in January, the 0 °C line reaches only about 6,590 m: 303 m below the summit. Across the region, August is the driest month (3 mm) and January the wettest (42 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	-2	-18	6,590	42	8	13.5
February	-3	-19	6,420	39	7	12.9
March	-5	-20	6,070	31	6	12.2
April	-10	-23	5,420	18	4	11.4
May	-14	-26	4,790	8	2	10.1
June	-16	-28	4,470	4	1	9.5
July	-16	-29	4,380	4	1	9.8
August	-14	-28	4,720	3	1	10.9
September	-12	-26	5,060	4	1	11.8
October	-9	-23	5,490	11	3	12.7
November	-6	-22	5,920	21	5	13.3
December	-4	-20	6,350	35	7	13.7

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 4,810 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 Ojos del Salado

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

Ojos del Salado 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.

3mountain huts and shelters
Refugio Tejos (5,820 m), Atacama Refuge (5,250 m)
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
—ski areas
—waymarked hiking routes
—via ferratas
—climbing crags and routes
—named glaciers
—viewpoints
1campsites
—hotels, B&Bs and chalets
—restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

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

T3T4

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

Boulders on Ojos del Salado (4320255611) — sergejf · CC BY-SA 2.0

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	-3	-5	-10	-14	-16	-16	-14	-12	-9	-6	-4
2020	+0.7	+2.3	+2.1	+1.7	+3.2	−0.8	+0.5	−0.7	+1.0	+1.9	+0.1	+1.3
2021	−1.5	−0.2	±0.0	+0.5	±0.0	−0.8	+0.8	+0.1	+0.5	−0.3	+0.3	+1.8
2022	+0.3	−0.5	+0.1	−0.9	+0.7	−0.7	±0.0	±0.0	−2.7	−0.8	+1.6	+0.7
2023	+0.3	−1.2	+2.1	+0.5	+2.2	+2.8	+3.4	+2.2	+1.4	+0.5	+1.2	+2.3
2024	+3.8	+3.0	+4.1	+1.9	−0.7	+1.6	+2.0	−0.9	+2.3	+2.5	+3.5	+0.7
2025	−2.4	+1.9	−1.2	−0.3	+2.4	−3.5	−2.0	−4.7	−2.7	−2.1	−1.1	−1.8

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

6,542 mCerro El Muerto

6,749 mNevado Tres Cruces

Argentina23 km away

6,436 mCerro del Nacimiento

Argentina19 km away

6,190 mCerro Solo

Chile17 km away

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q233836) · 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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