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VolcanSanCristobal1

Volcano·NicaraguaNicaragua

Volcán San Cristóbal

1,745m

Cordillera Los Maribios

Summit weather

Ryan Ballantyne -- ryos 01:28, 18 June 2006 (UTC) · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation
1,745m
Relief
1,482mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope
44°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit
NoneSee month by month ↓
Summit
12.7033°N, 87.0061°W

Highest volcano in Nicaragua at 1,745 m (5,725 ft).

Volcán San Cristóbal is a volcano in the Cordillera Los Maribios (Nicaragua). Its summit stands 1,745 m above sea level.

From the lowest point within 5 km (263 m), it rises 1,482 m. The steepest side is the north-west face: 32° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 44° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Chichigalpa, 15 km away at 76 m: 1,669 m below the summit.

Read more on Wikipedia

Scores

Volcán San Cristóbal 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

5.0/10

Difficulty to the top

Mountain walk

Most path sections around the top are T4 on the SAC hiking scale.

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

  • 0.5/2.51 waymarked routes and 1 path sections nearby
  • 0.0/1.50 huts and shelters
  • 1.7/21,669 m of ascent from the valley
  • 1.3/1.5889 m of prominence
  • 1.5/1.512 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
  • 0.0/1via 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

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

Snow

When there is snow on Volcán San Cristóbal

In a normal year there is no snow on this mountain, not even at the summit.

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

Volcán San Cristóbal, 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 April afternoon the summit reaches about 28 °C; on December nights it falls to about 14 °C. Afternoons at the top are above freezing in every month of the average year. In April the 0 °C line climbs to about 7,320 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, January is the driest month (2 mm) and September the wettest (299 mm).

0 m2,000 m4,000 m6,000 mSUMMIT · 1,745 mCHICHIGALPA · 76 mJanuary: 6,900 mFebruary: 7,120 mMarch: 7,300 mApril: 7,320 mMay: 6,720 mJune: 6,260 mJuly: 6,500 mAugust: 6,580 mSeptember: 6,220 mOctober: 6,020 mNovember: 6,220 mDecember: 6,580 mJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit
MonthSummit high °CSummit low °CChichigalpa high °C0 °C line (m)Rain & snow (mm)Wet daysSun h/day
January2614346,900208.6
February2715357,120209.1
March2816367,300819.5
April2818367,3203548.7
May2517336,720216176.7
June2316316,260229206.6
July2416326,500114146.9
August2416326,580173187.2
September2216316,220299237.0
October2116306,020294216.5
November2215316,2206877.8
December2414326,5801018.3

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 103 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
1,745 m230 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmWE
South – north
1,745 m62 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmSN
Steepness by direction
30°N: 29°NNE: 22°NEE: 19°ESE: 22°SES: 30°SSW: 30°SWW: 30°WNW: 32°NW

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

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Volcán San Cristóbal

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

Volcán San Cristóbal seen from above (Sentinel-2) N 5 km

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
  • 1waymarked hiking routes

    Caminata al Volcán San Cristóbal

  • —via ferratas
  • —climbing crags and routes
  • —named glaciers
  • —viewpoints
  • —campsites
  • —hotels, B&Bs and chalets
  • —restaurants and cafés

Towns at the foot

  • Chichigalpa15 km · 76 m
  • Tonalá16 km · 33 m
  • Chinandega16 km · 69 m
  • Posoltega18 km · 73 m
  • El Viejo18 km · 49 m
  • Puerto Morazán24 km · 1 m
  • Quezalguaque25 km · 98 m
  • El Realejo25 km · 11 m

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

San Cristobal 3
Peter in s · CC BY-SA 4.0
Volcan San Cristobal y Chonco
Charlie29 · Public domain

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
1991–2020 average262728282523242422212224
2020+0.5+0.8+1.0+1.3+0.6−0.1+0.3−0.8−0.4−0.5−2.0−2.9
2021−2.5−0.6−0.1−0.9+1.8+1.5−0.3−1.9−0.7+0.9+0.8+0.8
2022+0.6+0.5+0.6−0.6−1.9−1.8−0.9−1.3−1.3+0.2−0.9−0.9
2023±0.0+0.1−1.0−0.3+2.2+1.3+0.4+1.0+2.8+0.7−0.3−0.4
2024+0.5+0.2+1.0+0.9+0.5−1.2−1.1−1.0−0.2+0.3−1.5−2.1
2025−1.5−0.7+0.2+0.2+1.4−0.3−0.1+0.5+0.6±0.0+0.1+0.3

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominenceWikidata (Q607196) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profilesCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX 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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