Aconcagua

Where is Aconcagua?

Aconcagua is part of the Principal Cordillera, Andes.

You will find it in: Argentina.

Summit: 32.653° S, 70.012° W

The story behind it

Aconcagua formed as the Nazca oceanic plate slid slowly beneath the South American continent, buckling and lifting the Andes over millions of years into the longest mountain range on Earth. Unlike the Himalayan giants, Aconcagua involves no technical climbing on its easiest route, but it still demands weeks of walking at extreme altitude, and sudden windstorms called 'viento blanco' can appear without warning and force climbers to retreat. Local mule handlers, called arrieros, carry supplies partway up the mountain for expeditions, a tradition going back generations in the nearby valleys. Exact measurements of its height have shifted slightly over the years as surveying technology improved, but Aconcagua's most surprising claim to fame is its prominence: because no higher ground connects to it anywhere nearby, it rises almost the full height of its summit above the surrounding land, making it the second-most prominent peak on Earth after Everest.

Find it on the globe

Aconcagua is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.