Carihuairazo volcano, Stratovolcano in Cordillera Occidental, Ecuador

Carihuairazo is an eroded stratovolcano in Ecuador's Cordillera Occidental, 10 km from Chimborazo. It has three peaks: the main summit at 5,018 m, Mocha at 4,960 m and Josefinos at 4,900 m. Its heavily eroded 1.5 km wide caldera opens to the east.

Edward Whymper, Louis and Jean-Antoine Carrel, and Ecuadorians David Beltran and Francisco Campaña climbed Carihuairazo in 1880, but Whymper's account leaves it unclear whether they reached the 5,018 m main summit or the lower Mocha peak (4,960 m). The first ascent of the main summit is attributed to Arturo Eichler, Horacio Lopez Uribe and Jean Morawiecki in 1951. Whymper climbed in cloud, believing the east peak higher, and on the descent saw they had stood on the west one.

The name Carihuairazo comes from Quechua words: Cari meaning man, huay referring to wind, and razu meaning ice or snow. These language elements reflect how local people understood and described this mountain and its nature.

The climb begins at 4,600 meters elevation and demands technical skills plus proper gear to reach the summit. The route follows either the southwest ridge or approaches via the western glacier passage.

The caldera is 1.5 km wide and opens east. The glacier lost almost all its mass in the last decade, worn down by global warming and ash from Tungurahua's eruptions; at that rate it was expected to vanish between 2020 and 2030.