Chacaltaya, Mountain summit in La Paz, Bolivia.

Chacaltaya is a mountain in the Cordillera Real of the Bolivian Andes, reaching 5,395 meters. Its summit consists of dark grey and brown rock, with a lower rounded peak to the left and a broader shoulder to the right. A narrow road built in the 1930s climbs to within 200 meters of the top, crossing terrain once covered by an 18,000-year-old glacier that disappeared by 2009.

Chacaltaya's ski area opened in the 1930s, and in 1939 a rope tow was built here, the first in South America, powered by an automobile engine and housed in the original clapboard lodge. The lift ran only on weekends from November to March because of the cold. The Andean Club of Bolivia ran the site, which drew middle- and upper-class residents of La Paz for much of the 20th century.

The name comes from Mollo, meaning "bridge of winds" or "winds meeting point", and from Aymara, meaning "cold road". The Bolivian Andean Club (Club Andino Boliviano) ran the ski area and still promotes sport, science and the protection of high-altitude flora and fauna in the Cordillera Real. Its president, Juan de Dios Guevara, proposed seeding the slopes with silver iodide to make artificial snow.

The road eliminates the need for a long climb and allows you to gain elevation quickly, which helps your body adjust to the high altitude. Starting early and taking time to acclimate to the thin air is worth planning ahead.

The glacier was 18,000 years old and measured 0.22 km² in 1940; by 2007 only 0.01 km² remained, and it was gone by 2009. Half of the volume loss occurred before 1980. It is considered South America's first extinct tropical glacier.