A view of the Iver glacier close to the El Plomo mountain summit, in the Andes mountain range, in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile. The glacier-capped Andean peak revered for centuries, with the Incas carrying out human sacrifices at the summit, is crumbling. — Reuters
CHILE’s towering El Plomo mountain, a 5,400m Andean peak visible from Santiago, has been revered for centuries.
The Incas used its summit for human sacrifices, and an Incan mummy, preserved by the dry, cold conditions, was found near the top in 1954.
Today, however, El Plomo is crumbling due to climate change.
Rising global temperatures have caused glaciers to retreat and permafrost to melt, leading to landslides, sinkholes, and new lagoons that disrupt the ancient path to the summit.
Just a few years ago, the final push to the summit required a glacier traverse; now, it’s a rocky hillside.
Francisco Gallardo, a 60-year-old muleteer who has worked on the mountain since he was 14, recalls a time when mules could reach a camp 500m further up and graze on grass around the base camp.
However, during a visit in April, the Federacion camp was barren, with dirt and rocks piling up near mountain faces that Gallardo said were once covered with snow and ice.
“Every year things are changing more. Every year there’s more sadness,” he said.
Gallardo loading mountaineering equipment belonging to mountain guide Luis Diaz (right). — Reuters
Gallardo fears his family will soon have to leave the area: “We’re going to have to go somewhere else, see what we can do, maybe head south.”
The landscape has changed dramatically.
“The changes we’re seeing are unprecedented in recent human history,” said Pablo Wainstein, a civil engineer specialising in Andean and Arctic glaciers and permafrost.
Melting permafrost no longer bonds the soil and rock, causing more frequent rockfalls, he said.
Wainstein noted that the Andes, the world’s longest mountain range, is home to about 99% of the world’s tropical glaciers, which are particularly susceptible to climate change because they’re consistently near or at freezing point.
The Andes also have some of the fastest-disappearing ice packs, with Venezuela becoming the first country to lose its last glacier this past May.
“Such changes are consistent with scientific predictions,” Wainstein said. Data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows that global temperatures have increased 0.06°C per decade since 1850, accelerating to 0.2°C per decade since 1982.
Villegas holding an old picture of one of his group’s first off-road rescue vehicles, at their headquarters’ warehouse, in Santiago. Villegas started working in mountain rescue in 1964 and participated in the rescue of the Uruguayan rugby team that inspired the Oscar-nominated film, ‘Society of the Snow’. — Reuters
The Andes are an essential part of the region’s water cycle. The mountains store water as snow and ice during the winter and release it slowly during warmer months, supplying millions across the region with water for drinking, agriculture, hydroelectricity, and mining.
However, glacial retreat has exposed acidic rocks for the first time in centuries, causing meltwater to become acidic and contaminated with heavy metals, further straining the region’s dwindling water supplies.
Erratic and heavy rainfall has degraded ecosystems, making them more susceptible to erosion, landslides, and severe floods.
Osvaldo Segundo Villegas, who began working in mountain rescue in 1964, has witnessed the dramatic shifts on El Plomo firsthand.
“When I am gone and you are gone, everything’s going to be lost,” he said, recalling that areas once covered in glaciers are now turning to forest.
“There were places in Patagonia I went to that were all glacier, now it’s forest. And that’s how it’s going to be.”
Octavio Salazar, a guide in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca, also sees these changes.
Mountain guide Daniela Pagli holding a piece of melted ice from the Iver glacier, close to the El Plomo mountain summit. Rising global temperatures due to climate change have led the glacier to retreat and the permafrost to melt. — Reuters
“It shouldn’t be raining,” he said at 5,000m during what should be a dry season.
Rain instead of snow means no new glacier mass, complicating climbs and increasing risks.
Salazar and his brother Eloy, indigenous Quechua climbers who have spent decades in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca – the largest glacier-covered area in the tropics – founded an expedition agency in 2010.
One of their first activities of the season was an ice climbing class and expedition to Yanapaccha’s 5,460m summit.
However, when they passed a rocky hill to start the ice climb, they saw the glacier had retreated several metres compared to the previous season. A further descent down an unstable rocky moraine was needed to reach the glacier, now black from dirt, pollution, and a lack of new snowfall.
The night time glacier traverse required jumping over crevasses, straddling thin ice crossings, and quickly moving through areas at risk of rockfall.
The summit, known for some of the best views in the Cordillera Blanca, was shrouded by grey, freezing rain that formed a layer of ice around everything it touched.
Dario Arancibia, a member of Socorro Andino, setting up carabiners and ropes before rescuing a team member during a drill at the Lo Curro mountain area, in Santiago, Chile. — Reuters
“We feel like the climate has had such drastic changes that they often put everything you knew in doubt,” said Edson Ramirez, a park ranger and risk assessor for the Huascaran National Park, which comprises 90% of the Cordillera Blanca.
“Having rain drops at 5,000m isn’t common or natural. It’s an indicator that pressure and temperature are completely altered,” Ramirez said.
The shifting climate is also affecting where and how winter sports are carried out. The Pastoruri glacier, once a ski competition site, is now in extinction, with the remaining ice field cordoned off due to the risk of ice fall.
Last year, an ice bridge collapse on Huascaran mountain tragically claimed the life of an experienced guide.
“Anything humans do has some level of risk, but we’re not going to stop enjoying our mountains because of that,” said Cristian Ramirez, the head of Chile’s mountain rescue unit in Santiago.
“The Andes are the backbone of this territory. In some way, they modulate our life because they collect ice, they collect water, and we use that water to live,” he continued. “So mountains are life, and we’re privileged to have this mountain range here.” — Reuters
