Skip to content
Peakyas
EN
Ausangate in 3D: real relief (Copernicus DEM) and satellite image (Sentinel-2)

Mountain·PeruPeru

Ausangate

6,384m

Cordillera Vilcanota

Summit weather

3D view drawn from Copernicus WorldDEM-30 (© DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA) and Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH, CC BY 4.0

Elevation
6,384m
Prominence
2,085m
Isolation
246km
Relief
1,838mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope
66°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit
All yearSee month by month ↓
Summit
13.7883°S, 71.2294°W

Mountain in Peru

Ausangate is a mountain in the Cordillera Vilcanota (Peru). Its summit stands 6,384 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 2,085 m, and the nearest higher ground is 246 km away.

From the lowest point within 5 km (4,546 m), it rises 1,838 m. The steepest side is the north face: 51° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 66° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Ocongate, 24 km away at 3,586 m: 2,798 m below the summit.

Read more on Wikipedia

Scores

Ausangate 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

8.0/10

Difficulty to the top

Alpine climb

Glaciers around the top.

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

  • 1.3/2.52 waymarked routes and 27 path sections nearby
  • 1.5/1.56 huts and shelters
  • 2.0/22,798 m of ascent from the valley
  • 1.4/1.52,085 m of prominence
  • 1.5/1.512 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
  • 0.3/1via 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 Ausangate

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Summit6,384 msnow all year round
Snow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all monthSnow on the ground all month
Halfway up4,985 moccasional snow from December to April
Snow some of the timeSnow some of the timeSnow some of the timeSnow some of the timeNo snowNo snowSnow some of the timeNo snowNo snowSnow some of the timeNo snowSnow some of the time
Ocongate3,586 mno snow
No snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snowNo snow
  • Snow on the ground all month
  • Snow some of the time
  • No snow
  • This month

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

Ausangate, 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 November afternoon the summit reaches about -1 °C; on July nights it falls to about -16 °C. Even in the warmest month the summit stays below freezing all day: ice and snow all year round. Even at its highest, in November, the 0 °C line reaches only about 6,260 m: 124 m below the summit. Across the region, June is the driest month (6 mm) and December the wettest (134 mm).

4,000 m5,000 m6,000 mSUMMIT · 6,384 mOCONGATE · 3,586 mJanuary: 6,050 mFebruary: 6,020 mMarch: 6,030 mApril: 6,020 mMay: 5,960 mJune: 5,900 mJuly: 5,880 mAugust: 6,000 mSeptember: 6,100 mOctober: 6,170 mNovember: 6,260 mDecember: 6,130 mJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit
MonthSummit high °CSummit low °COcongate high °C0 °C line (m)Rain & snow (mm)Wet daysSun h/day
January-2-13166,050127234.6
February-2-13166,020130224.4
March-2-13166,03092185.1
April-2-13166,0204596.3
May-3-14155,9601237.7
June-3-15155,900628.2
July-3-16155,8801028.1
August-2-16166,000927.8
September-2-14166,1001856.3
October-1-14176,17064125.9
November-1-13176,26064135.9
December-2-13166,130134224.7

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 4,357 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. True scale: no vertical exaggeration.

West – east
6,384 m4,382 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmWE
South – north
6,384 m4,491 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmSN
Steepness by direction
30°N: 51°NNE: 40°NEE: 43°ESE: 36°SES: 27°SSW: 17°SWW: 41°WNW: 40°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 Ausangate

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

Ausangate 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.

  • 6mountain huts and shelters

    Cabaña de Domingo, Refúgio and 4 more

  • —cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
  • —ski areas
  • 2waymarked hiking routes

    Ausangate circuit, Circuito de las 7 lagunas

  • —via ferratas
  • —climbing crags and routes
  • 2named glaciers

    Takusiri, Nevado Inca

  • 8viewpoints

    Abra Paloman, Roca de Sísifo and 6 more

  • 17campsites

    Campamento gratis, Campamento gratis - Otorongo, Campamento Upis, Campamento Pacchanta and 13 more

  • 8hotels, B&Bs and chalets

    Pacchanta Hostal, Hostal l'Ausangate, Hospedaje Alejando, Lodge and 4 more

  • 1restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

27 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2
  • T1 hiking
  • T2 mountain hiking

Towns at the foot

  • Ocongate24 km · 3,586 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

Ausangate
Edubucher · CC BY-SA 3.0
Ausangate Mountain Peru 01
Stefanos Nikologianis · CC BY 2.0
Ausangate Mountain Peru 02
Stefanos Nikologianis · CC BY 2.0

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 average-2-2-2-2-3-3-3-2-2-1-1-2
2020−0.1−0.9±0.0+0.4+0.1−0.2+0.9+1.0+0.3+0.1+1.8−0.7
2021−0.9+0.1−0.8−0.4−0.4−0.6+0.2+0.5±0.0+0.6−0.9+0.2
2022+0.1−0.3−0.3+0.9+0.1−0.5+0.9+0.8+0.7+2.0+2.3+0.2
2023+0.5+0.5+0.1+0.9+0.7+1.4+2.6+1.4+0.2+2.3+1.0+0.9
2024+2.0+1.0+1.2+1.7+2.0+2.3+1.6+1.6+1.7+0.8−0.3+0.3
2025+0.2+0.4−0.8−0.1−0.3−0.4+0.1−0.5±0.0−0.7−0.6−0.4

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominenceWikidata (Q777794) · 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.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.You are here
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit