Volcano·Chile

Cerro Azul

3,788m

Andes

Summit weather

Cmurgam · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 3,788m
Relief: 2,377mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 53°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: May–DecSee month by month ↓
Summit: 35.6558°S, 70.7631°W

Mountain in Curicó Province, Chile

Cerro Azul is a volcano in the Andes (Chile). Its summit stands 3,788 m above sea level.

From the lowest point within 5 km (1,411 m), it rises 2,377 m. The steepest side is the south face: 37° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 53° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

Cerro Azul 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

6.4/10

Difficulty to the top

Mountain walk

Most path sections around the top are T3 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

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

1.2/2.54 waymarked routes and 4 path sections nearby
0.0/1.50 huts and shelters
2.0/22,377 m of ascent from the valley
1.4/1.51,426 m of prominence
1.5/1.59 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

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Snow

When there is snow on Cerro Azul

At the summit, snow from May to December (some years from March to January). Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit3,788 msnow from May to December (some years from March to January)	Snow some of the time	No snow	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up2,600 msnow from June to October (some years from May to October)	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow some of the time	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow
Foot of the mountain1,411 mno snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No 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

Cerro Azul, 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 January afternoon the summit reaches about 11 °C; on July nights it falls to about -16 °C. In 5 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In January the 0 °C line climbs to about 5,490 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, January is the driest month (12 mm) and June the wettest (52 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	11	-5	5,490	12	3	14.0
February	10	-6	5,350	23	4	13.0
March	8	-8	5,000	20	4	11.6
April	3	-10	4,260	23	5	8.7
May	-2	-12	3,480	39	8	5.4
June	-6	-14	2,860	52	10	4.5
July	-7	-16	2,750	42	8	4.4
August	-5	-15	2,990	40	7	5.8
September	-2	-13	3,480	20	6	7.1
October	1	-12	3,920	24	6	8.1
November	5	-10	4,520	20	4	11.0
December	8	-7	5,080	15	4	13.0

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 2,370 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

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Cerro Azul

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

N 5 km

Other summitsCampsites

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

—mountain huts and shelters
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
—ski areas
4waymarked hiking routes
Greater Patagonian Trail Section 6: Volcán Descabezado, Travesía de los Volcanes, Travesía de la Desolación, Circuito Descabezado
—via ferratas
—climbing crags and routes
—named glaciers
—viewpoints
5campsites
Blanquillo and 4 more
—hotels, B&Bs and chalets
—restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

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

T2T3

T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking

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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

Valle del Venado Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay 12 — Natalia Reyes Escobar · CC BY-SA 4.0

Valle del Venado Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay 14 — Natalia Reyes Escobar · CC BY-SA 4.0

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.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	11	10	8	3	-2	-6	-7	-5	-2	1	5	8
2020	+1.3	+0.3	+2.0	+1.6	+3.2	−1.8	−3.1	−2.2	+0.4	+2.3	+2.0	+0.5
2021	−1.6	+0.3	+0.7	+1.3	+0.3	+1.6	+4.3	+1.2	+0.5	+2.5	+1.7	+2.2
2022	−0.4	−0.5	−0.2	−1.4	+1.3	±0.0	−0.7	+2.0	+0.6	+1.2	+4.3	+2.6
2023	+0.4	+2.5	+2.3	+0.6	+2.3	+2.7	+1.7	+0.7	−2.5	−0.8	−1.3	+0.3
2024	+1.7	+2.7	+1.5	−1.7	−4.5	−1.2	+0.8	−0.4	−0.5	+3.2	+0.6	+0.8
2025	+1.4	+2.1	+0.4	−0.1	+1.3	−0.3	+4.5	+0.9	+0.7	+1.9	+2.1	+0.8

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

4,999 mRisco Plateado

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q1055787) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX 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.

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