Volcano·Ecuador

Chimborazo

6,264m

Andes

Eduardo Navas · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 6,264m
Prominence: 4,122m
Isolation: 846km
Relief: 2,242mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 54°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
First ascent: 1880
Summit: 1.4689°S, 78.8178°W

Volcano and highest mountain in Ecuador

Chimborazo is a volcano in the Andes (Ecuador). Its summit stands 6,264 m above sea level. It is the highest point of EC. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 4,122 m, and the nearest higher ground is 846 km away. It was first climbed in 1880.

From the lowest point within 5 km (4,022 m), it rises 2,242 m. The steepest side is the south-west face: 34° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 54° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Yanayacu, 17 km away at 3,359 m: 2,904 m below the summit.

Chimborazo 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

6.9/10

Difficulty to the top

Alpine climb

Most path sections around the top are T5 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

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

0.8/2.51 waymarked routes and 10 path sections nearby
1.2/1.55 huts and shelters
2.0/22,904 m of ascent from the valley
1.5/1.54,122 m of prominence
0.8/1.53 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
0.6/1via 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

Car hire at GYE airport (Guayaquil)Discover CarsSee

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 Chimborazo

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit6,264 msnow all year round	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	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 up4,811 moccasional snow all year	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time	Snow some of the time
Yanayacu3,359 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

Chimborazo, 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 October afternoon the summit reaches about -5 °C; on August 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 October, the 0 °C line reaches only about 5,540 m: 724 m below the summit. Across the region, September is the driest month (67 mm) and April the wettest (162 mm).

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

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Yanayacu high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-5	-14	14	5,480	124	25	3.4
February	-5	-14	14	5,430	146	25	2.4
March	-6	-14	13	5,420	162	27	2.2
April	-5	-14	14	5,450	162	26	3.0
May	-5	-14	14	5,430	129	25	3.4
June	-6	-16	13	5,310	111	21	3.5
July	-6	-16	13	5,330	89	20	3.7
August	-6	-16	13	5,400	75	17	3.7
September	-5	-16	14	5,530	67	18	3.9
October	-5	-15	14	5,540	109	22	4.0
November	-5	-15	14	5,510	113	22	4.1
December	-5	-14	14	5,480	112	24	3.5

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 3,003 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 Chimborazo

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

N 5 km

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

5mountain huts and shelters
Refugio Carrel (4,850 m), Refugio Whymper (5,060 m), Cabaña Peña Brava, Campo Alto and 1 more
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
—ski areas
1waymarked hiking routes
Vía normal (F)
—via ferratas
4climbing crags and routes
Chimborazo, San Juan de la Chorrera, ESTACIONAMIENTO_PARTIDA
2named glaciers
Carihuairazo, Chimborazo
1viewpoints
cascada La Chorrera
3campsites
Zona de Campa
7hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Hosteria La Andaluza, Condor Huasi, Cabañas de Mechahuazca, Chimborazo Lodge and 3 more
2restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

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

T1T2T3T5

T1 hiking
T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Yanayacu17 km · 3,359 m
Mocha18 km · 3,261 m
San Juan19 km · 3,222 m
San Andrés19 km · 3,007 m
San Isidro de Patulú19 km · 3,023 m
Tisaleo21 km · 3,238 m
Calpi21 km · 3,104 m
San Bartolomé de Pinllo22 km · 3,342 m

Car hire at GYE airport (Guayaquil)Discover Cars · Affiliate link

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

19 Chimborazo (24) — Ljuba brank · CC BY-SA 3.0

AMA Volcán Chimborazo 3 (8226318049) — amalavida.tv · CC BY-SA 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.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-5	-5	-6	-5	-5	-6	-6	-6	-5	-5	-5	-5
2020	+0.6	+0.9	+0.8	+0.6	+0.4	+0.3	−0.1	+0.6	+0.2	+0.9	+0.3	+0.1
2021	−0.7	±0.0	−0.5	−0.5	−0.4	−0.1	−0.6	−0.4	−0.6	±0.0	−0.8	±0.0
2022	−0.3	−0.3	−0.5	−0.4	−0.3	−0.4	−0.6	−0.5	−0.2	−0.3	±0.0	−0.2
2023	−0.9	±0.0	−0.4	−0.5	+0.2	+0.2	+0.2	−0.1	+0.2	+0.2	+0.5	+0.7
2024	+0.8	+0.8	+1.6	+0.8	+0.9	+0.9	+0.1	+0.5	+0.6	+0.9	−0.1	+0.3
2025	−0.5	±0.0	−0.4	−0.1	−0.4	−0.2	−0.6	−0.6	−0.7	−0.8	−0.2	+0.1

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

5,018 mCarihuairazo volcano

Ecuador10 km away

5,016 mTungurahua volcano

Ecuador42 km away

5,319 mEl Altar volcano

Ecuador50 km away

5,230 mSangay volcano

Ecuador80 km away

3,800 mQuilotoa

Ecuador68 km away

5,897 mCotopaxi volcano

Ecuador97 km away

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q14081) · 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.

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.

beaches

Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit

lakes

Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit

mountains

Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.You are here

waterfalls Cascadyas

Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit

islands

Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit

rivers

Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Coming soonVisit

canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit