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There exist several translations of Chimborazo, Ecuador's highest
peak at 6310m.
"Woman in Ice" or "Icy
Home of the Gods" or "Sacred Winds of the Moon" are
some and nowadays it is also called the
"Nation's Roof".
Till the early 19th century, Chimborazo was thought to be the
earth's highest mountain and if measured from the earth's center,
it still holds true as
the Himalayas are farther away from the equator and lose therefore due to
earth's equatorial bulge.
The German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt tried to climb it unsuccessfully in 1802, reaching a height of 5900m.
Finally in
1880, Edward Whymper and the Carrel brothers reached
the top for the first time. |
