Ojos del Salado Spanish, comes from the enormous deposits of salt that, in the form of lagoons or “eyes”, appear in its glaciers. An international highway between Chile and Argentina runs north of the mountain. Ojos del Salado along with several other high volcanoes such as El Muerto, El Solo, Nevado Incahuasi and Nevado Tres Cruces lies at the southern end of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes. Volcanic activity in the region commenced 26 million years ago in the Cordillera Claudio Gay, at the same time as the neighbouring Maricunga Belt volcanoes were active. Starting 18 million years ago, local subduction
Áncash Region other smaller ones, a real symphony of summits with different grades of difficulty in climbing. This mountain range was called White, not only for its eternal snow but also for the chemical constitution of its quartz and feldspar rocks. It has the highest summit in Peru and the fifth one in America after Aconcagua, Ojos del Salado, Bonete and Mercedario: Huascarán, whose south peak reaches 6768 msnm. Huascarán's north peak reaches 6655 m. Allpamayu whose height has been estimated in 5,947 m, has been considered as "the most beautiful snow mountain of the world". This statement was achieved by the