Illimani

A 6,438-metre peak in the Cordillera Real of Bolivia, immediately east of the city of La Paz. Illimani is the second-highest peak in Bolivia and dominates every view of the city — from El Alto, from the central valley, from anywhere south of the Pampahasi plateau, the mountain is the eastern horizon. The name in Aymara is sometimes translated as "the gold-bringer" or "the illumination," depending on the linguistic source. For the population of La Paz, Illimani is not a distant mountain. The peak is roughly thirty kilometres from the city centre and constitutes a substantial portion of daily visual experience for two million people.

The first ascent was made in 1898 by a British expedition. William Conway — the same climber who had named Hidden Peak in the Karakoram six years earlier — and the guides Antoine Maquignaz and Louis Pellissier reached the summit via the South Ridge. The climb was technical for its era, involving several rock pitches and a long summit day from a high camp at 5,500 metres. The standard route now follows a different line — the West Ridge, climbed first in 1940, which is more direct and has become the commercially established route.

The technical difficulty of the West Ridge is moderate by Andean standards — comparable to Aconcagua but at slightly lower altitude. The fatality rate has been low. The principal challenge is acclimatization, particularly because most climbers approach Illimani from La Paz at 3,600 metres and then ascend to base camp at approximately 4,500 metres before the high camp at 5,400. The compressed acclimatization profile has caused altitude problems for climbers who have not previously been to similar elevations.

What Illimani represents, beyond a climbing objective, is the relationship between a major Andean city and the mountain that defines its skyline. The peak appears on the seal of La Paz, in murals across the city, in songs and literature. The mountain is not simply nearby. It is the visual and cultural foundation of the place. Climbers who reach the summit look down on the city that has been looking up at them for centuries.