Chacaltaya Ski Station

The glacier on Chacaltaya served as Bolivia's only ski resort. It was the world's highest lift-served ski area and the northernmost in South America. The rope tow, the 1st in the continent, was built in 1939 using an automobile engine; it was housed in the site's original clapboard lodge, and is now inoperable. The base of the 200-m drop is reached by a narrow road, also built in the 1930s. Since 2009, skiing is restricted to a 180 m stretch that sometimes receives sufficient snowfall for a run during the winter. The mountain is also popular with amateur mountaineers, as the road stops only 200 m from the summit. Guinness World Records considers the ski resort restaurant to be the highest in the world.