Expedition Amazon - The Trek to Ausangate

 

 National Geographic +Rolex 

Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative 

Expedition Amazon - The Trek to Ausangate 

Follow along as 33 members of the Rolex and National Geographic Perpetual Planet Amazon Expedition set out to summit Nevado Ausangate with the goal of installing the highest weather station in the tropical Andes. Towering nearly 6,400 metres (21,000 feet) above sea level, Ausangate is one of the tallest peaks in Peru and a primary source for the iconic Amazon River. Data from a weather station will help explorers better understand how climate change is affecting the glaciers, downstream communities, and the Amazon Basin. 

With 180-metre (600-foot) ice walls to climb, hidden crevasses to cross, and 60 bags of gear to carry at extreme altitude, installing the station near the summit is no easy task. Just what does it take to reach the top? Discover more of the Amazon’s incredible wildlife, nature, and communities through the immersive experience on NationalGeographic.com.

Rolex and National Geographic Perpetual Planet Amazon Expedition: Atop the Andes Mountains

Rolex and National Geographic 
Perpetual Planet Amazon Expedition
Atop the Andes Mountains

With support from Rolex and the National Geographic Society, climate scientists and Explorers Baker Perry (whom Danny profiled two years ago in these pages) and Tom Matthews endured snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures to install a state-of-the-art weather station on the summit of one of Peru’s highest mountains. As well as providing a source of water for millions of people, the Vilcanota mountain range forms a key part of the complex water cycle of the wider Amazon River basin. 

Today, that system is under threat from a brutal combination of climate change and deforestation, but to accurately predict how it will respond to these challenges in the future, scientists must better understand the current weather in the high mountains. With data now flowing in from the weather station on the summit of Nevado Ausangate, they might just be able to do so.