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ARGENTINA AND CHILE NORTH
ULTRA-PROMINENCES

43 Mountain Summits with Prominence of 1,500 meters or greater

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Compiled 2005-06 by Jonathan de Ferranti with assistance from John Biggar and Aaron Maizlish.

This is one of eight lists that cover the known ultra-prominences for South America.  This project represents original research into accurate elevations and prominence of the world's major summits, employing both new data sources and published topographic materials.  Parts of South America have notoriously poor information on summit elevations - values found in publication and on the internet for a given summit frequently vary by several hundred meters.  We  strive to more accurately represent elevations through interpretation of a variety of resources, including our own interpolation methods of SRTM data (see also theory section.)

South America has 208 ultra-prominences (13.6% of the world's total).  118 of these summits are in Chile and/or Argentina.  These have been segmented into three lists, as follows:

Argentina and Chile North (on this page):  Andes region north of Aconcagua.  This includes the Puna de Atacama, and the Jujuy, Salta, Catamarca, La Rioja, and San Juan provinces of Northern Argentina.  Cerro Champaqui (#10) is an outlier to the East in the Sierra de Córdoba.  Note that three of the summits on the North list also appear on the Bolivia list.

Argentina and Chile Central:  The northern border of this region is the low saddle, Hito Paso de la Iglesia, near the major road and rail pass connecting Santiago, Chile to Mendoza, Argentina.  This is the key saddle for Cerro Tupungato (#1 on that list).  The 22 peaks on the Central list represent the Andes between Tupungato and the region near Puerto Montt.

Argentina and Chile South (Patagonia):  The northern border of this region is a low broad saddle near the town of Epuyén, Argentina.  This represents a line running approximately from Puerto Montt, Chile east to the Rio Chubut in Argentina.  There are an impressive 52 known ultras in the Southern region, including four island highpoints. 

For those of you interested in matters of national pride; there are 78 summits in Chile or on its borders, which ranks fifth among the nations of the world.  There are 58 summits in Argentina or on its borders, which ranks seventh in the world.  (18 summits are believed to lie exactly on the Chile/Argentina border.)  Such is the nature of prominence that deeply carved glacial landscapes are favored when the summits are also high:  Chilean Patagonia, British Columbia and Alaska have a significant amount of the world's ultra-prominent summits. 

Revisions:  May 10, 2007
Rank
 Summit Name
 Country
 Elevation
(m.)
 Prominence
(m.)
 Saddle
(m.)
 Latitude
 Longitude
 ID Code
 Elev
(ft.)
 Prom
(ft.)
 Notes

1 Cerro Aconcagua Argentina 6962 6962 0 32º39'12"S 070º00'39"W SA001 22841 22841 [1]
2 Nevado Ojos del Salado Argentina/Chile 6893 3688 3205 27º06'33"S 068º32'27"W SA007 22615 12100 [2]
3 Cerro Mercedario Argentina 6700 3333 3367 31º58'45"S 070º06'45"W SA008 21981 10935
4 Cerro del Bolson Argentina 5552 3252 2300 27º12'51"S 066º05'39"W SA011 18215 10669
5 El Mela Argentina 4150 2907 1243 28º52'03"S 067º07'39"W SA012 13615 9537
6 Nevado de Famatima (Cerro Belgrano) Argentina 6097 2767 3330 29º00'51"S 067º49'36"W SA014 20003 9078
7 Cerro el Manchao Argentina 4575 2714 1861 28º15'30"S 066º02'27"W SA017 15010 8904
8 Mogote Corralitos Argentina 3160 2466 694 31º18'57"S 067º55'24"W SA026 10367 8090
9 Volcan Llullaillaco Argentina/Chile 6739 2344 4395 24º43'12"S 068º32'12"W SA031 22109 7690
10 Cerro Champaqui Argentina 2770 2208 562 31º59'15"S 064º56'12"W SA043 9088 7244
11 Cordillera de Ansilta Argentina 5887 2205 3682 31º37'33"S 069º52'36"W SA041 19314 7234
12 Nevado de Chañi Argentina 5930 2166 3764 24º03'48"S 065º44'45"W SA046 19455 7106
13 Cerro Aucanquilcha Chile 6176 2165 4011 21º13'15"S 068º28'06"W SA047 20262 7103
14 Cerro el Libertador - Nevado de Cachi Argentina 6380 2146 4234 24º55'54"S 066º23'27"W SA049 20932 7041
15 Monte Pissis Argentina 6795 2145 4650 27º45'21"S 068º47'57"W SA048 22293 7037 [15]
16 Cerro de la Majadita Argentina 6280 2113 4167 30º25'12"S 069º46'51"W SA050 20603 6932 [16]
17 Cerro Pircas Argentina 4380 2070 2310 31º42'27"S 069º09'24"W SA055 14370 6791
18 Volcan San Pedro Chile 6145 2024 4121 21º53'15"S 068º23'30"W SA064 20161 6640
19 Volcan Socompa Argentina/Chile 6051 2015 4036 24º23'45"S 068º14'45"W SA065 19852 6611
20
 Cerro Parinacota
 Bolivia/Chile
 6342
 1989
 4353
 18º09'57"S
 069º08'30"W
 SA068
 20807
 6526
21 Volcan Antofalla Argentina 6440 1957 4483 25º33'45"S 067º52'51"W SA073 21128 6421
22 Cerro Palpana Chile 6040 1947 4093 21º32'48"S 068º31'21"W SA074 19816 6388 [22]
23 Cerro Malcante Argentina 5100 1917 3183 25º04'30"S 065º51'06"W SA087 16732 6289
24 Cerro del Toro Argentina/Chile 6168 1910 4258 29º07'48"S 069º47'12"W SA085 20236 6266
25 Cerro Pular Chile 6233 1898 4335 24º12'03"S 068º04'00"W SA088 20449 6227
26 Cerro Aracar Argentina 6095 1791 4304 24º17'24"S 067º47'00"W SA102 19996 5876
27 Cerro Laguna Blanca Argentina 6012 1778 4234 26º31'48"S 067º03'33"W SA110 19724 5833
28 Alto Toroni (Cerro Sillajguay) Bolivia/Chile 5995 1733 4262 19º45'12"S 068º41'48"W SA118 19668 5686
29 Volcan Tacora Chile 5988 1721 4267 17º43'15"S 069º46'21"W SA121 19645 5646
30 Volcan Copiapo Chile 6052 1701 4351 27º18'21"S 069º07'51"W SA124 19855 5581
31 Cerros de Pereyra Argentina 2640 1690 950 24º12'24"S 064º30'51"W SA133 8661 5545
32 Cumbres Calchaquies Argentina 4740 1688 3052 26º36'57"S 065º43'36"W SA132 15551 5538
33 Volcan Ollague Bolivia/Chile 5868 1686 4182 21º18'09"S 068º10'45"W SA131 19252 5531
34 Cerro el Condor Argentina 6414 1660 4754 26º37'54"S 068º21'42"W SA135 21043 5446
35 Cerro Paniri Chile 5960 1653 4307 22º03'33"S 068º13'42"W SA142 19554 5423 [35]
36 Nevado Queva Argentina 6140 1635 4505 24º18'27"S 066º44'00"W SA148 20144 5364
37 Cerro del Tambillo Argentina 5680 1624 4056 32º18'15"S 069º40'51"W SA153 18635 5328
38 Cerro Pili Chile 6046 1608 4438 23º17'33"S 067º37'03"W SA160 19836 5276
39 Cerro Tebenquicho Argentina 5810 1575 4235 25º21'03"S 067º38'48"W SA172 19061 5167
40 Colangüil Argentina 6122 1547 4575 29º35'21"S 069º26'57"W SA180 20085 5075
41 Tres Quebradas (Cerro de los Patos) Argentina/Chile 6239 1518 4721 27º18'00"S 068º48'30"W SA193 20469 4980
42 Cerro de Incahuasi Argentina/Chile 6621 1514 5107 27º02'00"S 068º17'45"W SA210 21722 4967
43 Cerro Castillejos Argentina 2480 1505 975 26º03'57"S 064º53'30"W SA205 8136 4938

FOOTNOTES

Further notes on data methods for South America can be found at the South America Ultras Introduction Page.

[1]  Aconcagua:  This is the second most prominent summit on earth.  A long history of its measurement is given in R.J. Secor's Climbing Guide to Aconcagua.

[2]  Ojos del Salado: The question of which is the second highest summit in South America, Ojos del Salado or Monte Pissis is a long and storied one.  We believe that this question can finally be laid to rest in favor of Ojos, partly as the result of SRTM analysis.  Jonathan de Ferranti has submitted a report on this question.  Congratulations to prominence-baggers Bob Packard and Ken Jones on their 2006 ascent.  The Chilean IGM 1:50,000 topographic map gives an elevation of 6893m.  Numerous GPS readings on the summit affirm an elevation in the range of 6890-6905m, so we are going with the published value for the time being.

[15]  Monte Pissis:  See Ojos del Salado.

[16]  Cerro de la Majadita:  We believe this is marginally higher than the published 6266 meter elevation.

[22]  Cerro Palpana:  We believe this is marginally higher than the published 6023 meter elevation.

[35]  Cerro Paniri:  We believe this is marginally higher than the published 5946 meter elevation.

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