El Altar is an extinct volcano on the western side of Sangay National Park

Sangay National Park

Sangay National Park is a national park located in the Morona Santiago, Chimborazo and Tungurahua provinces of Ecuador. The park contains two active volcanoes and ecosystems ranging from tropical rainforests to glaciers....

 in Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, 170 km south of Quito

Quito

San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...

. Spaniards named it so because it resembled two Nuns and four Friars listening to a Bishop around a church altar. The ancestral Purwa people of the region called the mountain Capac-Urcu, which means “Lord of all the Mountains” in Kichwa

Kichwa

Kichwa is a Quechuan language, and includes all Quechua varieties spoken in Ecuador and Colombia by approximately 2,500,000 people...

.

Geology

The mountain consists of a large stratovolcano

Stratovolcano

A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions...

 of Pliocene

Pliocene

The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...

-Pleistocene

Pleistocene

The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....

 age with a caldera

Caldera

A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...

 breached to the west. Inca legends report that the top of Altar collapsed after seven years of activity in about 1460, but the caldera is considered to be much older than this by geologist

Geologist

A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...

s. Nine major peaks over 5000 metres (16,404.2 ft) form a horseshoe

Horseshoe

A horseshoe, is a fabricated product, normally made of metal, although sometimes made partially or wholly of modern synthetic materials, designed to protect a horse's hoof from wear and tear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall...

-shaped ridge about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) across, surrounding a central basin that contains a crater lake

Crater lake

A crater lake is a lake that forms in a volcanic crater or caldera, such as a maar; less commonly and with lower association to the term a lake may form in an impact crater caused by a meteorite. Sometimes lakes which form inside calderas are called caldera lakes, but often this distinction is not...

at about 4200 m (13,779.5 ft), known as Laguna Collanes or Laguna Amarilla.

Access and recreation

El Altar is perhaps the most technically demanding climb in Ecuador. December through February are the best months to attempt an ascent. Much more accessible is the hike to the lake within the caldera of the mountain. From Riobamba, one takes a bus for about an hour to Candelaria and then checks in at the ranger station, where nationals pay $2 and foreigners $10 to enter the Sangay park. About 4–7 hours of an extremely muddy trail (knee-high rubber boots are recommended) leaves one at the refuge belonging to Hacienda Releche, which can be rented for $12/night. The refuge has many beds, a kitchen, and even hot water. To hike to the lake is another 2 hours from the refuge across a valley and up a steep hill.

List of peaks

The nine peaks of El Altar, starting with the highest summit on the south side and proceeding counterclockwise:

Peak name	Translation	Elevation	Direction from lake	First ascent
Obispo	Bishop	5319 m (17,451 ft)	South	July 7, 1963, Ferdinando Gaspard, Marino Tremonti, Claudio Zardini
Monja Grande	Great Nun	5160 m (16,929 ft)	Southeast	August 17, 1968, Bill Ross and Margaret Young
Monja Chica	Small Nun	5080 m (16,667 ft)	East-Southeast	January 16, 1971, Peter Bednar and party
Tabernáculo	Tabernacle	5180 m (16,995 ft)	East
Fraile Oriental	Eastern Friar	5060 m (16,601 ft)	East-Northeast
Fraile Beato	Devout Friar	5050 m (16,568 ft)	East-Northeast
Fraile Central	Central Friar	5070 m (16,634 ft)	Northeast
Fraile Grande	Great Friar	5180 m (16,995 ft)	North-Northeast	December 1, 1972, Lorenzo Lorenzi, Armando Perron, Marino Tremonti
Canónigo	Canon	5260 m (17,257 ft)	North	March 7, 1965, Ferdinando Gaspard, Lorenzo Lorenzi, Marino Tremonti, Claudio Zardini

External links

• Altar: Etymology