Valle Nevado

Valle Nevado

Valle Nevado is a ski resort at the foot of the El Plomo mountain range in the Andes. The Cerro El Plomo Mountain is 5434 meters high and in clear weather is the highest peak visible from Santiago. The best time to climb the mountain is between November and March, as the landscape is snowy in spring. The Incas regularly climbed to its summit in the 15th century. But Gustav Brandt and Rudolph Lucke made the first European ascent of the mountain in 1896. The mountain was used as a ritual site by the Incas, and became famous when the mummy of a child of about nine years old was found on the summit in 1954. According to the description, "At 5430 m above sea level, at the headwaters of the El Cepo and Mapocho rivers, 45 km northeast of the city of Santiago, 30 m from the summit, are three rectangular stone structures. In the largest, the frozen body of a child of Inca origin was found in 1954, along with a rich reliquary and sacrificial offering, consisting of a bag with coca, silver, gold and shell figurines and other layered copper ornaments. At an altitude of 5200 m above sea level, a stone ceremonial platform with a ritual opening inside was found". The mummy is now on display at the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural in Santiago, Chile.