Chacaltaya

In 1939, a car engine was repurposed as a rope tow, and the world’s highest lift-served ski area was born at 17,785 feet above Bolivia. Chacaltaya’s 18,000-year-old glacier powered not just weekend slaloms but also La Paz’s water supply. For decades, skiers from around the world came to test themselves on the notoriously difficult rope tow and thin air. But by the 1990s, something was changing. The massive glacier that made it all possible was shrinking- fast. Today, two brothers who once skied the mountain themselves still live in the refugio near the peak, serving hot meals at what Guinness World Records recognizes as the world’s highest restaurant. The mountain’s name, translated from Aymara, means “cold bridge.” It doesn’t feel quite as cold anymore.