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Climate
in the mountains
There is a saying in tropical mountain chains that goes: "there
are no seasons throughout the year, but rather days that feature
all four". In the Peruvian Andes, in the morning there
is sunshine but the air is cool, like in spring; after midday
the sun heats up, and one often has to take to the shade,
as during the summer; in the afternoon, the clouds that have
gathered all morning long begin to cover the sun, and it feels
like autumn; when the skies are completely overcast, it becomes
so cold that it feels like winter.
Snow conditions
Glaciers are also receding in the Andes, where the snowline
loses two meters every year. This sparks continuous changes
in the aspect of the mountains, access routes and how to tackle
them. Large chunks of compact snow called seracs constantly
break away from the mountains. Rain in the valley generally
turns to snow above 4,500 meters. Snow generally sticks well
to steep Andean slopes, and often forms cornices on cliffs
on the windless side of the summit. Occasionally one comes
across cornices on both sides of a cliff. Another characteristic
of the region is the formation of layered walls of snow.Because
the mountains are located in the Southern Hemisphere, the
consequences of the directions the various mountain slopes
face change compared to the Northern Hemisphere. |
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