Stumbled on this N.Y. Times video this evening brought a bit of a flashback.  I visited that ski lodge on Chacaltaya at least three times while assigned to Bolivia from 1991-1993.  The world’s highest ski resort was a tourist attraction, and it was cool to take visitors on an easy trip up to the 17,ooo+ foot peak for bragging rights.  My little Ford Escort could easily drive from La Paz to the lodge, and the hike to the peak could be made in tennis shoes as long as you had the lung capacity to survive the walk.  Have admit that beer was a particularly cost-effective buzz at that altitude as well, as I learned on a hash with the local Hash House Harriers, at least as long as it didn’t completely foam away.

Sad to see the glacier’s gone.  I know there was also an astronomy site nearby.  Hopefully people can still get up to the lodge for a good time and a drinkee even without the glacier to ski on.