PARINACOTA PAINTED BY RAMOS CATALAN

RAMOS CATALAN (1888-1961)

 Parinacota  (6,348 m - 20,827ft)
Chile - Bolivia

From the series " Mountains of Chile" possibly volcano Parinacota seen from the south 

The Mountain 

Parinacota (6,348 m- 20,827ft) or Parina Quta or Parinaquta is a massive dormant stratovolcano on the border of Chile and Bolivia. Cerros de Payachata, means twin mountains and there are only two peaks in the range. It is usually counted as a sub-range in the Cordillera Occidental. Parinacota is slightly higher than its twin brother/sister Pomerape (6,282m). Both volcanoes are right on the Chilean - Bolivian border and can be climbed from either side. Their closest neighbor is Bolivia's highest mountain Sajama (6,542m) which isn't more than 20km away. Parinacota is located in the extreme NE of Chile, where the country borders to Bolivia. The closest really large city is La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, which is about 300km and five hours away. Arica, in Chile is at the Pacific coast and is about 180 km far (and almost 5000 vertical meters!).

It is part of the Payachata volcanic group. The other major edifice in that group is the Pleistocene peak of Pomerape.  Parinacota's last eruptive phase has been dated using the helium surface exposure technique, which ties the eruption to 290AD ± 300 years.

One of the most dramatic eruptive events in the volcano's past was 8,000 years ago, when a major collapse of the edifice produced a 6 kmі (1.44 cubic miles) debris avalanche, which blocked nearby drainage patterns, creating Chungara Lake.

The volcano and Pomerape straddle the border between Sajama National Park (Bolivia) and Lauca National Park (Chile).

Climbing

Parinacota was first climbed in 1928 by Joseph Prem and Carlos Terán.

Climbing the volcano is  alpine F grade, on a snow/rubble slope of about 35 degrees. A camp can be established at 5,300 m at the saddle between Parinacota and Pomerape. Depending on the season, the main difficulty can be a snow formation called penitentes which make the ascent physically difficult or impossible. It is attempted by about one party per week in the season. If needed, guides and transport can be hired from Sajama village, 27 km away on the Bolivian side of the mountain.

The main climbing season is from late June to mid September. This is the winter season of the southern hemisphere. It's also the time with the lowest precipitation and most stable weather. Between May and September there's almost no risk of any rain or snow at all. 

The painter 

Benito Ramos Catalán (1888-1961) was a chilean  painter who used to sign "Ramos Catalan". Known for his marines and landscapes of the Andes and Chile, particularly his mountains paintings. Most of them have the same title:  "Mountains of Chile" or  "Mountains landscapes of Andes", making quite difficult to know which mountain was exactly depicted, in a country which has quite a lot of summits ! To add to the difficulty, he used to paint the most famous mountains of his country under very unusual angles or with proportions that do not correspond exactly to their real size... making even more difficult to recognize and identify them for experts ! That is why today, 55 years after his death, some of these mountains paintings are not clearly identified and presented, in the public sales, as 'possibly' a particular summit of Chile or Andes...
His works are in many Chilean institutions like  Viña del Mar Fine Art  Museum, O'Higginiano Fine Art Museum in Talca, Valparaiso Fine Art Museum, and Navy Schools in Valparaiso.

2016 - WanderingVertexes
Un blog de Francis Rousseau