Illampú is the fourth highest mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

 in Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

. It is located in the northern section of the Cordillera Real

Cordillera Real (Bolivia)

The Cordillera Real is a mountain range in the South American Altiplano of Bolivia. This range of fold mountains, largely composed of granite, is located southeast of Lake Titicaca, and east of the Bolivian capital of La Paz, measuring 125 km in length and 20 km in width...

, part of the Andes

Andes

The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

, east of Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Peru and Bolivia. It sits 3,811 m above sea level, making it the highest commercially navigable lake in the world...

. It lies just north of the slightly higher Ancohuma

Ancohuma

Ancohuma is the third highest mountain in Bolivia . It is located in the northern section of the Cordillera Real, part of the Andes, east of Lake Titicaca...

, near the town of Sorata

Sorata

Sorata is a small town in the La Paz Department in the Bolivian Andes, northwest of the city of La Paz and east of Lake Titicaca. It is the seat of the Larecaja Province and the Sorata Municipality. At the time of census 2001 it had a population of 2,217....

. Laguna Glaciar

Laguna Glaciar

Laguna Glaciar is a lake in the Larecaja Province, La Paz Department, Bolivia. It located in the Illampu - Ancohuma massif. Its surface area is 0.2 km². At an elevation of 5038 m, it is the 17th highest lake in the world....

, located in the Illampu-Ancohuma massif, is the 17th highest lake in the world.

Despite being lower than Ancohuma, Illampú has a steeper peak, with more local relief, and is a somewhat harder climb. In fact it has "the hardest normal route on any of the 6,000 metre peaks in Bolivia." The easiest route, by the Southwest Ridge, is rated AD (Fairly Difficult), with snow slopes up to 65 degrees. It is accessed from a high camp on the north side of the massif. The peak was first climbed on June 7, 1928 via this route, by Hans Pfann, Alfred Horeschowsky, Hugo Hörtnagel (Germans

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

) and Erwin Hein (Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n). Other routes include the "German Route" on the southwest face and the South Face route, both approached from the west side of the massif.