Cotopaxi is one of the highest active volcanoes on Earth, a glacier-capped cone that rises 5,897 metres in almost flawless symmetry above the Ecuadorian highlands. It is Ecuador's second-highest peak after Chimborazo, and its summit holds one of the few glaciers that survive on the equator, with the ice beginning at around 5,000 metres. The volcano has erupted at least 87 times since 1534. In 1877 its heat melted the entire ice cap within hours and sent mudflows racing more than 100 kilometres to the Pacific, sweeping away farms and villages in the valleys below. Its Quechua name, usually read as 'neck of the moon', echoes the crescent shape of the summit crater. German geologist Wilhelm Reiss and the Colombian Ángel Escobar made the first recorded ascent in 1872, reaching a summit that had turned back earlier climbers for years.
Cotopaxi National Park lies only about 50 kilometres south of Quito, which makes this one of the easiest places on Earth to stand at the foot of a great volcano. Wooden boardwalks cross the páramo, the cold high grassland where wild horses graze and the spiky red chuquiraga blooms, and the shallow Limpiopungo lagoon holds the cone's reflection when the wind drops. Most climbers start from the José Ribas refuge at around 4,800 metres and set out near midnight, crossing the glacier by headlamp to reach the summit at first light. The weather turns in minutes: cloud covers the peak and then clears again, so a full view of the cone is never guaranteed. The volcano is still restless. An eruption that began in October 2022 closed the summit for more than a year. Climbing reopened in 2024, but the crater keeps venting gas, so scientists monitor the mountain constantly.