Эквадордың ең биік тауы және Чимборасо жанартауы

Volcano and highest mountain in Ecuador
the volcano
at Tungurahua, and the El Niño phenomenon. As on other glaciated Ecuadorian mountains, Chimborazo's glacial ice is mined by locals (the so called Hieleros from Spanish Hielo for Ice) to be sold in the markets of Guaranda and Riobamba. In earlier days, the people transported ice for cooling uses down to coastal towns such as Babahoyo or Vinces.

With an elevation of , Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador and the Andes north of Peru; it is higher than any more northerly summit in the Americas.

The summit of Mount Everest is higher above sea level, but the summit of Chimborazo is widely reported to be the farthest point on the surface from Earth's center, with Huascarán a very close second. The summit of Chimborazo is the fixed point on Earth that has the utmost distance from the center – because of the oblate spheroid shape of the planet Earth, which is thicker at the Equator than it is from pole to pole. Chimborazo is one degree south of the Equator and the Earth's diameter at the Equator is greater than at the latitude of Everest ( above sea level), nearly 28° north, with sea level also elevated. Despite being lower in elevation above sea level, it is from the Earth's center, farther than the summit of Everest ( from the Earth's center). However, by height above sea level, Chimborazo is not the highest peak of the Andes. Centrifugal force from the Earth's rotation, and distance from the center of the Earth, cause the force of gravity to be slightly reduced near the equator. The summit of Chimborazo has about one percent less gravity than the point with the highest gravitational force. Yet, due to its height above the surrounding terrain and local gravity anomalies, the summit of Huascarán is the place on Earth with the smallest gravitational force.

Chimborazo is an ice capped inactive volcano. It is a double volcano composed of one volcanic edifice on top of another. Chimborazo shows four summits; Whymper, Veintimilla, Politecnica, and Nicolas Martínez. The Whymper peak is the highest point on the mountain at 6,263 meters. The Veintimilla peak is about high. The Politecnica peak is high. The last peak, Nicolas Martínez, is high and was named after the father of Ecuadorian mountaineering. The volcano is categorized as a stratovolcano. From his description of the mountain, it seems that before he and his companions had to return suffering from altitude sickness they reached a point at 5,875 m, higher than previously attained by any European in recorded history (Incans had reached much higher altitudes previously; see Llullaillaco). In 1831, Jean Baptiste Boussingault and Colonel Hall reached a new "highest point", estimated to be 6,006 m. Other failed attempts to reach the summit followed. On 4 January 1880, the English climber Edward Whymper reached the summit of Chimborazo. The route that Whymper took up the mountain is now known as the Whymper route. Edward Whymper, and his Italian guides Louis Carrel and Jean Antoine Carrel, were the first Europeans to summit a mountain higher than the aircraft was found with the bodies of its 59 occupants at elevation on Chimborazo by Ecuadorian climbers on the rarely used eastern route Integral.

As Ecuador's highest mountain, Chimborazo is a very popular climb and can be climbed year round with the best seasons being December–January and July–August.

The easiest (IFAS Grade: PD) and most climbed routes are the Normal and the Whymper route. Both are western ridge routes starting at the Whymper hut and leading via the Ventemilla summit to the main (Whymper) summit. There are several other less used and more challenging routes on the mountain's other faces and ridges leading to one of Chimborazo's summits: Main (Whymper, Ecuador), Politecnico (Central), N. Martinez (Eastern). The mountain is contained on the IGM (Instituto Geografico Militar) 1:50000 Map Chimborazo (CT ÑIV C1). Miguel Ángel León wrote a poem entitled "Canto al Chimborazo" (Song to Chimborazo). David Weber's novel The Armageddon Inheritance mentions Mount Chimborazo as the site for a massive planetary defense installation.