The Pico Pan de Azúcar, at 4680
meters above sea level, is the ninth highest mountain of
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
, and the third highest of the
Sierra de la Culata range in the
Mérida State. Its name, which translates as "Bread of Sugar", is due to the sandy slopes of the mountain, which resembles "Pan dulce", a kind of bread sprinkled with sugar eaten in the country. The summit offers a scenic view, including
Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo () is located in northwestern Venezuela, between the states of Zulia, Trujillo, and Mérida. While Maracaibo is commonly referred to as a lake, its current hydrological characteristics may better classify it as estuary and/or ...
,
Sierra Nevada de Mérida and the surrounding mountains of the
Sierra de la Culata.
Location
Pico Pan de Azúcar is located 27.7 kilometers to the Northeast of
Mérida, Mérida, the capital city of the state. The mountain, along with other mountains surrounds a high altitude valley around 4300 meters above sea level, which is the birth of the
Mucujún river
History
The first ascent, made by the German explorer
Wilhem Sievers, dates from 1885. In 1910,
Alfredo Jahn, an engineer working as leader of an Expedition commissioned for surveying the western of Venezuela, climbed the mountain, however, Jahn named the mountain "Tucaní" and on the other hand named "Pan de Azúcar" another neighbor mountain now known as
Pan de Sal.
Climbing
Pan de Azúcar is one of the most climbed mountains in the
Mérida state, due to its accessibility and fast approximation. It is best climbed during the
dry season
The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...
, from October to March. The principal access is through the "La Culata" settlement. The normal route is through the South ridge.
References
* Silva, Gustavo (2001). "Los Picos más altos del Estado Mérida-Venezuela". Rev. Geog. Venez. 42 (
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Mountains of Venezuela
Geography of Mérida (state)