The World's Highest Ski Run Has Melted

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Photo by: Carsten Drossel/Flickr

Back in 2005, we told you about Bolivia's Chacaltaya Glacier, which contained the world's highest ski run at 17,388 feet -- the ropetow attached to an old auto motor, the little shack where the locals drink chicha cochabambina, a strong corn-based alcohol, the dedicated ski club that made the trek up to Chacaltaya in mismatched ski boots and decades-old skis. We also told you it was going to disappear soon due to global warming -- and we were right. As of May 2009 the glacier had completely melted away. In 1999, a team of researchers studying the glacier predicted it would die in 2015, but the rate of melting tripled in the last decade, wiping out the glacier in just 10 years.

Photo by Carsten Drossel

See more photos of Chacaltaya

Chacaltaya Glacier Melts Due to Global Warming

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