Chacaltaya Ski Resort.
Chacaltaya Ski Resort.

BOLIVIA –  Chacaltaya Ski Resort was once the only ski resort in Bolivia in addition to being the highest ski resort in the world. Opened in the late 1930s, the ski area offered skiing and sledding on the Chacaltaya Glacier for 7 or 8 months a year. But melting glacier left the entire ski area abandoned.

By 2009, the glacier that was at that point 18,000-years-old was completely melted away, leaving no place for skiers and snowboarders to recreate. The lifts shut down, the buildings were shuttered, and the resort was left abandoned. Today tours can be booked up to the abandoned resort, allowing visitors to check out the remnants of the once popular resort area.

Nolan Deck is a writer for Unofficial Networks, covering skiing and outdoor adventure. After growing up and skiing in Maine, he moved to the Denver area for college where he continues to live and work...