Where can you find the highest ski lift on Earth? If you've answered Switzerland, Austria or Colorado, then you're wrong. Or, you would have been, until 2009. Towering over an unforgettable landscape, close to the peak of Chacaltaya mountain, sits an abandoned ski resort. It was once teeming with skiing enthusiasts, and today, scarcely one can even be found in the area. If you're mystified, here's the tragic story behind it - and you can ponder over it while you climb up the rocky pathways and attempt to acclimatize to the altitude.

Less than a century ago, Chacaltaya was home to a sizeable section of the 18 000-year-old Chacaltaya glacier, an area filled with snow for as far as the eyes could see. Today, you won't see a snowy peak or even a single patch of white on your climb up; and perhaps, we never will. The Chacaltaya glacier diminished at an unprecedented rate, much faster than was predicted by scientists, and the popular Chacaltaya Ski Resort, with it. By 2009, the lower levels of precipitation and the warm phase of El Niño led to the last of the glacier melting away. Despite that, the view from the peak is no less stunning, and a climb up this mountain is sure to ready you for your adventure up La Paz!