Veronica Snow Mountain, also known as Wakaywillque, is a big mountain in the Cusco area, and it's the tallest peak in the Urubamba mountain range. Its land is very rough, with steep sides that are more than 40 degrees steep, which makes it likely to have slides and avalanches.
Getting to the snow mountain means a walk that is a hard experience, but the views with Andean scenery around are really amazing. Also, it's one of the best places for rock climbing, bringing in adventurers who like this sport.
For the local people, this mountain is more than a pretty place: it's seen as a holy Apu, a spirit that protects the crops and farming balance in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
The Verónica Snow Mountain is located in the Urubamba Mountain Range, in the Cusco region, Peru, near the railway that connects Ollantaytambo with Machu Picchu, standing out for its snowy peaks visible from various points of the Sacred Valley.
The area has an average temperature between 10 °C to 13 °C.
The highest peak of Veronica Mountain is 5,800 meters above sea level.
Originally known as Waynawillca, meaning "Young Sacred", Mount Verónica held a relevant place during the Inca period as one of the Apus or tutelary spirits, considered a protector of agriculture and a source of spiritual energy. In 1536, after rebelling against his Spanish allies, Manco Inca was defeated by Francisco Pizarro's forces, forcing him to abandon Cusco and take refuge in Vilcabamba, where he established a new independent empire.
During his retreat, he crossed the Málaga pass, located under the northeast ridge of Waynawillca, which has since been known as Wakaywillque, a Quechua term meaning "Sacred Tear", in memory of the sadness for the loss of the empire and the exile of the Inca dynasty. Later, the Spanish linked the Quechua name with the figure of "Llorona Verónica", a widely spread colonial legend that ended up naming the massif we know today as Nevado Verónica.
The classic story of the brothers who take different paths: Well, “They say that Salkantay Glacier and Ausangate Glacier were brothers, who lived in Cusco and after a severe drought, the brothers ventured into strange lands to save their people from a harsh drought. Salkantay went north and found the jungle and there the legend of forbidden love of Veronica Mountain; On the other hand, Ausangate went south to the highlands and found great production of Andean products and from there sent camelid meat, corn, potatoes, among others. Only in this way could he save the town of Cusco”.
«… And so after leaving the Qosqo valley in search of food for his people, Salcantay arrived in the land of the Antis, where he met the beautiful and young princess Huaynawillca. The two young men fell in love on the spot, to the disapproval of the warrior Anti people, who decided to expel Salcantay from their lands. Faced with the threat to their love, the two young men decided to flee towards the Qosqo valley, where Salcantay was respected and they could live together forever, however, the Anti people, feeling mocked, chased the bride and groom to the peaks of the mountain range. , where they sacrificed their own princess, preferring her dead to that in the arms of Salcantay. The Cusco warrior, furious at the death of his beloved, began a fierce fight against the Anti people, whom he completely exterminated. The gods, faced with such a great bloodshed, decided to turn Salcantay into a mountain, so that it would not harm men more, could feed its people and take care of Waynawillca, which was also turned into a mountain ... »(Traditional legend Cuzco from Verónica Mountain)
As witnesses to this legend of Verónica Mountain, we can only tell both mountains located in the Cusco region, mute narrators of a story that we can only imagine.
To get to Verónica Mountain, you must go by bus from the city of Cusco to the Ollantaytambo district, precisely to the town of Piscacucho, where the trek to the mountain begins. There are a total of 20 kilometers that are completed in 1 hour to 2 hours.
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