Mount Roraima

High plateau in South America

Mount Roraima is the highest of the Pakaraima chain of plateaus in South America.[1]

Mount Roraima
Mt. Roraima during the wet season
Highest point
Elevation2,810 m (9,220 ft)
Prominence2,338 m (7,671 ft)
ListingCountry high point
Ultra prominent peak
Coordinates5°08′36″N 60°45′45″W / 5.14333°N 60.76250°W / 5.14333; -60.76250
Geography
Mount Roraima is located in South America
Mount Roraima
Mount Roraima
Location of Mount Roraima in South America (on border between Brazil and Venezuela)
LocationVenezuela/Brazil/
Country Venezuela
 Brazil
Geology
Mountain typePlateau
Climbing
First ascent1884
Easiest routeHike

It was first described to Europeans by the English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh during his 1595 expedition. Raleigh learned about it from indigenous peoples.

Roraima has a 31-square-kilometre (12-square-mile) summit area.[1]: 156  It is bounded on all sides by cliffs rising 400 metres (1,300 ft).

The mountain is in Venezuela and Brazil.[1] Mount Roraima is the point where the boundaries of Venezuela and Brazil. A stone stands on its summit, put there by the International Commission in 1931.

Mount Roraima lies on the Guiana Shield. It is the highest point of the Brazilian state of Roraima lie on the plateau, but Venezuela and Brazil have higher mountains elsewhere. The triple border point is at 5°12′08″N 60°44′07″W / 5.20222°N 60.73528°W / 5.20222; -60.73528, and the mountain's highest point is called 'Laberintos del Norte'.

The steep rock wall of Monte Roraima.

Although the steep sides of the plateau make it difficult, it was the first recorded major table-top to be climbed. Sir Everard im Thurn walked up a forested ramp on 18 December 1884 to scale the plateau. This route also used by the Clementis group in their climb of 15 January 1916.[2]: 463  It is one of the most important mountain trekking routes in Venezuela.

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Swan, Michael (1957), British Guiana, London, England, U.K.: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, OCLC 253238145
  2. Clementi, Mrs Cecil (1916). "A Journey to the Summit of Mt Roraima". The Geographical Journal. 48 (6): 456–473. doi:10.2307/1779816. JSTOR 1779816.