This article was translated by John R. Bopp

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All our lives, we’ve always believe that the tallest Basque mountain, at 7,966ft/3,615m, is the Mesa de los Tres Reyes, which we Basques share with Aragon.  But no, it’s not, at least in spirit.  Thanks to an interview with mountain climber Victor Trinidad published on the website Mugalari, which includes a discussion of mountain climber Alex Txikon, we discovered some new info.

This peak is, much like many people who live between the Andean summits and the Pacific Ocean, Basque and Chilean, Chilean and Basque.  It can be found right in the middle of the Andes, about 45mi/70km southeast of Santiago, close to an Andean paradise called El Ingenio.  This peak serves as a reminder to the weight of the Basque presence in this South American country.  

So why are we saying all this about this particular peak?  Well, because it has a very special name: Cerro Euzkadi.  Just like that, with the Z.  The story behind this Chilean peak’s name is, as you can read below, beautiful, and full of first-rate historical significance:

One route and another take these lines to the foothills of Euzkadi Peak, a summit of 3,615 meters that was thus baptized in this Andean country in the times of the Spanish Civil War and the number of people who know why is quite small.  People from Biscay that had been exiled to Chile gave it that name, in a prohibited gesture, in order to dedicate the peak to their homeland and to the arrival to that South American enclave of Lehendakari José Antonio Aguirre.

It’s a mountain that, as Alex Txikon says, is beautiful.  But don’t take our word for it: check out the amazing photo that accompanies this article, taken by photographer Eugenia Paz.

Euzkadi Peak, in the Chilean Andes (photo by Eugenia Paz)
Euzkadi Peak, in the Chilean Andes (photo by Eugenia Paz)

From now on, when someone asks us the name and elevation of the tallest Basque mountain, we’ll definitely be saying it’s in the Andes, at 3,615 meters or 11,860 feet tall, and is called Euzkadi.

We’ll leave you with the information that told us about this Basque mountain in the Andes, and a description of how to get there, as told to us by ELAL, the Patagonian Andean Club.

Mugalari – 9/9/2014 – Euskadi

VÍCTOR TRINIDAD | “Repetí el ascenso al cerro Euskadi para subir a su cima una ikurriña comprada en Durango”

Acostumbran a decir en Chile que el futuro es siempre una página en blanco por escribir. Proverbian allá que “el que no sabe es como el que no ve”. Una cita y otra conducen estas líneas hacia las faldas del cerro Euskadi, una mole de 3.615 metros que existe bautizado en el país andino desde tiempos de la Guerra civil española y que son contadas las personas en el mundo que saben de su ser. Vizcainos exiliados en Chile le dieron tal nombre -en un comienzo prohibido- con el fin de dedicarle la cumbre a su patria y a la llegada al enclave americano del lehendakari José Antonio Aguirre. Desde entonces hasta hoy, pasados casi 80 años, Víctor Alex Trinidad pueda ser la única persona que lo ha ascendido en dos ocasiones. En su caso, él sabe tanto como el que lo ve y ha escrito una página que estaba en blanco en la historia humana chilena y vasca.

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Mugalari – 9/9/2014 – Euskadi

El monte Euskadi, que desconocía, es precioso

Es inevitable que al hablar de Chile o Argentina aparezcan parentescos euskaldunes. ¿Quién no ha enchufado el televisor o la radio y, viendo cualquier noticia relacionada con estos países, en cualquier tipo de ámbito, ha aparecido un apellido euskaldun?  No sé a vosotros, pero a mí o me sucede siempre o al menos me lo parece… Sí que os digo que desconocía por completo la existencia del cerro Euskadi del que me dan noticia en Mugalari.info.

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ELAL – 30/10/2010 – Chile

Cerro Euzkadi

Región: Metropolitana
Altura IGM: 3615msnm
Fecha: 30 de Octubre al 01 de Noviembre de 2010
Posición Geográfica:
Latitud   : 33º 51’ 21,46” S (PSAD56)
Longitud: 70º 20’ 46,81” O
Ruta: Elal, Cara Noreste
Desnivel: 2445m (Desde el Lodge El Ingenio)
Sector: Estero del Ingenio
Recorrido Total Ascenso/Descenso: 36,5km

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Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country


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