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I might be doing a month long rotation for beef up my Spanish. I was considering southern Peru or Bolivia but have limited beta on the weather there during that month.

If anyone has any info about December climbing anywhere in those two countries, please, please share with me. Thanks!

Many areas have pretty bad weather conditions then. Climbing is considered dangerous in places like the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Real.

You can see why December is not the best month to climb in most of those areas:





The desert areas can be reasonable. That time of year, I'd only consider areas such as the Arequipa volcanoes or the Lincancabur area. Some of the desert regions are actually easier to travel and climb in during the wet season because more water is available.

Some places around Lincancabur get almost no rain to no rain, year round:



If you really must go to Peru or Bolivia in December, the desert regions are the best bet.

I wouldn't consider climb anything in Bolivia in winter conditions, it gets pretty cold, like frostbites cold, 100 - 120km/h winds above 5000m...
This is the bolivian winter which lasts till late march I think.

Scott is right about Licancabur area, although I got pretty bad conditions last feb and I had no chance to climb anything at the area and I came back home. But that was just this time. San Pedro de Atacama is a pretty cool small village and with several volcanos above 5300m visible from the city.

Scott, Arequipa volcanoes get heavy snow by december too I guess...since some of them surpass the 6000m line and at this altitude, it can snow any day even in desert areas.

Scott....those weather patterns are just plain wierd

Scott....those weather patterns are just plain wierd

It's basically the same for almost tropical areas worldwide due the Intertropical Convergence Zone.

The rainy season follows the sun. When the sun is north of the equator, this is the rainy season in the tropics north of the equator and when the sun is south of the equator, that is their rainy season.

The tropics north of the equator are a mirror image of Peru and Bolivia. See the cities below which are similar distances from the equator, but in the opposite direction.

Guatamala City:



Mexico City:



If you get close enough to the equator, you can actually have two wet and dry seasons because the sun crosses the equator twice.

Bogota:



Nairobi:



There are a few exceptions (i.e. much of Hawaii, some of the Caribbean Coast, parts of Ecuador), but for the most part it's like this world wide in the tropics and quite predictable.

Scott, Arequipa volcanoes get heavy snow by december too I guess...since some of them surpass the 6000m line and at this altitude, it can snow any day even in desert areas.

You are right in that can snow, but it's usually still fairly reasonable in November and December. We did have a few days of snow, but most of the time it was good weather. On average, a few days of bad weather would be normal at that time. Still, December on the Arequipa volcanoes, even though it is the wet season still probably has better weather than say the peaks of Ecuador in the "dry" season.

In the desert, a little snow around can actually be an asset since there are few running streams around.

Earlier in the season would be better, but if he really must go to Peru/Bolivia in December the deserts areas mentioned would be the most reasonable choice.

Write an article Scott!