Chacaltaya is the world's highest ski resort1, a dizzy 5,300 meters above sea level in the Bolivian Andes. Its rudimentary2 ski lift dates back to the club's foundation in 1939, and the closest thing to ski is a tea made with coca leaves - hastily3 prescribed to anyone suffering altitude sickness.
世界最高的滑雪勝地嘉卡塔雅冰河，位在高於海平面五千三百公尺，令人暈眩的玻利維亞安地斯山脈，其最初的滑雪纜車可追溯到一九三九年俱樂部成立，與滑雪最密切的是一種可快速配給任何高山症患者，以古柯葉製成的茶。

Even Chacaltaya's lofty heights can't save it from the ravages4 of climate change. Its glacier is melting5 so fast probably because of global warming or its proximity to the growing cities, some 30 kilometers away across the Andean plateau. The heat emitted6 by the cities' vehicles, industry and other human activity is reaching the glacier.
嘉卡塔雅冰河巍峨的高度也無法倖免於氣候變化的破壞。冰河這麼快速融化，可能是因為全球暖化，或接近發展中的都市（距離安地斯高地約三十公里），車輛、工業及其它人類活動排放的熱氣和冰河所致。

Chacaltaya's glacier has shrunk by 80 percent in the last 15 years, and experts say that at this rate it will be gone in four or five years. The decline of glaciers could cause wider problems, as well as being skiing's death knell, because the glacial waters are the source of drinking water and of generating7 electricity.
在過去十五年，嘉卡塔雅冰河已衰退百分之八十；專家說，依此速度，冰河將在四或五年內消失。冰河衰退可能引起更廣泛的問題，也敲響滑雪的喪鐘，因為冰河的水是飲用水及發電的泉源。

The club that pioneered8 skiing and mountaineering in Bolivia still has plans for the future and has been in contact with European countries as it seeks9 to raise the US$50,000-odd needed for the artificial10 snow project. Chacaltaya is an acclimatization center for climbers preparing to ascend the next-door peak and the club is considering opening a path to the neighboring mountain.
在玻利維亞倡導滑雪和登山的俱樂部對未來仍有計畫，並與歐洲國家交涉，籌募人工造雪計畫所需五萬多美元。嘉卡塔雅是登山者預備攀登隔壁山峰的高度適應中心，俱樂部正考慮開闢一條通往鄰近山脈的道路。