It only reached an altitude of 4500 m above sea level. In 1858, the German explorer, geographer, and collector Moritz Wagner explored the mountain, but he also failed to reach its peak. Only in 1872, the Cotopaxi peak was conquered by the German geologist Wilhelm Reiss, together with his Colombian companion Angel Escobar.
The peak was conquered for the second time in 1873 by a German geologist and four Ecuadorians, and in 1880 it was conquered by a British mountaineer who spent the night on the peak.
At the end of the 20th century, conquering the Cotopaxi Peak became the main tourist attraction in Ecuador. On Easter 1996, a tragedy occurred there when an avalanche buried the shelter built at an altitude of 4,864 m above sea level. Dozens of tourists were trapped under the snow.
