The National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Tupungato Volcano Expedition

In the mountainous area of the Andes in Chilean territory, the spring water that flows through here supports a population of six million inhabitants in the country’s capital of Santiago. This vulnerable water tower is just one out of many that face risk of depletion, facing factors from rising temperatures and pollution, among other stressors induced through climate change.

The precarious position of these water towers contain information that is not easily accessible due to their extreme elevations and harsh surrounding environments. Thus in a bid to assess the atmospheric conditions and threats in maintaining this natural resource, Rolex has lent aid to this phenomenon by supporting a team of explorers and scientists from National Geographic in installing a weather station at a height of 6,505 metres on the Tupungato mountain in Southern Andes.

This exploratory mission allowed the team to gather information over a period of 19 days whilst successfully installing the highest weather station in the Americas.

The Tupungato Volcano expedition is the latest in a series of National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Expeditions, that goes to the heart of the commitment Rolex has made to a Perpetual Planet and to future generations, by supporting individuals and organizations in their efforts to preserve the natural world and the systems that sustain life. Members of the Tupungato Volcano Expedition were equipped with the Oyster Perpetual Explorer II, a practice that has been ongoing since the 1930s when Rolex began to equip numerous expeditions with Oyster Perpetual watches, providing reliable and accurate tool watches to endure even the most treacherous conditions.