In 2021, as part of The National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Expeditions, National Geographic has led an expedition to the Chilean volcano of Tupungato in the Andes where it installed the highest weather station in the southern and western hemispheres, with the support of Rolex.

Accompanied by the Oyster Perpetual Explorer II, the essential tool watch for exploration, the team of experts put in place a weather station on Tupungato’s summit and also investigated South America’s most vulnerable water tower, which critically supplies water to more than five million people in Chile’s capital of Santiago. It follows on from the success of the 2019 The National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition that resulted in the world’s highest weather station being installed in the Himalayas.

The data collected from the weather stations will be used to examine the impact of climate change on one of our most fragile environments, for weather modelling and water resource management. Through these expeditions, National Geographic, a key partner of Rolex’s Perpetual Planet initiative, researches the health and status of high-mountain environments to fill a critical knowledge gap.