Nevado Sabancaya, a volcanic peak in the Andean cordillera that looms above the Peruvian town of Cabanaconde, began erupting in 1990. Hot ash spewed over nearby Nevado Ampato, blackening the ice and snow on its summit. The sun's work melted away Ampato's frozen cap, exposing much of the rock and ancient structures that had been covered for the past five hundred years.

In 1995, the cleared summit of Ampato drew the curiosity of Johan Reinhard, anthropologist and Senior Research Fellow of The Mountain Institute, and Miguel Zarate, his Peruvian climbing partner. Reinhard has spent over a decade investigating high altitude sacred sites.

Before setting out on this Mountain Institute supported expedition, Reinhard and Zarate made a traditional maize beer offering to the mountain gods, hoping for a safe and successful climb of the 6310m (20,700ft) peak.

It worked. Not only did they return safely, but their success included a scientific discovery unprecedented in the history of mountaineering or archaeology.

Near the windy barren summit, in this high, cold mountain chain, they spotted brightly colored feathers sticking out of the ground.

The feathers were out of place. They were out of time. Those feathers belonged to the headdress of a beautifully designed and fully intact Inca ceremonial statuette. There were several, all with colorful cloth wrappings in perfect condition.

They knew that other items from this summit site were likely to have been unearthed and rolled downhill, into the crater. Tossing rocks wrapped in bright plastic sheets down two gullies, they climbed into the crater two hundred feet downhill. Near one of the rocks lay a large bundle. Perhaps it was a climber's pack.

When they approached they realized the bundle was a small, tightly wrapped body, held to the mountain only by ice. Freeing it from the ice, they met history face to face¯desiccated, teeth white, eyes hollow. A 12 to 14 year old girl. A young sacrifice victim "killed by Inca priests to appease the gods, especially the gods of the mountain," says Reinhard. She lay wrapped in textiles in the fetal position surrounded by scattered pottery sherds, llama bones, corn kernels, cloth pieces and a small spondylus shell figurine. There on the open mountain side, the sun and volcanic ash would damage her. They knew she would either further deteriorate or be stolen by looters. They had to act quickly.

They photographed the site, collected the artifacts, and wrapped the mummy to keep her frozen. They secured her to Reinhard's backpack. Zarate dug steps into the steep, ice-covered slope, while Reinhard hefted the 80 pound mummy, tough jobs in the thin air of 20,500', and they descended from the summit to a camp. Her weight had surprised them. If she was a dried out mummy, surely she wouldn't be so heavy. They realized her flesh was frozen, her body intact.

The next day they finished their descent and walked thirteen hours to the town of Cabanaconde with the body on a burro's back, then a long bus ride to safety for the body in a freezer at Catholic University in Arequipa. Their haste in travel and precautionary wrapping of the body in insulation had protected the mummy from damage.

Time Magazine dubbed the find one of the top ten scientific discoveries of the year.

The significance of this find is three-fold. First, the mummy is the first Inca sacrifice found with such a complete series of sites leading to the summit including the base camp used by the sacrificial party. In this complete context scientists may find the answers to such questions as "Did they take many people to the summit to witness the sacrifice? Who exactly was performing the sacrifices? What preparations went into them?" says Craig Morris of the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Secondly, she is the first frozen female mummy to be found anywhere in the Andes. The amazing preservation of her garments will allow archaeologists to study the colorful, finely crafted, alpaca wool clothing of a high status female for the first time.

Thirdly, the body was found frozen rather than freeze-dried or desiccated. Therefore, biological tests can be run on lung, liver, and muscle tissue revealing new insights on Inca health and nutrition. Genetic testing may determine who her present descendent relatives might be. CT scans will determine the condition of any intact organs.

Before the find, Reinhard had explained his interpretation of the Inca perception of the Andes in the March 1992 issue of National Geographic. To the people living near the Andes, the mountains' effect was immediate and direct. The mountains could kill with avalanche, rockfall, lightning, blizzard, or wind; or they could bless the people with rain-filled clouds. The Inca trekked 20,000 feet into the clouds, and gave a few of their precious children to the mountain because the mountain was god.

In October 1995, Reinhard returned to Mount Ampato, this time with the support of the National Geographic Society and an 18- person expedition. The expedition discovered ritual platforms, the body of a girl probably eight to ten years old, and the skeleton of a third person less well preserved.