The summit is the highest point in the Amazon River watershed, and was first reached in 1950 by Jim Maxwell and Dave Harrah, and its northern peak (Yerupajá Norte) in 1968 by the Wellingtonian Roger Bates and Graeme Dingle.

Many visitors consider Yerupajá to be the most spectacular peak in South America.

The approach is normally made from Huaraz southwards via Chiquián and Jahuacocha.

[1] The height of the nearest key col is 4592 metres,[9] so its prominence is 2025 meters.

Its parent peak is Huascaran Sur and the topographic isolation is 148.8 kilometers.