The local last glacial maximum in the tropical Andes was earlier and less extensive than previously thought, based on 106 cosmogenic ages (from beryllium-10 dating) from moraines in Peru and Bolivia. Glaciers reached their greatest extent in the last glacial cycle approximately34,000 years before the present and were retreating by approximately21,000 years before the present, implying that tropical controls on ice volumes were asynchronous with those in the Northern Hemisphere. Our estimates of snowline depression reflect about half the temperature change indicated by previous widely cited figures, which helps resolve the discrepancy between estimates of terrestrial and marine temperature depression during the last glacial cycle.