terravelTerravel · Places · South America
Peru · South America
Cordillera Blanca
A 124-mile spine of ice-crowned peaks in the Peruvian Andes, crowned by the nation's highest mountain and studded with 722 glaciers.
Why Cordillera Blanca stands out
The Cordillera Blanca stretches northwest through Peru's high country, a 200-kilometre arc of granite and snow between latitudes 8°08' and 9°58' south. Within this remote range, over a dozen peaks thrust above 6,000 metres—summits that scrape the thin air where few humans venture, their slopes carved by ancient ice.
The geography and story of Cordillera Blanca
Huascarán presides over this frozen realm at 6,768 metres, Peru's loftiest point. The mountain commands 722 glaciers scattered across the cordillera, rivers of ice that descend from the high passes into valleys where indigenous communities have lived for millennia, dependent on these slow-moving waters.
Huascarán's name comes from Quechua, the language of the Inca, and the mountain holds sacred significance in Andean cosmology as a protective apacheta—a spiritual guardian of the high peaks.
Cordillera Blanca at a glance
About this page. Terravel combines its curated place catalog with credited photography and geographic reference data. Practical travel details can change; use the linked destination guide and official local sources when planning a trip. Send a correction.
Test yourself
Which South American mountain range contains over 700 glaciers feeding valleys where indigenous communities have depended on glacial water for millennia?
The Cordillera Blanca in Peru is distinctive for its exceptional concentration of 722 glaciers across its peaks, particularly around Huascarán, which supply water to indigenous communities in the valleys below—a defining characteristic not shared by the other options.
Can you place today's?
Cordillera Blanca is one of 266 places in Terravel. A new one every morning.
