[1][2] The Cordillera Blanca lies in the Ancash region and runs parallel to the Santa River valley (also called Callejón de Huaylas in its upper and midsections) on the west.
[3] The Cordillera Blanca is the most extensive tropical ice-covered mountain range in the world and has the largest concentration of ice in Peru.
[8] There are several 6,000 m peaks in the Cordillera Blanca with a 400 m topographic prominence, and several other peaks over 5,500 m.[11] Huascarán Sur, the highest, has two commonly quoted heights: 6,746 m from the Peruvian National Geographic Institute (IGN) map and 6,768 m from the Austrian Alpine Club (OeAV) survey map.
[13]Among the most important hot springs in the area are Monterrey and Chancos, which have been transformed into thermal bath facilities.
[2] The main types of plant communities present in the area are the vegetation of inter-Andean valleys (xerophytic plants in the lower elevations and shrubs and grassland at the higher elevations) and high-altitude vegetation (Puna grasslands and patches of high Andean forest).
[19] Plants in the range have adapted to the intense solar radiation, low temperatures, and water availability.
[20] Examples of typical vegetation of this area include Polylepis racemosa, Escallonia resinosa, Alnus acuminata, Senna birostris, Vallea stipularis, Lupinus spp., Vaccinium floribundum, Puya raimondii, Calamagrostis vicunarum, Festuca dolichophylla, Jarava ichu, Azorella spp., and Ranunculus macropetalus.