Cordillera Blanca

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The Cordillera Blanca (Spanish for "White Range") is a mountain range in the Ancash Region of Peru. It is part of the larger Andes range and includes 50 peaks over 5,500 metres (18,040 ft) tall in an area 21 kilometres (13 mi) wide and 180 kilometres (112 mi) long.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Peaks 3 Lagoons 4 Hot Springs 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Overview

The highest mountain in Peru, Huascarán (6,768 m), is located here. Huascarán National Park, established in 1975, encompasses almost the entire range of the Cordillera Blanca.

In 1966, the Alpamayo mountain was declared "the most beautiful mountain in the world" by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

Snow melt from the Cordillera Blanca has provided Peru with its year-round water supplies, while 80% of Peru's power comes from hydroelectricity. With global warming, the area of permanent ice pack shrank by about a third between the 1970s and 2006.^[1]

[edit] Peaks

Mountain	Elevation
Huascarán South	6,768 m (22,200 ft)
Huascarán North	6,655 m (21,830 ft)
Huandoy Center	6,395 m (20,980 ft)
Chopicalqui	6,354 m (20,850 ft)
Hualcan	6,122 m (20,090 ft)
Chacraraju	6,112 m (20,050 ft)
Pucahirca	6,046 m (19,840 ft)
Alpamayo	5,947 m (19,510 ft)
Nevado Pisco	5,752 m (18,870 ft)

[edit] Lagoons

The glaciers of the Cordillera Blanca are the axis where life on the Callejon de Huaylas takes place. They provide water for the irrigation of the puna grasslands and keep Santa river's bed safely of droughts the whole year. They also support the life of the hydroelectric powerstation of Cañón del Pato and form a beautiful rosary of bluish or greenish lagoons (according to the color of the rocks at the bottom). The estimated number of glaciers is 260. All of them are over 4000 msnm; 185 are located in the western slope and 75 in the oriental slope.

The Parón lagoon –the biggest in the Cordillera Blanca– is considered as the most beautiful of all the lagoons created by the glaciers. It is located near the north part of Huandoy, next to Caraz. Its water coloration is sky-blue.

Other famous lagoons are the ones of Llanganuco: Chinancocha (female lagoon) and Orconcocha (male lagoon). These lagoons have green-turquoise water. They are surrounded by quishuar forests at the foot of Huascarán, next to the destroyed city of Yungay. It is possible to arrive there by a paved stretch of 25 km parting from the Callejon de Huaylas highway.

The lagoons of Pusac Cochas, that in Quechua means eight continuous lagoons, form a rosary at the foot of Rosco Grande snow peaks. It is possible to arrive there from Cabana.

Under the snow peaks of Artesonraju and Alpamayo, there are two lagoons located: Santa Cruz Chica and Santa Cruz Grande. The only way to get there is by taking a horse from Caraz.

Near the border with La Libertad, in Corongo, Pelagatos lagoon is located, at the foot of the snow peak that has the same name. The only way to get there is by taking a horse from Corongo.

[edit] Hot Springs

In the Callejon de Huaylas, there are no fewer than 22 hot springs, of which Monterrey, at 2073 msnm, stands out because of its infrastructure. It has swimming pools and individual and familiar ponds. Its sodium chloride water gets up to 49 ºC. They are prescribed for rheumatic conditions, chronic nervousness, palsy, etc.

There are more basic hot springs at Chancos (at 30 km from the north of Huaraz), Chavín, Mancos, Pomabamba, Andamarca, Jocos, Tablachaca, Pato, Olleros and Llaclla.

[edit] See also

• List of mountains in Peru

[edit] References

Sources consulted

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Endnotes

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[edit] External links

• Map of Cordillera Blanca
• Map of Cordillera Huayhuash

Coordinates: 9°10′S, 77°35′W