What is the highest mountain in the Cordillera Blanca?

The highest mountain in the Cordillera Blanca is Huascarán, whose southern summit reaches 6,768 metres.

Huascarán lies in Peru’s Ancash region and forms part of the western Andes. The mountain has two principal summits: Huascarán Sur, the higher southern summit, and Huascarán Norte, which rises to about 6,654 metres. A high saddle called La Garganta separates them.

The Cordillera Blanca—Spanish for “White Range”—contains dozens of peaks above 5,500 metres and hundreds of glaciers. Huascarán is also Peru’s highest mountain, the highest peak in the northern Andes north of Lake Titicaca, and the highest mountain in the tropics. Nearby peaks such as Chopicalqui, Huandoy and Huantsán are imposing, but none surpasses Huascarán.

The mountain gives its name to Huascarán National Park, established in 1975 and later designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its granite core, glaciated slopes and surrounding valleys make it both a major mountaineering destination and an important source of snowmelt for northern Peru.