The highest tropical mountain range in the world

Multiple Options   Season: January to December   Difficulty: Moderate

Highlights of the Cordillera Blanca. The highest tropical mountain range in the world, the Cordillera Blanca is part of the spectacular Andes that form the spine of South America. A mecca for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts, the region boasts over 50 peaks that exceed 15,000 feet, 700 glaciers and 300 lakes.

Rock Climbing Huaraz - Peru: An adventure sport in which you will enter into the vertical world to unite with nature and thus with your own hands and body feel the adrenaline. It is a sport of technique and strength that is acquired with practice.

Rock Climbing Cordillera Blanca: Huaraz, located 415 kms north of Peru's capital Lima, is an outdoor lover's paradise. There are dozens of hiking and mountain bike trails. It is an alpine climbing mecca with thousands of people coming here each year to complete epic tours up the Andes. There are plenty of alpine climbing stores and there are some sport climbing stores scattered amongst them. The town center is the best place to find these stores.

Hatun Machay: Sport Climbing in Peru’s Sacred Rock Forest As the car approached the top of the hill, it came into sight—a magnificent rock forest. Everything I had heard was true. “Catac! Catac!” The combi, or collectivo driver, shouted his destination to passersby as we crammed into the small van until the amount of passengers exceeded the number of available seats. The city of Huaraz—the jumping-off point for most mountaineering and climbing adventures in the Ancash region of Peru—bustled with a mix of locals and dirtbag climbers, travelers and mountaineers seeking the second-tallest mountain range in the world. The sound of beeping horns from passing taxis filled the air, and the familiar smell of grilled anticuchos entered our noses as we departed the city—a reminder of how comfortable we had become with the place that we were about to leave behind. Upon arrival to the town of Catac, we were immediately greeted by multiple taxi drivers eager for a fare from a group of gringos. After a quick breakfast of fried trout with rice and some bartering in broken Spanish, we were on our way to Hatun Machay—the supposed sport climbing Mecca of northern Peru. Peruvian pop songs and reggaeton music issued from the stereo as I watched Huascaran and the neighboring 6,000-meter peaks of the Cordillera Blanca, or White Range, recede in the rear-view mirror. Ahead, the Cordillera Negra, or Black Range, loomed large. The white Toyota turned on to a crumbling dirt road, and began to struggle upward. Other than occasional boulders scattered throughout the alpine meadow, there was no sign of this infamous sport climbing mecca. Had I been duped? What was I doing in this barren wasteland? But as the car approached the top of the hill, it came into sight—a magnificent rock forest. Everything I had heard was true.

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