Ice crowns the towering peaks of Peru’s Cordillera Blanca

The Cordillera Blanca mountain range, in the Áncash Region of north-central Peru, holds the largest concentration of tropical glaciers in the world. Stretching for about 180 kilometres within the Andes, it includes Huascarán, which at 6,768 metres is the country's highest peak. The Huascarán National Park, established in 1975, covers almost the entire range. During the dry season, from May to September, meltwater from its glaciers feeds the flow of the Santa River, which supplies communities downstream with water for drinking, irrigation, and hydropower.

This image, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 7 August 2026, shows glaciers and snowfields along the crest of the Cordillera Blanca around Huascarán. Bright white ice stands out against dark rock, while small turquoise lakes are visible in the green valleys below.

Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery helps monitor the extent of glaciers and glacial lakes in high mountain areas, providing important information for water resource management and hazard assessment.