Huaraz – Destination for Mountains & Culture

The city is nestled into the valley Callejon de Huaylas and is flanked by mountains – on one side the dry Cordillera Negra, the “wheat basket” of Ancash province, and the other side the snow-capped peaks of the Cordillera Blanca. The city skyline is dominated by the massive Huascaran, the highest peak in Peru at a daunting altitude of 6,768m.

Huaraz is the capital of the department of Ancash located about 400km north of Lima at altitude 3090m. It is a lively friendly city of around 150,000 inhabitants with colourful local markets, cafes, hotels, restaurants, night clubs, museums, archaeological sites, local crafts & ceramics, and natural hot springs.

The city and people have endured a series of past natural disasters, including a 1941 massive avalanche from Palcaraju mountain which unleashed a flood of ice & rock completely destroying most of the city and then the 1970 earthquake & subsequent avalanche from Huascaran again demolishing the city of Huaraz and obliterating the satellite city of Yungay, with total loss of life estimated at more than 20,000 souls.