range of the Andes Mountains in west-central Peru. It extends for about 110 miles (180 km) southeast from the mouth of the Santa River and rises to an elevation of 14,764 feet (4,430 metres). The upper Santa River Valley, also known as the Callejón de Huaylas, separates the Cordillera Negra from the Cordillera Blanca, a range of permanently snowcapped mountains to the east. The mountains of the Cordillera Negra are without snow, hence their name, meaning “black.”