Icewind Dale has snow, ice, and freezing temperatures in abundance. The sun never rises far above the horizon even at the height of summer — and the height of summer is a fleeting thing. Winter here is long and ruthless. Icewind Dale is surrounded by perilous terrain. The ice cliffs of the Reghed Glacier rise up in the east like prison walls. The towering, snow-capped peaks of the Spine of the World loom to the south. To the north and west, the Sea of Moving Ice churns bergs and floes in an endless tumult, like winter grinding its teeth in anticipation of its next freezing assault. Between these formidable obstacles lies windswept tundra dotted with settlements and the occasional small forest or stand of trees.