The Tambo is composed mostly of metamorphic rock such as gneiss, mica-schist and phyllite, with a small layer of dolomite just under the peak. It includes three small glaciers, the severally shrunk Tambogletscher on the northeast flank and the Ghiacciaio del Tambo on the west flank, both on the Swiss side, and the by now larger Vedretta della Spianata (3,000-2,740 m) on the southeast side in Italy. Southwards the massif continues with a series of smaller peaks (the highest being the Pizzo Zoccone) before joining the Pizzo Ferré.