Remembering Baltazar Ushca: The Last Ice Merchant of Mount Chimborazo

For 60 years, Baltazar Ushca was a fixture in the Andes as he pursued an unusual and labor-intensive trade: he climbed Ecuador's tallest peak, Mount Chimborazo, one to two times weekly to harvest glacial ice. The 80-year-old's life came to a close recently, marking the end of an era for an artisan whose roots ran deep in both family tradition and local community. Ever since he was a boy of just 15, Ushca scaled the snow-draped mountain, using a pickax to chip away at the glaciers. He would laboriously wrap the heavy blocks of ice, each weighing around 60 pounds, in hay before transporting them on the backs of his donkeys to sell to those living without electricity in nearby villages. The ice was essential for refrigeration, helping locals preserve their food and prepare refreshing fruit drinks.Ushca's lineage included generations of ice merchants; his father and brothers, Juan and Gregorio, all engaged in the same trade. However, as modern refrigeration infiltrated their village life, Ushca became known as the last of his kind, selling ice blocks primarily at a market in Riobamba, Ecuador. He kept this tradition alive even as demand waned, believing strongly in the superior quality of natural ice from Chimborazo. "The natural ice from Chimborazo is the best ice," he remarked in a documentary titled "El Último Hielero," emphasizing its perceived benefits for health. Despite his children’s queries about his strenuous work for little financial reward, Ushca remained undeterred, motivated by a deep connection to his cultural heritage.His contributions transcended mere commerce; Ushca's story serves as a profound symbol of cultural lineage and adaptation amidst a changing world. As one of the last practitioners of this ancient trade, his passing signals not just a personal loss but a poignant reminder of the fragility of traditional practices in the face of modernization.