The Last Ice Merchant tells the story of Baltazar Ushca, who for over 50 years has harvested ice off of the glacier on Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo twice a week. A family business, he is the last of his brothers to work at this job, the others having retired. What used to be an industry of almost 40 other merchants is now down to one man.
This film shows how he and his brothers try to adapt to the changing economy, where people now don’t need natural ice, but are happy with man-made ice. His fear is that once he dies, the tradition of bringing ice down from the glacier will die with him.
Read the story: http://thelasticemerchant.com
