Ariel Montalvo, Junior Economics major and Dance minor, shares about their internship at Andean Face in Quito, Ecuador
“Hi there, my name is Ariel Montalvo. I am a junior Economics major minoring in Dance, and this summer I have been working as an intern at Andean Face. Andean Face is a mountaineering company based in Quito, Ecuador which does a wide variety of trips from cultural expeditions of typical Ecuadorian markets, to summiting the highest peaks in Ecuador. Thanks to the Whitman Internship Grant, I have had the opportunity of working and learning from many of the people who work with and for the company. My work with Andean Face has been as an assistant guide on some of the trips they lead, and I have been responsible for ensuring passengers are safe, comfortable, and well informed about the things we are doing, and places we are going.
A day in the life is waking up at about 5am to help get lunch boxes for the clients set up, eating 
breakfast and driving to the trailhead. Most days last until 4-6pm, and then we rest for a bit and get dinner, before going to bed super early and doing it all over again. One of the first trips I went on was an acclimatization excursion that ended with Cayambe. This involved hiking and backpacking through some of the most beautiful nature Ecuador has to offer in its highlands, and included hikes to Cascadas Condor Machay, Pasochoa, Ruminahui, Cotopaxi, and finally the two days summiting Cayambe. Attached are pictures of me on Ruminahui, and the descent of Cayambe glacier. It has been an extremely rewarding experience to be able to do this, and I have learned so much from working with different head guides, clients from different places, and groups with ages ranging 25-65.
The experiences I have had during this internship are a meaningful part of my Whitman Career because of my huge love and interest in the outdoors. While at Whitman, I have learned a lot about the outdoors, and have tried to take part with more of the Outdoor Program, as well as all of the opportunities the Pacific Northwest has to offer. This internship has shown me the infinite opportunities that the outdoors have to offer, and all the different ways one can be involved in it. Things I hope to accomplish with the rest of my time working at Andean Face are to learn more about how the business is run, how it works with different organizations to coordinate trips and to smoothly run and operate multiple excursions at a time. I am excited to spend more time outside and get to meet people I would have never met otherwise.”