(Updates with Ushca’s activity details and corrects the surname. Credit: Ushca)
Quito, October 11 (EFE).- Ecuadorian Baltazar Ushca, known as the last ice maker of the Chimborazo volcano, because he brought down ice from the snow-salt mountain to sell, died at the age of 80 after a domestic accident. , the municipality reported this Friday from the canton of Guanó.
“It is with great regret that we announce the delicate death of our beloved Mashi, Taita Baltazar Ushca, the last ice maker of the majestic Chimborazo, a national and international icon, whose work and legacy will live on in the collective memory of our land and beyond,” said the Municipality on its social networks.
He noted that Ushca’s dedication and history “have been inspired by generations, making it a symbol of resistance, resilience, culture and love for our traditions.”
The City Council extended its condolences and a hug of solidarity to the Ushca family.
“May God give you comfort and strength in this time of great pain, and may you find peace in such wonderful memories,” he said.
On Thursday, the Municipality revealed that Ushca worked at the city Museum, which belongs to the Guanó City Council, and also “did family activities or responsibilities at home, never feeling tired despite his 80 years of age.”
“Unfortunately, in that rush, one of his small animals (a bull) became too strong and threw him to the ground, which caused him serious injury” and he was treated by local doctors and was urgently transferred to hospital in the city. city of Riobamba , it detailed.
Ushca, of the Kichwa ethnic group, lived in an agricultural area in the province of Chimborazo, where the mountain of the same name, the highest in Ecuador, with a height of 6,268 meters, is located, from which the natives collected small blocks of ice to sold in Riobamba, the capital of the jurisdiction, where popular tropical fruit juices are made.
Baltazar Ushca became an icon of the central Andean region of Ecuador because he was the last person of his community dedicated to transporting the pieces of ice from Chimborazo to Riobamba.
Born in 1944, Ushca collected ice from natural glaciers, located around the highest point of the Chimborazo volcano.
In his youth, he shared this activity with his brothers, but gradually he was left alone until he achieved the ‘Ultimo Hielero del Chimborazo’, for which he received hundreds of awards and starred in several documentaries and reports.
Ushca climbed the highest peak of the volcano on Tuesday and Friday. He had to walk seven times or more and he did it in the rain, the sun or the snow, and he lowered 22 kilograms of ice that was divided into up to 10 blocks wrapped in straw, Ecuavisa television recalled.
When he was 77 years old, Ushca started his enterprise called ‘Agua Baltazar’, which comes directly from ice cubes he removed from the volcano.
From the snow to the bottle, this is how Baltazar tried to come up with his product, which was tested by tourists from different places in Gano. EFE
(Photograph)
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