In some rural communities, the extraction and sale of ice continues to be a primary natural resource for local economies.
Ice merchants extract the blocks with an axe by hand and transport them down from the mountains atop mules.
The unit of sale is usually an ice block weighing approximately 40 kilograms which is sold to Shikashika vendors.
Shikashika is sold in plastic bags with colorful sweet syrups at Andean festivals and on market day.
To make it one family must journey into the Andes mountains where they cut enormous blocks of ice with an axe and bare hands.