Wharton Leadership Ventures:  
Expedition to Ecuador   

Leadership Lessons from Climbing the Mountains of Ecuador

Annually in January and/or March 

Other Wharton Leadership Ventures

Call for Participation in 2002 Expeditions
Description of 2001 Expeditions
Photos of January, 2001 Expedition
Account of March, 2001 Expedition

Mt.Cayambe (18,997 ft.)

This mountain is one of the most beautiful to ever be seen, and one of the highest in the world; it can be considered one of the eternal monuments with which Nature has marked the great divisions of the globe.  -- Alexander von Humboldt, 1802.

the Expedition

The Wharton Leadership Expedition to Ecuador offers a weeklong mountaineering and leadership development program designed to provide MBA students and graduates with a unique learning experience.  Modeled after the annual Wharton Leadership Trek to Mount Everest, the Ecuador expedition enables MBA students and graduates the opportunity to ascend one of the highest peaks in the Western Hemisphere and further develop their leadership skills while doing so.  

The expedition provides an opportunity to continue your leadership development, exercise your body, cross-train your mind, and reflect on your leadership with fellow Wharton students and graduates among the awe-inspiring peaks of the northern Andes. 

Ecuador is one of the best places in the world to develop mountaineering skills.  On this expedition, we will be ascending Pinchincha (15,700 ft.), a volcano above Quito (9,350 ft.), and then either Cayambe (18,997 ft.) or Cotopaxi (19,344 ft.). This is a skill development expedition, and prior mountaineering experience is not a prerequisite for participation.

The expedition is designed to make the most of both the culture and the climbing of Ecuador. We will be visiting Otovalo, the Indian market famed for its woven textiles, and exploring the capital, Quito, with its beautiful cathedrals and wonderful old city.  

The expedition is intended to help build  1) technical skills to safely summit a high altitude peak, 2) communication, leadership, and teamwork skills essential to functioning within a group in a demanding situation, and 3) methods for sharing your knowledge and understanding with others in your professional life. The expedition uses mountains, mountaineering, and climbing as powerful cross-cultural metaphors to expand and deepen our understanding of leadership and teamwork. 

Through climbing and skill development, we build the knowledge and confidence to make a bid for two mountain summits. With daily seminars and evening discussions, we explore metaphors and analogies between mountain travel and organization leadership. 

Conditioning

High altitude mountaineering demands great physical endurance and emotional strength. The itinerary developed for this expedition puts great emphasis on acclimating, the process by which your body adapts to the unique stresses placed upon it at altitude. 

For the sake of the group and your own experience, a high degree of aerobic conditioning is required.  Rigorous preparation is imperative, with emphasis on the cardiovascular system and improving leg and back strength. The climb involves technical mountaineering, and instruction in the the use of ropes, crampons and other climbing equipment is provided.  

LEADERSHIP

Continuous learning is emphasized through daily pre-planned seminars and many unanticipated events.  Most days have a noontime seminar on a topic related to leadership and teamwork, and an evening discussion generally related to the day’s experience and plans for the next day.  We devote time to considering leadership and team dynamics on the historic climbs of Ecuador’s central highlands and other peaks, across organizations and cultures, and within our own climbing party.