Smile Mountain Guides

Smile Mountian Guides is built on a vision of trust and caring for the team, coupled with the respect of climbing for those that care to play. On the beautiful volcanic peaks of the Ecuadorean mountains and jagged cliffs of the Peruvian Andes, Jeff Mascaro, founder of Smile, found both love and appreciation for the mountains, teaching many lessons in perseverance and passion. Dizzying altitudes, numbing cold, suffering. The mountains teach lessons, objectives pose real risk and no one person is infallible. In these environments finding the will to persevere through the hardships when one can, yet knowing when to turn around is a gargantuan task. So much gets invested in the adventure- training for months or sometimes even years, fighting sickness, not letting the self down. This line starts to blur, when is enough? Several journeys brought the team to this point- fighting altitude sickness on Alpaymayo, theft on Cotopaxi, a stomach bacteria in the Quilcayhuanca of the Cordillera. None of these seemed to be setbacks with the right partners, who all fight battles in their own way. A good team helps one find strength in hard times and makes sure to do it with good style. Summits are always a great success, but here’s the lesson. “ Don’t hit the peak and miss the point”. These formative trips sparked a trajectory of travel and mountain adventure that would soon define much of my goals, career, and dreams.