The annual hike at law firm Quinn Emanuel is part rite-of-passage, part stress test, and not for the faint of heart. Every year, the company flies hundreds of employees to a different location so they can take part in a rather extreme hiking ritual, a kind of company retreat to gather people from far-flung office buildings and build camaraderie.
Last month, more than 250 employees flew to Cusco, Peru, to hike part of the Andes mountain range. The lawyers had two options: a grueling 18-mile overnight hike through the Salcantay Pass in the Andes, which reaches an altitude of more than 15,000 feet, or a slightly less intense 8.5-mile trek to 14,000 feet.
