Extreme team building: Here’s why this law firm sends hundreds of lawyers on some of the most intense hikes in the world every year

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...