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Survival

Survivor of Deadly Blizzard Describes Living "Nightmare": "It Was Suffocating"

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A survivor of a deadly blizzard is speaking out about living through the nightmare. While he survived, five people died in the resulting storm in the Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile.

The hiker didn't think he would survive the blizzard. 

"I think we all thought we were not getting out of this. It felt like we were in a nightmare," Christian Aldridge, survivor and hiker, told The Times. He was lucky to be alive. Five people died, including two Mexican nationals, two Germans, and one British national. The storm struck through the region on November 17.

Among the dead was Aldridge's friend, Victoria Bond. Aldridge, Bond, and three others were on a multi-day hike. They joined a larger group hiking through John Gardner Pass. That's when the blizzard struck.

"I find it very difficult to convey how horrific it was," Aldridge told the paper. "It was suffocating, wind so powerful that you had to sit down and curl into a ball and turn your back to it so it didn't knock you down the mountain."

The hikers were miles away from base camp. They tried to wait out the storm at a refuge in the park. But rangers had closed the area due to going to participate in the presidential elections in the country. The hikers chose to go back down the mountain during the blizzard. At one point, Aldridge fail to what he thought was his death.

"I was just picking up more and more speed, and I thought I can't keep accelerating like this," he told the outlet. "I aimed for some rocks to break the speed to stop me."

Blizzard Survivor

Making it to base camp. Aldridge realized that Bond and others were missing.

"We were all together at the point where I fell and slipped down the mountain," he said. "I saw her then, and after that I didn't see her."

Aldridge said that park staff refused to start a search party. Instead, members of the group started searching for the missing.

"I was shocked," he told the BBC.  "I went and spoke to the staff personally and said, 'We're missing a friend, we think she's still on the mountain, you need to get a search party.' "

Following the incident, the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) released a statement.

"We deeply regret the tragedy that occurred in Torres del Paine National Park last Monday, November 17th," CONAF said in a translated announcement, "and send our sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and to all those who have experienced very difficult times in Torres del Paine National Park."

Meanwhile, the park also spoke out.

"We are deeply affected by this tragedy, the most serious in terms of human lives lost in Torres del Paine national park," Vértice, the company behind the park, told The Times. "Since Monday, when the tragedy occurred, we have been in contact with the authorities and have offered our full support."