November 21, 2025
"'I find it very difficult to convey how horrific it was... 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. I couldn’t breathe with the ice and snow blowing so much in my face and then attempting to go up a very steep climb. It was just too many things at once.' They were two miles from their base camp and the large group of trekkers decided the safest thing to do was continue climbing for another mile or so in the hope of reaching a refuge. They would later discover it had been shut because park rangers had left to cast their mandatory votes in a presidential election the day before...."
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21 comments:
The process and internal contemplations that lead to a post like this would interest me. Is this meant as a continuation of the theme of today’s opening post?
So voting is mandatory in Chile but there's no mail-in ballots. Interesting combination.
Experienced mountain hikers know weather forecasts are not something you bet your life on.
From the pictures, it looks like all of them had LOTS of gear. Dead weight, it seems.
Know where you're going. Prepare for worst case. Don't expect "guard rails", "safe" time-out spaces and Rescue Fairies.
The alps are dotted with many plaques bolted to the mountainside, memorializing people who under-estimated nature or over-estimated themselves.
Some persished doing what they loved; others didn't have a clue what they were doing. RIP to all...
It doesn't matter if the refuge was closed. They didn't make it there and finally decided to descend. Later they learned it was a good (belated) call b/c it was "closed" (and presumably they could not break in? Just like they couldn't get into the locked storage room to retrieve a stretcher?) It sounds like it was an exciting challenge, and the little cis woman did not make it out alive, nor did those who (presumably) tried to help her. This guy should hush...
Ann: don't do adventure mountain-climbing. You're not big enough and no, the world is not going to come rescue you. Some people don't learn life is hard until it is too late...
Beside the mountain rangers not living up to expectations: Even those trendy, status symbol Patagonia puffer vests couldn’t save them?
In the U.S, if you don't vote, the Dems will vote for you. It's something they call "public service".
I guess the thought "Let's break into the closed refuge building" didn't enter their heads.
"and suggested radical weather variations were becoming more common due to climate change."
Oh, bugger off.
"I guess the thought "Let's break into the closed refuge building" didn't enter their heads."
That's what I was thinking.
Doing dangerous stuff is the most fun, right?
“The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure starts.” - Yvon Chouinard
Why would a (survival) refuge ever be shut?
"Why would a (survival) refuge ever be shut?"
It shouldn't, but the article is vague on what the place was.
Ann is just pushing misinformation at this point...
The trekkers NEVER MADE IT TO THE REFUGE. It's irrelevant that it was open or closed.
They turned back and began the descent and LATER LEARNED it was closed. This is just a way to blame Others and not themselves.
Like with yesterday's locker room story designed to whip up outrage amongst her readers. The trans women were FULLY CLOTHED. There was no dangling penis or scrotum.
She's playing you old fools.
They told us Voter ID was dangerous....CC, JSM
"I guess the thought "Let's break into the closed refuge building" didn't enter their heads."
I had that question too and I decided that it must have been that they saw a sign saying the place was closed before they'd invested in getting all the way to it and that there was another route that they believed would get them to safety.
"Aldridge said the situation was not initially treated with “any urgency” by the camp staff or the Chilean authorities."
They were probably thinking "Stupid tourists. The mountain does not care."
The article is vague about a lot of things.
Was it locked? Who knows?
They didn't even make it to the shelter.
They would later discover it had been shut because park rangers had left to cast their mandatory votes in a presidential election the day before.
With conditions worsening, the group decided to abandon the trek for the refuge and attempt the treacherous descent back to the Los Perros camp, which they had left at 5.30am that morning.
And there it is "He said the violent blizzard was “unpredictable, we had no way of knowing” and suggested radical weather variations were becoming more common due to climate change." It's climate changes fault these people died.
File this one in the container marked "When people have too much money to spend doing stupid things."
Aldridge is adamant the John Gardner Pass should have been closed because there were no rangers present in the national park to monitor and advise on the weather conditions.
They were in over their heads. They should have hired a professional guide. Election Days and the related personnel issues don't just spring up out of nowhere. Did they know before they set out that their weather intelligence was lacking? I don't know, but a guide would have.
Even if the rangers had been at the shelter they sought, they wouldn't have known these hikers were out there in the storm, nor would they have been able to go out searching for them if they had.
Probably the group were capable of making the trek unguided as long as everything went smoothly, but when things changed and when it got sketchy, they needed someone who could make good decisions.
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