Survivor of Deadly Blizzard Lost Sight of Friend When He Fell Down Mountain. He Never Saw Her Alive Again

A British hiker is recounting the terrifying ordeal he endured during a blizzard in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park — a storm that left five people dead, including one of his close friends.

“I think we all thought we were not getting out of this. It felt like we were in a nightmare,” said Christian Aldridge, a 41-year-old British TV director and producer, speaking to The Times from a hospital in Chile after the storm.

Earlier this month, Chile’s National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) reported that two Mexican nationals, two German nationals, and one British national were found dead during what officials described as “extreme” sub-zero conditions. Authorities later said wind speeds reached up to 118 mph.

Those who died on Monday, Nov. 17, were identified as Cristina Calvillo Tovar and Julian Garcia Pimentel of Mexico, and Nadine Lichey and Andreas Von Pein of Germany, according to The Times. The fifth victim was Aldridge’s friend Victoria Bond, a 40-year-old British woman.

Bond had been hiking with Aldridge and three other friends from the U.K. — Hayley Newnham, 41, Matt Smith, 39, and Tom Player, 39. The group was described as “semi-experienced hikers” who had previously climbed part of the Himalayas.

Four days into their trek, the friends joined a larger group approaching the John Gardner Pass. That’s when the winter storm hit.

“I find it very difficult to convey how horrific it was,” Aldridge told The Times. “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 realized they were a couple of miles from their base camp and tried to seek shelter, but Aldridge said the refuge had been closed. He told The Times that park rangers had gone to vote in the mandatory presidential election the day before. With conditions rapidly worsening, the group decided to descend back to base camp in a line — but the route had turned into a sheet of ice.

Aldridge said he slipped and began sliding uncontrollably, convinced he was about to die.

“I was just picking up more and more speed and I thought I can’t keep accelerating like this,” he said. “I aimed for some rocks to break the speed to stop me.”

He survived the fall, but visibility had collapsed. The remaining hikers inched down the mountain step by agonizing step. When they finally reached base camp, they realized several members of the larger group had not returned.

Aldridge said he doesn’t know who last saw Bond alive. “We were all together at the point where I fell and slipped down the mountain,” he told The Times. “I saw her then and after that I didn’t see her.”

He also alleged that the emergency was not treated with urgency once they arrived at camp.

“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.’”

According to Aldridge, staff told him they needed to prepare dinner and check in incoming guests. He said that two people from his group and a staff member then went searching themselves.

Too injured to join, Aldridge said the improvised rescue effort found three people — one man already dead and two women who later died. The following day, Bond and the fifth victim were located by park rangers, he told The Times.

CONAF issued a statement expressing condolences to the families of those who died and to others affected by the tragedy. The agency said an emergency protocol was activated after initial alerts and a shift in weather conditions, leading to the deployment of multiple agencies and first responders.

Vértice, the company that manages camps inside the park, called the event the most serious loss of life in the park’s history, saying it has been working with authorities since the storm.

CONAF added that an internal investigation is underway to determine whether any liability is connected to the incident.