It has been more than a decade since a snowfall so important in the Andes Mountainsas in winter 2023. The landscape at 3,750 meters above sea level, where the Uruguayan plane fell -the accident known as the Tragedy of the Andes-, is in conditions similar to those endured by the survivors for 72 days.
In addition to the unusual snow, interest in knowing details of this story grew since mid-December when The Snow Society was released, the film by Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona, which narrates the tragedy and is nominated for an Oscar.
On October 13, 1972, Flight 571 of the Uruguayan Air Force crashed into a mountain in the Mendoza mountain range, on the Sosneado hill, Malargüe.
The Fairchild plane carrying 45 passengers had taken off from Montevideo. He made a stopover in Mendoza and, due to the bad weather conditions, the pilots hesitated to continue to Santiago de Chile, where they were going to play a rugby match.
The flight took off again the next day after lunch. Before crossing the border with Chilethe ship collided with a mountain and broke in two.
He pilot made a mistake of calculations. They began to descend, believing that they had already passed the mountain range.but the headwind had decreased their cruising speed and they were further behind and in the middle of the highest mountains.
In the accident, the plane lost both wings and part of the tail. The rest of the fuselage slid just over 700 meters until it became stuck in the snow of a glacier.near the border with Chile.
Twelve of its occupants died due to the impact and being thrown from the plane. Weeks later, the survivors were surprised by the adversity of the mountain and were left buried under an avalanche.
Eight other passengers died. Those who remained alive, after spending four days inside the fuselage covered in snow, continued to endure extreme temperatures and situations.
They had to feeding on the remains of their deceased companions in order to survive. And when they realized that they were not going to come to rescue them, they had been left for dead, they began to plan to leave the Valley of Tears on their own.
They believed they were on the Chilean side but they had not yet crossed the Argentine border, nor the highest peaks. They were 3,750 meters high and 1,200 meters from the crossing between Argentina and Chile.
After several unsuccessful climbs, when summer approached and the best weather began, the rugby players Roberto Canessa and Fernando Parradothey advanced towards the west. They managed to cross the immensity of the mountain range to seek help.
He December 21, on the ninth day of the walk, the Chilean muleteer Sergio Hilardo Catalán found them.who threw them a notebook and a pencil to explain why they were on the other side of the river.
The mule driver rode 10 hours, 800 kilometers, in search of a Carabineros (Chilean police) post to ask for help. At first they did not believe his story, but he carried the note in the handwriting of one of the survivors.
“I come from a plane that fell in the mountains. I am Uruguayan. We have been walking for ten days. I have an injured friend upstairs. There are 14 injured people on the plane. We have to get out of here quickly and we don’t know how. We don’t have food. “We are weak. When are they going to look for us upstairs? Please, we can’t even walk. Where are we?”the message said.
After 72 days of agony, were rescued by military helicopters, in the hours before Christmas. Only 16 had managed to save themselves. The story traveled the world.
How is the crash site of the Uruguayan plane today?
Today there is a Memorial, where some remains of the deceased passengers, crosses and objects they carried on the trip were buried. There are pieces of the plane, the rear axle, a wing and the engine. The fuselage and tail have not been seen for a long time because they are buried in the glacier.
“This incredible landscape has not been seen for many years.filled with snow due to the historic snowfall that occurred in August and with rivers so furious due to the amount of meltwater,” says Eduardo “Tuiti” Molina, a Mendoza guide who has made 58 expeditions to the Memorial of the Tragedy of the Andes.
What is the trekking to the Uruguayan plane like?
- The season to reach the wreckage of the plane is short, from the end of November to mid-February.
- The expedition lasts three days, two nightswith an accompaniment of silleros (empty support horses) and muleteers who help cross four rivers: Atuel, Barroso, Lágrima and Rosado.
- They also accompany them cargo mules They carry the tents, mats, food, and the rest of the equipment for camping at altitude.
- Expeditioners only carry a backpack with their clothes and sleeping bag. During the first day you can see Sosneado, a 5,169 meter high hill and, after 6 hours of walking, you reach the El Barroso post, where you set up camp at 2,500 meters to spend the night.
- There is the Memorial, the monument in honor of the victims of the tragedy. There are several crosses, plaques and objects that remember them. “We stayed one or two hours at the accident site, and the descent takes us another four hours,” details the guide.
- The third day is the last walk of between four and six hours. You pass by the El Sosnado hot springs hotel, which is abandoned, until you reach the Los Arrieros post. The vehicles have been parked there to return to Mendoza.
- The value of the expedition with the company Tuiti Trekking (@tuititrekkingmendoza) costs 400 official dollars, departing from Mendoza. In 2024, two crossings are planned during January and two in February.
The excitement of arriving at your destination
“The trip is emotional, moving, and impossible not to cry. This year I completed 58 climbs to the place of the plane. It is a place with a unique history, a lot of love and respect,” says Tuiti Molina.
Clarifies that to take the excursion, it is necessary to be trained to walk for several hoursbut you don’t need to have experience in the mountains to achieve it.
The majority of visitors to the site of the tragedy are from Buenos Aires, Chile and Uruguay, according to the coordinator of this expedition, which is carried out on foot.
There are other tourist companies that do it in horseback ridingand that is how most of the survivors, who are now between 70 and 80 years old, have agreed.
Molina says that the moment you arrive at the Memorial, emotions are mixed: “A feeling of joy and satisfaction for having achieved the crossing, but also for pain, of feeling the suffering experienced, because of something supernatural that happened up there.
And he says that there are 12 on the team, including teachers, guides, muleteers and baqueanos. Because without the residents of the area it would be impossible to cross some rivers and streams, where at the beginning of the season there is not even a marked path because the snow covered them.
Why is it called Valley of Tears?
The tour allows you to learn some curiosities about the place. For example, the Valley of Tears, where the tragedy occurred, It is not named after the survivors. Its name responds to the amount of mineral in the rocks, which causes eye irritation and requires the use of sunglasses.
“We chose to do the crossing on foot for two reasons: to avoid the suffering of the horses when they are ridden on the journey to the mountain and because walking is an art, it allows you to think, reflect and contemplate the landscape,” describes the guide.
Several times they have ruled out taking people who seek to make a record and climb the mountain in a few hours in that place that they consider “sacred.”
“This type of expedition It is to tell the story of survival, without morbidity. To live the joy of being in the middle of the Andes Mountains, meditate and enjoy the pure air,” she says.
And ensures that Many of those who choose the trek do not have experience in climbing hills.. “The only essential thing is that you can carry your clothes and a sleeping bag or sack during long walks, as the Uruguayans say,” she jokes.