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A survivor of the blizzard that killed a British woman and four others in Chilean Patagonia has said that tourists were concerned about adverse weather conditions ahead of the trek, but were told by staff it was “normal” and they could proceed.
Tom Player, a London-based composer, told the Guardian that during the brutal blizzard about 30 volunteers worked together in an attempt to try to rescue hikers.
Nine people went missing on Monday in the Torres del Paine reserve in Patagonia, a popular tourist destination, amid heavy snowfall and winds reaching up to 120mph.
Four were rescued from a remote area in the mountains, but it was confirmed on Tuesday that two Mexicans, two Germans and a British woman, Victoria Bond, 40, had died.
Player, who travelled to Chile with four friends including Bond, said there were no park rangers present on the day, adding: “We showed a screenshot of the weather forecast to staff at the camp and they said it was normal. We took that advice onboard.”
He said: “There is absolutely no way anyone should have been allowed. It was too risky for the mountain rescue teams so why was it open to the public?”
Bond, from Truro, died along with Cristina Calvillo Tovar and Julian Garcia Pimentel from Mexico and Nadine Lichey and Andreas Von Pein from Germany.
Chilean authorities have been criticised by the hikers for suggesting that the tourists became lost near the park’s Los Perros camp.
Player, 39, said: “We’ve been relentlessly trying to correct the record. Claiming that anyone got lost, four out of the five people were on the trail.
“I saw three of them in my efforts to go up. Our friend Victoria … was on the trail. To claim they got lost is really upsetting and inflammatory. We have GPS data to back it all up.”
Player described the storm as “absolutely brutal”, with cold temperatures, downpours, sleet and snow.
He said: “We had seen a forecast which gave us a heads-up, gusts of over 100km/h [60mph], sustained high winds throughout the day.
“I don’t think any of us expected blizzard-like conditions, it got progressively worse throughout the day. We left at around 5.30am in the morning, there was heavy rain, lots of wind.
“We were getting knocked over, even crouching down on all fours. I wasn’t prepared for mountaineering conditions where you would have spikes in your boots, rope, snow goggles. I think it took everyone by surprise.”
Player said the hiking group included a head of ER, junior doctors, a helicopter paramedic and a psychologist who all helped during the rescue effort.
“The rescue effort was one of those moments when you realise you have so much faith in humanity and people.”
He added: “There was a general unpreparedness and lack of emergency planning. We made a stretcher out of a set of hiking poles, gaffer tape, a tent cord and a sleeping mat.”
Player said he came across other hikers during his search for Bond.
“One staff member came forward out of compassion. He was amazing, he and I ran up the hill.
We found someone, who later turned out to be Cristina, who was hypothermic. He gave her gloves and a coat and tried to walk with her to get her some help. I found another person and was later told it was Julian, who was dead.
“I carried on up the hill and found someone else, who later turned out to be one of the German ladies. She was responsive. I tried to help her up, she was deeply hypothermic. I wrapped my sleeping bag around her and stayed with her and tried to give her a drink of hot water.”
A mountain rescue team eventually found Bond and, despite efforts to resuscitate her, she was pronounced dead.
Player added: “I went up there looking for my friend and I didn’t find her, it is very hard to live with that. I had no idea how many people had succumbed to this brutal cold.”
Bond, a PR manager for the Visit Isles of Scilly tourism organisation, was a “lovable, witty and creative” person, said Adrian Jones, who worked with Bond promoting the Roseland festival in Cornwall.
Euan Rodger, executive vice-chair of Visit Isles of Scilly, said: “She brought life, energy, and an infectious enthusiasm to every project, making her a true joy to work alongside.”
Mauricio Ruiz, the regional director of Conaf, Chile’s national forestry corporation, which employs the park’s rangers, told local news media that “there were no park rangers on the night of the 16th” because of mandatory voting in Chile’s presidential election.
