Briton who survived Chile snowstorm that killed his friend describes desperate rescue attempt

Survivor Describes Desperate Efforts to Save British Hikers Killed in Chile Snowstorm

A British survivor of the deadly snowstorm in Chile that claimed the life of Victoria Bond, 40, and four other tourists has described the harrowing attempts to rescue missing members of their hiking party.

Christian Aldridge, 41, from Newquay, Cornwall, told UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee that he is “devastated” by the loss of his close friend Victoria, whose body was one of five recovered on Tuesday in the Torres del Paine National Park in the Patagonia region.

Aldridge and Bond had been hiking the demanding O Circuit trail with three other British friends—Hayley Newnham, 41; Matt Smith, 39; and Tom Player, 39—when they were caught in extreme weather while crossing the John Gardner Pass. They were part of a larger group of about 30 trekkers when winds exceeding 120 mph, equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane, struck the area.

Separated in the Storm

During the storm, Aldridge became separated from Bond but later regrouped with some of the others at the Los Perros campsite, which they had departed earlier that day. It was there they realised that several hikers were missing and organised their own volunteer search party.

Aldridge said that two members of their group, Tom and Matt, joined the volunteer rescue team, which ultimately found three bodies.

Desperate Rescue Attempts

Aldridge described the frantic effort to save one of the hikers who was still alive when found:

“They recovered one of the hikers and she was still alive at the time. We made a homemade stretcher out of sleeping mats, polystyrene and walking poles. There were medics among the volunteers, but she went into hypothermic cardiac arrest. They worked on her for an hour, but she didn’t make it.”

He added that another of the recovered hikers “was already deceased on the mountain,” while a third was “non-responsive” and could not be safely brought down in the extreme conditions.

The following day, Chilean rangers recovered the remaining bodies, including that of Victoria Bond.

‘It Still Doesn’t Feel Real’

Aldridge spoke emotionally about the grief shared by the surviving members of the group:

“We’re relieved to be alive, of course, but devastated because we’ve lost one of our best friends and one of the most amazing people I’ve met.
We keep replaying everything that happened that day and asking what we could have done differently. It’s overwhelming, and it still doesn’t feel real.”

Chilean Authorities Investigating

The Chilean National Forest Corporation announced an internal investigation into the tragedy, stating:

“We have launched an internal investigation to determine any potential liability related to this accident. This will include reviewing how protocols were activated, the nature of communications, and how the search, rescue and evacuation operations unfolded.”

The five deaths come amid growing concerns over changing weather patterns in Patagonia, where sudden and severe storms have become increasingly common.