Book Review: Miracle in the Andes

I'm constantly reading books about survival, preparedness, disaster, etc. to keep my mind honed in on the important factors involved in dealing with and ultimately surviving a variety of circumstances.

At first I didn't really want to read this book, I knew the story, part of it is repulsive and grotesque. I felt this was not "true survival" that perhaps they had cheated to survive. But on the high recommendation of some fellow survival folks I determined to see it through.

I found the book irresistible, it was difficult to put down, I would start reading late when tired actually, and still read till 2am. The key to this book is that it is written not by a writer researching, but by a survivor himself, Nando Parrado, who describes to us his innermost thoughts and feelings, taking us into his thinking process. even revealing to us the demons that fought to discourage him.

First here let me deal with the unseemly, the cannibalism that occurred. While even after reading the book and discovering the dire circumstances, I am yet still repulsed by the thought, and in my own mind, feel to just let death take me rather than to partake. Certainly all would have died without eating of this flesh, they had to go 72 days, about 60 of those would have been devoid of any food. As it was they were all on the very precipice, many could taste death it was so close, these formerly muscular conditioned athletes were now but skin and bones.

Without the disgusting cannibalism there would be no story, 18 people would not have later married and had their own families. They only managed to do the deed by imagining that those whose bodies were now food, had passed away, that the body was dead and would soon decompose anyway, and that perhaps those who died would have wanted it this way, giving of their body much like an organ donor, to sustain the lives of their friends.

This plane load of rugby players from Uruguay for the most part had never seen snow before, and now here they were trapped in a high mountain valley 12000 feet up, in late winter. There was no way out by walking down, only by climbing up and steeply at that. Nando and one other finally were able to make it over the top and out to get rescue after climbing a peak of 17000 feet with no ropes, no climbing boots, no coats really, no gloves, then a difficult trek of some 45 miles. It was a desperate situation, no one was coming to look for them, they were assumed to all be dead somewhere in the vast Andes. Nando and Roberto had to make it or all would be lost.

For survival they had broken glass for cutting, tin sheets on which to place snow to melt in the sun, the fuselage of the plane for shelter (although the windows were broken out and the back was open), they fashioned blankets the best they could from the seat covers, they made snowshoes from the seats. They tried to improve their clothing by stuffing whatever they could find into it for added insulation. They really had little to work with, no experience, and bitter cold at night. They were seldom able to really sleep due to the extreme shivering from the penetrating cold that invaded the fuselage each night.

In the end Nando's drive to survive was the closeness and love he had for his father, he could not bear to leave his father so alone, having already lost his wife and daughter in the crash. As is so often the case in nearly all the stories I have read, love seems always able to conquer the unconquerable, to make impossibility flee and to vanquish death that would seem so inevitable.

This book is absolutely worth reading, truly there was a Miracle in the Andes, each survivor had their own mental and physical battle to win. Every survivor had to somehow scrape up the will to live, they each many times came to deaths door and managed to turn away. Some survived due to God, for some it was the desire to see a loved one. They all had to find that one irresistible reason to live on another hour, another day, another week. They had little hope of survival, but by resolving upon a reason to live, they were able to do anything that needed to be done to make it.

Until next time - Perry Peacock, have a great day!!

Is it Survival or Preparedness?

Too many times we think of survival as; an accident or unfortunate event has happened, now we've gotta make it through. So what's wrong with that kind of thinking? Or is there anything wrong with it?

I think it has more to do with the attitude than the process. If we do nothing to prepare for the unexpected, the unexpected will certainly catch us unprepared to deal with it.

We've all experienced "Murphy's Law" in our lives, it preys unmercifully on those who are not ready. It quickly makes a tragedy out of a hardship.

I tend to take issue with those who view survival and preparedness as static issues, something where we can do x and y and we are eternally ready. That is just not at all the case. We become complacent when we gather together a few things, read a book or two, dabble with a few things and then declare I am now ready, no need to think anymore about it.

Both survival and preparedness properly done demand constant updates , consistent practice, and regular evaluation. It's like the saying goes about luck, the harder a person works at something the "luckier" he becomes. If I were to venture into the vast unknown with nothing but my shirt and jeans then fall into a bad way, I may well survive, but the amount of work and struggle could be enormous. If, however, I take with me a kit, like our Off Road Survival kit, my time may be tough, but I would be capable dealing with it much easier, so we see where the puzzle piece of "preparedness" fits.

Being prepared is the oxygen that keeps survival alive.

An example of what I mean by saying preparedness is an ongoing project follows. Tonight I was repacking things from a snowshoe hike over the weekend. I checked the mantles on lanterns, I fully fueled the white gas stoves and lanterns, I organized my food in my pack. Now having all that done, I am ready at a moments notice to go.

I try to integrate the survival mentality into all I do. Whenever I am "out in the sticks" I like to practice something, or try out some item from my pack or survival kit. This practice not only hones my skills, but lets me know that perhaps some item I was counting on is not sufficient, allowing me to upgrade before I'm caught in a situation.

I use my First Aid kit items, I use my FireStarter Kit, I use my Swiss Army Knife, my 550 parachute cord, my whistle. A survival kit in todays world is looked at as something you buy and stash away, waiting for "the big crash" this is a tragic mistake, use it, then replace things as you use them up.

One thing I love to watch is the old Warren Miller skiing movies of guys skiing unbelievable powder snow in exotic locations, they just flow down the mountain as easy as can be, it's beautiful to watch. Now if I tried that, it would not look so graceful, I haven't trained nor had the experience to do it like they do. The same is true with your survival kit, and your survival abilities. If the "big situation" happens to you, would you like to gracefully and confidently take care of all that needs to be done? If so practice, use what you have.

Till next time - Perry Peacock

Stay Warm Use the Jacket Bivy

If you have read as many survival stories as I have, if you follow rescues in the paper, there are plenty of people who get out on snow machines, ATV's, bikes or hiking and either try to go too far or run into some difficulty. Then it's decision time, "do I still try to get home or do I button up and spend the night?"

All to often those who forge on are the ones who don't make it, they get lost or in more trouble due to darkness. Tiredness and the onset of hypothermia can make proper judgement difficult or even impossible.

Search parties don't generally run at night, so your chances of being seen moving about are eliminated. It's so easy to get into more serious trouble by pushing on after dark.

The best course of action in most cases is to work out some kind of shelter. Get out of the wind, rain or snow. Insulate yourself the best you can. Avoid working too hard on this, you cannot allow yourself to get sweaty before settling in to bed.

Perhaps we should envoke the KISS principle here, Keep It Safely Simple. Utilize your machine to block wind. Find trees, brush, rocks, snowbanks, etc. for sheltering you from the elements. If you are in snow, try to find something to insulate you from the snow while laying down.

An effective way to keep warm is to use your coat as a bivy, check out our video. If it has a hood pull it over your head to add more insulation. Now get situated for how you are going to lay, pull your arms out of the sleeves and into the chest area. Cross your forearms over your chest.

Doing the jacket bivy has a couple of advantages. One, by pulling your arms in against your chest, you are able to keep them warmer than they would be out in the sleeves. Two, by crossing them over your chest you are able to share the warmth of blood circulation between your bodies core and the arms.

Hopefully your coat is large enough for this. I always try to buy coats a bit over-sized, as this allows for better layering and also makes the jacket bivy easy to pull off. If the sleeves are cut too tight, many times you can take the jacket off zip it up, and pull it over your head like a sweater.

So if you ever get stranded, keep your wits, shelter up and use the jacket bivy to keep yourself cozy till morning.

Stay safe and enjoy to outdoors - till next time - Perry Peacock