Why did a rugby team crash in the Andes Mountains? Their story is the most unbelievable tale of survival you'll ever read
- Aug 22
- 3 min read
72 days in the Andes. You won't believe how they made it
This Article Is Available In
The year is 1972, and a group of Uruguayan rugby players are heading to a match in Chile. Nothing could be more routine, right? But this wasn’t just any flight. It was an old military plane chartered to carry the Old Christians rugby club, along with their friends and family, to Santiago. It was supposed to be a fun trip, a quick hop over the Andes. The kind of journey that’s over before you’ve even had time to get bored. But on October 13th, the plane crashed deep in the mountains, high in a snowy, unforgiving wilderness. The trip went from a fun adventure to a horrific ordeal in an instant. This wasn't just a flight—it was a date with destiny.
The crash was catastrophic, but by some miracle, about 33 of the 45 people on board survived the initial impact. They were stranded in the mangled fuselage at an altitude of 11,500 feet, surrounded by nothing but snow, ice, and sheer rock faces. No one knew where they were. The survivors had to get creative, using salvaged plane parts for everything from snowshoes to tools, and rationing the little food and wine they had on board. Imagine being stuck in a frozen metal tube, with no idea if anyone is even looking for you. The cold was a constant, biting enemy, and the hope of rescue was their only comfort.
But that hope was about to be snatched away. Eight days in, their tiny, salvaged radio delivered a devastating blow: the search had been called off. No one was coming. They were officially on their own. And as the last crumbs of food disappeared, they were faced with a choice so profound and horrifying, it became the stuff of legend. How do you survive when every instinct tells you it's impossible? What do you do when your life depends on a choice that seems, to the outside world, completely unimaginable?
