Eduardo Strauch and Ricardo Peña inside the Fairchild 572 Dec 06,2005.

On December 7th Eduardo organized a dinner for Ricardo and James Vlahos where they got to talk to the survivors about a lot more details. From left to right: top row Daniel Fernandez and his wife, Zerbino's wife, Eduardo, Laura his wife and their son Pedro. Bottom row: Laura (Roberto's wife), Roberto Canessa, Gustavo Zerbino, Ricardo, Fito Strauch and his wife.

Here is Eduardo's passport showing the stamp of the fateful day..Friday 13th of October of 1972. This is the passport Ricardo found inside Eduardo's coat high on the mountain on February 12, 2005.

The inside of the Fairchild 572 as it looks today.

Ricardo and Roberto Canessa discuss the route while looking thru Google Earth, while Moncho Sabella looks over their shoulders.

The airplane compass, boots, belt and clothing used by Roberto Canessa to escape the Andes.

Ricardo, Roberto Canessa and his wife Laura Surraco. Laura was Roberto's girlfriend at the time of the accident. She knitted one of those sweaters for Roberto.

These sunglasses were made by Fito Strauch out of materials found on the plane: a visor from the pilot's cabin, plastic from the flight plan's folder, wire from the cabin, and a woman's bra provided the elastic band. Snow-blindness is a serious problem on a high altitude glacier.

One of the "blankets" used by Fito. These were made out of the the seat covers.

Gustavo Zerbino wearing the shirt he wore for 72 days on the mountain and holding the other pilots' hat which he wore.

The Andes as seen from the Argentinean side.

Driving into the Andes on 4x4.

Crossing the Atuel river required crossing on foot sections of it...

...and using a raft on the deeper parts of the river...

...and finally horses.

Horses were used until the snow got too deep to proceed.

On this rock outcrop Mario Perez, James Vlahos and I said goodbye to our argentinean friends (Marquez on right) who went back with their horses. We did not see any other person for 7 days until we met with Chilean guide Mauricio Guerra at Los Maitenes, Chile.

 At this point, we strapped on snow shoes, put on heavy packs on and pulled sleds up to the glacier and the next day to Valley of tears where the survivors lived for 72 days. The valley and head wall are visible in the background.

James Vlahos and Mario Perez (El Sosneado in the background) approach the "Glaciar de las lagrimas"

Finally after the sun set we reached the glacier. Getting on it required us to haul all of our gear up this very steep slope.

James took this picture of me as we approach the area where the tail was in 1972. This is on our way to the place on the glacier where the fuselage of the Fairchild 571 came to rest and where the survivors lived.

Compare this photo (that James took of me on December 13,2005 with the famous photo of Nando in the tail with the Adidas bag (the back cover of the Alive hard cover book). If you look carefully you will see that the upper right hand corner matches with this picture. This is the place where the tail was in 1972. In an upcoming NG article (summer 2006) you will know more about further investigation we did in February 2006 regarding the fate of the tail.

..and finally...here it is at last...the actual spot on the glacier where the fuselage came to stop after the crash and where the survivors lived for 72 days. Compare this photo to the famous photo of the survivors "sewing the fuselage". You will see the background is exactly the same. (you can see the picture on the book or on the survivors page: http://www.viven.com.uy/571/FotosIneditas.asp )

The remains of the fuselage are now buried in the glacier and not visible. To be here on the same day (December 14) as the survivors had been (but 33 years later) looking at this valley completely covered in snow like they did and feeling the cold temperatures that are common at this time of the year really brought home the isolation they must have felt. It was quite challenging to get to this place with these conditions. They were right...a land rescue would have been very difficult.

This is the view north from where the plane was.

This picture also matches the one in the book that shows the track made by the fuselage. What neither photo reveals is how steep this slope really is (30-40º). You have to remember this picture is taken looking up! The plane came down between those rocks. The tail went left and the fuselage hit the flat spot where I am standing to take the picture.

The previous picture is looking south (where the plane came from). This is the view East from where they were. The memorial (with the cross) is visible on the lower right side.

..and this is the view West and the escape route! You are looking at almost 3000 vertical feet. The view from this close undermines the difficulty of climbing that wall. The survivors thought it would take them one day to get to the top. In fact it took them 3 days! We were forced to do it in one day (the day after this picture was taken) due to rock fall, ice fall, and avalanche danger and it was brutal! . Also as you can see the slope was so loaded with snow that there would have been no where to camp safely (digging a snow plataform into a avalanche prone slope is not a good idea).