On December 22, a few days before Christmas 1972, news shocked the entire world: 16 young Uruguayans who were on a plane that crashed in the Andes in October were found alive.
The episode became known as a Christmas miracle. A demonstration of strength, faith, courage, intelligence, solidarity, teamwork and love was the engine that — according to the survivors — propelled them and allowed them to survive for 72 days in the worst conditions, resisting and eating the unimaginable.
Half a century after the historic event, the CNN toured the accident site, got to know firsthand the story of survival and each of its details, told by one of its protagonists.
“El Viaje sin Destino” is a half-hour documentary that covers the most famous air tragedy in Latin America from the minimal story of Eduardo Strauch, one of its survivors, his previous life and how the extreme experience on the mountain transformed him.
This program visually covers the journey to reach the now named “Valley of Tears”, together with Strauch and Mexican mountaineer Ricardo Peña.
This documentary shows us the survivor’s particular perspective, his permanent journey back and forth, to and from the mountain that buried his friends and the young man he was before October 1972, and rediscovers his inner path. A path that, as Strauch says, had no destination.
You can watch the full documentary here.
The Find: The blazer that takes you back to the mountain
In this first block of the documentary, Eduardo Strauch recounts the moment that changed his life after the tragedy: the moment he receives a call from Mexican mountaineer Ricardo Peña, who tells him he found the jacket Eduardo was wearing during the accident.
In the pockets, a wallet and your documents. These memories awaken something in the survivor, take him back to the mountain. “My life after the accident has been a search for what Peña found on the mountain: who I was before the accident, what happened on the mountain and how I was afterwards.” Return begins. Memories begin to surface.
The avalanche, the new spirituality and the snow society
This second block of the documentary shows some of the worst challenges the survivors had to face, but also some of their brutal learnings. An avalanche that buried them alive. The moment when, buried in snow, Eduardo Strauch reconciles with death, only to be dug up and live again.
From there, the discovery of a new form of spirituality and spontaneous meditation: something he learned on the mountain without even knowing what he was doing.
In his memoirs, Eduardo tries to find the positive side of that dark experience. He tells of his apprenticeship, how he turned to himself, but also how they rationally made the most important decisions, like eating, and how, together, they found a new way of living: a “snow society” with new rules. unthinkable a few days ago.
Celestial Music: The Expedition and the Rescue
This third block of the special program narrates the moment of absolute desolation (when the survivors discover that they have stopped looking for them) and, at the same time, the moment of greatest hope (when they decide to try to save themselves through their own means).
The expedition, its organization and the gigantic challenges that had to face the expeditionaries who climbed and walked for 10 days, without preparation or equipment, until they found the rescue.
A radio that connected them to the world first told them they were alone and almost two months later it told them they would survive, that the expeditionaries had managed. It was music—symbolic and literal—to his ears. A sound that Eduardo Strauch will never forget.
Life after the mountain. Learning and the saws of each one
This final block of the documentary narrates Strauch’s return to Montevideo and his life before the mountains, his difficulties and learning.
Those challenges, those moments of maximum darkness that sometimes seem insurmountable but that, even in the worst moment, can teach a lesson.
The mountain range That place where Eduardo Strauch left part of himself and where he finds himself again. That site that, as he says, he hated but grew to love so much. That fate of pain, despair, anguish, but also of happiness that taught him so much. That journey without a destination, to a place full of meaning.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
