ISBN Miracle in the Andes

Miracle in the Andes

In the first hours there was nothing, no fear or sadness, just a black and perfect silence.

Nando Parrado was unconscious for three days before he woke to discover that the plane carrying his rugby team, as well as their family members and supporters, to an exhibition game in Chile had crashed somewhere deep in the Andes. He soon learned that many were dead or dying—among them his own mother and sister. Those who remained were stranded on a lifeless glacier at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, with no supplies and no means of summoning help. They struggled to endure freezing temperatures, deadly avalanches, and then the devastating news that the search for them had been called off.

As time passed and Nando’s thoughts turned increasingly to his father, who he knew must be consumed with grief, Nando resolved that he must get home or die trying. He would challenge the Andes, even though he was certain the effort would kill him, telling himself that even if he failed he would die that much closer to his father. It was a desperate decision, but it was also his only chance. So Nando, an ordinary young man with no disposition for leadership or heroism, led an expedition up the treacherous slopes of a snow-capped mountain and across forty-five miles of frozen wilderness in an attempt to find help.

Thirty years after the disaster Nando tells his story with remarkable candor and depth of feeling. Miracle in the Andes—a first person account of the crash and its aftermath—is more than a riveting tale of true-life adventure: it is a revealing look at life at the edge of death and a meditation on the limitless redemptive power of love.


From the Hardcover edition.


About author(s)
Nando Parrado is CEO of four companies in Uruguay and also hosts several popular television programs there, including shows on nature, public affairs, automobiles, and travel. He is one of the most sought-after figures on the international lecture circuit, and has shared the platform with Elizabeth Dole, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Dee Dee Myers, Sam Donaldson, and Dave Barry. Parrado has also won international awards racing motorcycles, sports cars, stock cars, and watercraft. He speaks five languages and travels extensively. He lives in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Vince Rause is a writer and journalist whose stories have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and many other publications. He is a regular contributor to the Discovery Channel Online.