Searching For- Society Of The Snow In-all Categ... -

The pilot had miscalculated. The plane, a Fairchild FH-227D, flew into a cyclone. Turbulence shook the fuselage like a dog with a rat. Passengers gripped armrests. Then, a sickening lurch —the altimeter spinning backward. The mountains had appeared out of nowhere.

The man on horseback—a Chilean arriero named Sergio Catalán—picked it up. He read it. He looked up at the ragged, skeletal figures on the far bank. Searching for- Society of the snow in-All Categ...

On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 was a ribbon of metal and hope cutting through the Andes. Inside, the Old Christians rugby team, their friends, and family laughed, sang, and tossed crumpled paper balls at each other. They were young. They were invincible. Nando Parrado was showing a photograph of his mother and sister to a friend. Roberto Canessa, a medical student, was dozing, dreaming of the sea. The pilot had miscalculated

The first night was a lesson in terror. No sleeping bags. No coats. Only summer clothes soaked in blood and snowmelt. They stacked suitcases as walls. They burned paper money—worthless now—for warmth. Outside, the wind howled like a pack of wolves. Inside, a boy named Arturo Nogueira whispered, "We are going to die here." Passengers gripped armrests