Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, tucked into wild and icy Patagonia, hosts around 250,000 to 300,000 visitors each year. Thousands of them are trekkers, aiming to complete the park’s iconic routes. But on 17 November, a sudden, violent blizzard struck the remote O Circuit trail, killing five trekkers and leaving dozens stranded in whiteout conditions for hours.
Though caused by unfortunate weather conditions, the tragedy has shed light on the state of Patagonia’s parks and the problems with their safety measures, an issue that has been widely criticised in recent years.
What happened to the Patagonia trekkers?
The group of about 30 international trekkers set out before dawn on 17 November, leaving the Los Perros campsite between 5 and 7 am to cross John Garner Pass. The day had begun with light rain and moderate winds, conditions that are common for the area, but the weather changed rapidly as they climbed higher.
By late morning, visibility had dropped to just a few metres, and winds had strengthened far beyond forecasts, creating whiteout conditions that made it difficult for many hikers to stay on the trail.
The O Circuit (also called the Paine Massif Circuit) is a multi-day trekking trail, a 130 to 140 km loop that circles the entire massif. It’s considered one of Patagonia’s most demanding routes.
Soon after 10 am, the trekkers began experiencing near-horizontal snow, violent gusts and a sudden loss of all visibility as the full force of the blizzard fell upon them. By then, they had reached the upper, exposed section of John Garner Pass, where the trail rises above the treeline. And as conditions deteriorated, the group became separated as some attempted to turn back while others continued upward, not fully aware of how quickly the storm was strengthening around them.
In these extreme conditions, with heavy snow, low temperatures and no natural shelter, several hikers were unable to reach safety and ended up stuck on the mountain. Five did not survive: Mexican couple Cristina Calvillo Tovar and Julian Garcia Pimentel, German couple Nadine Lichey and Andreas von Pein, and British trekker Victoria Bond. They were caught on the high, open part of the pass during the worst of the storm, where the combination of cold, wind and limited visibility made descent nearly impossible. Survivors later located the victims along a stretch of the route near the top of the pass.
Doubts about the park’s safety
According to survivors’ accounts, many trekkers felt they had not been given clear or timely warnings about the conditions on John Garner Pass. Camp staff reportedly told hikers that the forecast showed only moderate winds, conditions described as “normal” for the area. Crucially, the route remained open despite signs of worsening weather.
Many are also blaming the park for its slow response once conditions deteriorated. Survivors said there were no officials nearby to coordinate an evacuation, and that stranded hikers had to organise the first rescue efforts themselves until help arrived. Because no trained personnel were positioned along that remote section of the O Circuit, the initial hours of the crisis fell entirely on the shoulders of unprepared tourists trying to assist one another in whiteout conditions.
The hiking routes inside Torres del Paine National Park, including the O Circuit, are under the formal authority of CONAF (the National Forestry Corporation of Chile). As such, CONAF is responsible for monitoring conditions, controlling access, and issuing closures or warnings when needed.
In survival-guide recommendations for Torres del Paine, official advice includes following instructions from park rangers and checking in at ranger stations for updates on trail safety.
The absence of park rangers
Under normal operating procedures, during the high season, rangers should be performing entrance controls, monitoring weather and trail conditions, and providing updated information to hikers about risks.
But according to survivor statements published after the blizzard, no rangers were present near the most dangerous pass of the O Circuit when the storm hit. Without rangers present to assess the pass directly or to make closure decisions, visitors assumed it was safe to proceed.
Many rangers were apparently off duty to vote in the 2025 Chilean presidential election (held on 16 November), an unlucky coincidence that reduced staff presence in the park by about half. CONAF itself confirmed that there were no park rangers in the critical Los Perros / John Garner Pass sector on election day, when the storm struck. Publicly available reports mention that, on the day of the blizzard, there were only “about 51 personnel on site” in the park generally.
This absence of rangers has the potential to become a recurring problem. In recent years, CONAF and, more broadly, Chile’s national park system, have faced recurring staffing issues. As of 2025, they are recorded to have just 450 ‘highly qualified Park Rangers’ for roughly 13.2 million hectares of parks.
A 2018 report from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy said that many of Chile’s protected areas, including parks in Patagonia, operate with very small CONAF teams, often “less than five employees”. In June 2025, thousands of CONAF staff participated in a nationwide strike over administrative irregularities and a lack of resources.
Meanwhile, over on the Argentinian side of Patagonia, local sources told Euronews that park rangers were quitting en masse due to problems with the newly updated national park administration under Javier Milei’s government.
