Last spring, Andy and Katherine Wyatt set up basecamp on the Powell Glacier in Alaska’s Chugach Mountains. After years of individual rad mountain accomplishments in climbing and skiing, they realized they’d never taken a large trip together. The trip started perfectly and then it all went wrong. At full volume, the power of the natural world is terrifying and the limitations of our physical forms so evident. Survival stories are powerful. To the listener, they pose a question. What would you do? Would you make it? What would run through your mind? It’s all theoretical — until it’s not.
Music: If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • Labrynth by Sergey Cheremisinov • Crystal Echoes by Sergey Cheremisinov • Closer to You by Sergey Cheremisinov • Your Pulse by Little Glass Men Tracks provided by Free Music Archive or with permission from the artists.
You guy’s never really explained how long Chuck and Andy endured the storm before they were rescued
Hi Heinrich– they were in the storm for about 12 hours.
As per the episode… I’m not judging their decisions or Monday morning quarter-backing!
However, I am curious. Is there any *reasonable* tent/shelter that would have likely survived the weather they encountered or is that kind of wind/snow too fierce for any portable shelter to withstand?
Hey Sean– Hard saying not knowing! As with every situation, there are a variety of factors that “could” have changed the outcome. In terms of a “reasonable” tent– we’ll leave that to the gear manufacturers to sort out.
I don’t want to have this comment removed so I won’t link anything, but Google four season tent reviews and take a look at what you find. It sounds to me like Andy and Katherine brought a three season tent (they make reference to almost being able to stand up in it…) to a glacier in Alaska. That might be OK for an expendable cook tent, but if I’m right, it was a poor choice for a sleeping shelter. I suspect that if they’d brought a good quality four season tent and properly secured it, this would have been a very different story. I am Monday morning quarter-backing, c’est la vie. And perhaps this story will teach a lesson to future adventurers: Bring a BOMBPROOF tent when you’re outside the lower 48 (and sometimes even when you’re within).