> Also they were always within 15 miles or so of some kind of civilization. So I'm with the professor: there was no danger of not getting out, as long as nobody just sat down and stopped moving.
I think you are underestimating how difficult it can be to travel in terrain with a deep snowpack, downed trees, and no clear trail markers. It sounds like their gps batteries were on their last bars, so gps was not a given for their entire trek out.
Deep snow can make a 100-yard stretch take an hour. They said that every downed tree took the group 10 minutes. That sounds like an exagerration while reading comfortably in front of a computer, but having been there myself that's a realistic statement.
I took a summer trek on a less-traveled spur trail in the White Mountains one summer. There were downed trees every 20-50 feet for a couple miles. I was working at a camp the whole summer, so I was on trails every day and in quite good shape for traveling quickly. Even so, that was a long day! 15 miles in harsh winter conditions can easily mean a very real danger of not getting out.
I also spent several hours crossing a small, open basin in the Colorado Rockies one spring. The snow was waist-deep, with a crust that wouldn't quite support my weight, and heavy snow underneath. Every step was a significant effort. That stretch would have taken 10 minutes in the summer, and 3 minutes on skis with better snow. Traveling in the mountains in winter is entirely different than it is in the summer.
Three men struck out to find help for the group after they realized that they were not going to be rescued. They hiked for 3 days to get to the top of the closest peak. From that vantage they realized it was a much longer trip and they did not have supplies enough for 3 men. They sent one guy back. It took him roughly an hour (on a makeshift sled) to backtrack what it took them 3 days to climb.
"On the third day of the trek, Parrado reached the top of the mountain before the other two. Stretched before him as far as the eye could see were more mountains. In fact, he had just climbed one of the mountains (as high as 4,650 metres (15,260 ft)) which forms the border between Argentina and Chile, meaning that they were still tens of kilometres from the green valleys of Chile. After spying a small "Y" in the distance, he gauged that a way out of the mountains must lie beyond, and refused to give up hope. Knowing that the hike would take more energy than they had originally planned for, Parrado and Canessa sent Vizintín back to the crash site, as they were rapidly running out of rations. Since the return was entirely downhill, it only took him one hour to get back to the fuselage using a makeshift sled."
I think you are underestimating how difficult it can be to travel in terrain with a deep snowpack, downed trees, and no clear trail markers. It sounds like their gps batteries were on their last bars, so gps was not a given for their entire trek out.
Deep snow can make a 100-yard stretch take an hour. They said that every downed tree took the group 10 minutes. That sounds like an exagerration while reading comfortably in front of a computer, but having been there myself that's a realistic statement.
I took a summer trek on a less-traveled spur trail in the White Mountains one summer. There were downed trees every 20-50 feet for a couple miles. I was working at a camp the whole summer, so I was on trails every day and in quite good shape for traveling quickly. Even so, that was a long day! 15 miles in harsh winter conditions can easily mean a very real danger of not getting out.
I also spent several hours crossing a small, open basin in the Colorado Rockies one spring. The snow was waist-deep, with a crust that wouldn't quite support my weight, and heavy snow underneath. Every step was a significant effort. That stretch would have taken 10 minutes in the summer, and 3 minutes on skis with better snow. Traveling in the mountains in winter is entirely different than it is in the summer.