Miracle in the Andes

72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home

By: Nando Parrado, Vince Rause

Narrated by: Josh Davis, Nando Parrado

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A harrowing, moving memoir of the 1972 plane crash that left its survivors stranded on a glacier in the Andes—and one man’s quest to lead them all home

“In straightforward, staggeringly honest prose, Nando Parrado tells us what it took—and what it actually felt like—to survive high in the Andes for seventy-two days after having been given up for dead.”—Jon Krakauer, author of Into the Wild

“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 to Chile had crashed deep in the Andes, killing many of his teammates, his mother, and his sister. Stranded with the few remaining survivors on a lifeless glacier and thinking constantly of his father’s grief, Parrado resolved that he could not simply wait to die. So Parrado, an ordinary young man with no particular disposition for leadership or heroism, led an expedition up the treacherous slopes of a snowcapped mountain and across forty-five miles of frozen wilderness in an attempt to save his friends’ lives as well as his own.

Decades after the disaster, Parrado 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.

©2006 Nando Parrado (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Miracle in the Andes is an astonishing account of an unimaginable ordeal. In straightforward, staggeringly honest prose, Nando Parrado tells us what it took—and what it actually felt like—to survive high in the Andes for 72 days after having been given up for dead. If you pick this book up, you will not be able to put it down.” —Jon Krakauer, author of Under the Banner of Heaven, Into Thin Air, and Into the Wild

“Unlike the cloud that obscured the mountainside, there is no haze enshrouding the meaning of life for Nando Parrado. It was in the love for his father that Nando found the motivation to survive for over two months on a Chilean glacier. As he makes his unbelievable traverse of the Andes, Nando also demonstrates the depth of his courage, faith, and perseverance that help him later transform his losses into a source of inspiration for others. Connecting our struggles to his, we readers can use Nando as our beacon and see that there is a way out of our ‘own personal Andes.’” —Aron Ralston, author of Between a Rock and a Hard Place

“Nando Parrado’s haunting experience in the Andes—grippingly, honestly, and insightfully told—ranks with the most dramatic survival stories of the last two centuries.” —Peter Stark, author of Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure

Miracle in the Andes

This book is a must read , Nando Parrada talks about his extraordinary survival in the Andes. The title of this book is perfect because that is exactly what they experienced. A true story of courage, love, and the determination to live.

You won't want to put your device down.

Extremely well told, and interview at end is very moving. Readers of the first telling in the 70s will want to read/listen to this.

Great story BUT is not the same as the book!

This was a great story! Sadly it was not the same as the book. By that I mean the overall story is the same but the audible version leaves out a LOT of details that the book includes. I ordered the book from Amazon as well as the Audible version so that I could read along. Right away the narrator skips sentences, then chapters, then pages! It was extremely frustrating! NOW, if you only intend on listening, this IS an AMAZING account of the rugby teams survival!

Moving and disturbing

An amazing story, that is in essence a simple survival story. However the depths in which the author needs to sink to survive are disturbing - mostly because of its reality. There is a large amount of spirituality in the book, but not too much to turn you off (if its not your thing). Great narration, with preface and interview with the author. I listen to many audio books - this is highly recommended. I repeat there are actions the survivors need to take which may be disturbing to some listeners.

This Book is Just Perfect

it give us a full understanding of what they experienced in the Andes and how they feel in an frost and snowy hell.