Army rescues Spanish mountaineers in Campo de Hielo Norte

COIHAIQUE.- This morning, after an improvement in weather conditions, the Army was able to rescue three Spanish mountain climbers that had been stranded in the Campo de Hielo Norte sector of the Chilean Patagonia.

The rescue took place at 9:25 AM and was performed using an Army helicopter, which was able to land mere meters from where the mountaineers were found, some 2,070 meters high on Mount San Valentín.

The Spanish climbers were taken by helicopter to Puerto Tranquilo, where the aircraft later took off in route to Coihaique.

Juan Diego Amador, Tomás Betancourt and Alfredo Ramírez began climbing Mount San Valentín without notifying any Chilean authorities and had been stranded since Monday of this week after they found themselves unable to locate the trail due to snowfall and minimal visibility.