One Earthquake, Then Another: Chaos on Mount Logan

Earthquakes, avalanches and a superstorm combine atop Canada’s highest peak. And we meet the intrepid soul who endured it all. Natalia Martínez has mountaineering in her blood. But during a solo trip up Mount Logan, a once-in-a-generation phenomenon will see her face her greatest challenge yet. Time and time again, she’ll have to call on all her grit and experience as she locks horns with the immense powers of Mother Nature… A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. Written by Duncan Barrett | Produced by Ed Baranski | Assistant Producer: Luke Lonergan | Exec produced by Joel Duddell | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Matt Peaty | Assembly edit by Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Ralph Tittley. For ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions If you have an amazing survival story of your own that you’d like to put forward for the show, let us know. Drop us an email at [email protected] Our sister podcast Short History Of… has a new book! Pre-order your copy of A Short History of Ancient Rome now at noiser.com/books Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

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• 0:30Speaker 01

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• 1:04John Hopkins?

  It is May 1st, 2017. May Day. A celebratory day in Europe, marking the start of summer.

• 1:15John Hopkins?

  But across the Atlantic and Canada, high in the upper echelons of Mount Logan, the weather is far from inviting, and the mood, far from festive.

• 1:25John Hopkins?

  A harsh, hammering gale howls across the second-highest peak in North America. And climber Natalia Martinez is camped out on a ridge.

• 1:37John Hopkins?

  Her flimsy gray tent is pitched just meters from a deep crevasse in the ice.

• 1:44John Hopkins?

  Natalia has earmarked this alarming-looking pit as a last-ditch refuge if her tent doesn't survive the next few hours.

• 1:55John Hopkins?

  At 4,000 meters above sea level, the view here is truly extraordinary. The Saint Elias mountain range stretches for 300 miles. A panoramic vista of rocky pyramids rising above the clouds, their flanks dusted with brilliant white snow.

• 2:15John Hopkins?

  But right now Natalia has no time for sightseeing. She is hard at work, building a fortress of ice. One she's praying will be strong enough to survive the storm heading her way.

• 2:31John Hopkins?

  As the gales buffet the 37-year-old, she piles lumps of densely-packed snow into a makeshift barrier around the tent,

• 2:40John Hopkins?

  fortifying her position, layer by layer.

• 2:45John Hopkins?

  There's no time to waste. She can see the storm in the distance, battering the next ridge over, dark clouds deluging the mountain with fresh snow.

• 2:57John Hopkins?

  The powerful gusts blast Logan's slope at speeds of almost 100 miles per hour. And this tempest is getting closer.

• 3:08Speaker 03

  You see the storm coming. You can see at the distance what is happening. And I was seeing the clouds going around and saying to me, "Natalia, we are going for you." I was making my fortress, building a wall with snow to avoid the wind or the snow coming into your tent. It's just prevention, it's not magic.

• 3:36John Hopkins?

  But right now, all alone on the side of Canada's biggest mountain, Natalia will need not just the skills she has learned in her career as a mountaineer, but a little bit of magic as well.

• 3:49Speaker 03

  The mountain is shaking. And you know the storm is coming, you know nobody will go to help you.

• 4:05John Hopkins?

  Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes? If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives.

• 4:27John Hopkins?

  In this episode, we meet Natalia Martinez. Born and raised in Argentina, Natalia has mountain climbing in her blood. But during a solo trip up Canada's tallest peak, a once-in-a-generation tectonic phenomenon will see her face her greatest challenge yet.

• 4:47Speaker 03

  The ground was moving, so I say I need to escape from here. Something bad is happening, and I don't know what it is.

• 4:56John Hopkins?

  Over the course of several days, Natalia will face a multitude of natural disasters.

• 5:02John Hopkins?

  Time and time again, she'll have to call on all her grit and experience to keep struggling on as she locks horns with the immense powers of Mother Nature.

• 5:12Speaker 03

  The second one happened, and the same sensation again. Everything moving. I was inside without see anything. And I say, OK, now this is the end.

• 5:27John Hopkins?

  I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser Podcast Network. This is Real Survival Stories.

• 5:56John Hopkins?

  It's April 21, 2007, on the outskirts of the Cloane National Park. It's a luscious, frost-speckled woodland in the west of Canada, a vast nature reserve home to caribou, wolverines, dal sheep, wolves, and grizzly bears. But Natalia Martinez is less concerned with the wildlife than with the landscape. She wants to conquer the greatest height this area has to offer.

• 6:26John Hopkins?

  On the edge of the forest, a 37-year-old is checking her equipment for her forthcoming expedition.

• 6:33John Hopkins?

  Reaching the summit of Mount Logan will be no small feat.

• 6:37John Hopkins?

  Natalia will need over 80 kilograms of kit to stand a chance of making it there and back in one piece. Sleeping bag, tent, crampons, skiing equipment, even a sledge to drag it all along the ice.

• 6:51John Hopkins?

  She'll be heaving more than her own body weight up the mountain. But at least, she won't be going alone.

• 6:59John Hopkins?

  Natalia has invited a female friend from Chile to come with her.

• 7:04John Hopkins?

  Normally, she climbs with her boyfriend Camilo, but he's got his head down right now, finishing up his PhD in glaciology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, 2,000 kilometers away.

• 7:16John Hopkins?

  Natalia's been dreaming of climbing Mount Logan for the best part of two years now, and she doesn't want to wait any longer. Besides, an all-female expedition has its own appeal.

• 7:28Speaker 03

  I think it's a very beautiful project to do it with another woman. I invited a friend from Chile that she was with us in other expeditions in Patagonia, and she said, "Yes, let's do that." If we can do that, it will be a very nice message to the community and inspire other women to do it.

• 7:51John Hopkins?

  The world of mountain climbing has always been heavily male-dominated. Even today, men outnumber women 2 to 1. Natalia hopes she and her friend can prove a point to the naysayers who still believe mountains are no place for women.

• 8:12John Hopkins?

  But there is a setback. The weather in Klowani National Park isn't good right now, which means the little ski plane Natalia has booked to take the two of them to the base of the mountain can't operate safely. She and her friend have been held up for days already, waiting for conditions to clear. It's meant that Natalia's travel companion has started to get cold feet.

• 8:39Speaker 03

  The weather was challenging. So that forced us to wait on Cluani for a few days. And I think that wait debilitate the morale of my friend. When was the right moment to fly, she decided not to go. At that moment, I was frustrated, sad. I didn't realize that you have to have courage to say no as well. And if she feel that she wasn't ready, I think, yeah. I think it was a very good call. Maybe I was so blind to see that at that moment because I was upset.

• 9:25John Hopkins?

  So when the ski plane arrives to carry Natalia on to the start of her adventure, she must bid farewell to her friend.

• 9:35John Hopkins?

  She boards the craft and before long they're airborne, piercing through the brilliant blue sky, heading for the mountains.

• 9:46John Hopkins?

  Natalia peers down through her window and the magnificent Saint Elias Range and towering over it all, Mount Logan.

• 9:56John Hopkins?

  It's a majestic sight. Its twin peaks reaching almost 6,000 meters above sea level. That's higher than Kilimanjaro or the Matterhorn. And yet, compared to them, Logan is relatively unexplored. Its main claim to fame is that it gives its name to Canadian superhero James "Logan" Howlett, better known by his alias Wolverine.

• 10:23John Hopkins?

  The ironic joke being that, in the comics at least, Wolverine is the shortest of the X-Men.

• 10:31John Hopkins?

  But while Natalia is suddenly impressed by the mountain, she isn't daunted. This terrain is what she knows best. She's been climbing outdoors for the best part of two decades.

• 10:42John Hopkins?

  She grew up in the shadow of Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in Argentina, a good 1,000 meters taller than Mount Logan.

• 10:52Speaker 03

  Always when I wake up, the first things I saw was mountains. To be in the countryside, you are surrounded of nature and birds and, I don't know, other kind of energy. I grew up with my grandparents and, yeah, basically, they teach me the reading of the nature, so I grateful for that. My grandparents were working in the land, my mom was using the bicycle to go for work, so I saw that we use our body all the time to do things.

• 11:30Speaker 03

  So, for me, when I was a teenager, you start thinking about the future. One thing I have clarity is, is that I don't wanna, I don't want to be inside in the office. That for sure.

• 11:48John Hopkins?

  When she was fifteen, Natalia's elder sister took her rock climbing for the first time. She was hooked.

• 11:56Speaker 03

  I think from that moment, I realized, I want this, I want more of this, because it's fun, it's, I don't know, I feel very comfortable doing that.

• 12:08John Hopkins?

  To begin with, climbing was just a hobby. It wasn't until a few years later, when she was at university, training to become a PE teacher, that Natalia first started thinking about it as a career.

• 12:21Speaker 03

  In the same university, was another career as mountain guide, and I say, oh, let's see what's going on in there, and ended up falling in love with that. They taught me take care of myself out there, how to take decisions, a lot of techniques, different techniques, so it was very, very helpful.

• 12:49John Hopkins?

  But the greatest instructors weren't her professors at the university. The Andes taught Natalia everything she needed to know.

• 12:59John Hopkins?

  Not just about mountain climbing, but about herself.

• 13:02Speaker 03

  It was fun, it was kind of risky, but at that time you don't know how to measure risk. But with time, now I can say that I fell in love because I can be myself there. Nobody's watching you and you don't need to demonstrate anything. You already know your weakness and your strength and how to use it in different situations. So it's kind of you was building a kind of wisdom with the mountain.

• 13:39John Hopkins?

  It's also thanks to the Andes that Natalia met the love of her life, Camila. They first crossed paths at a wilderness first aid course held on the border of Argentina and his native Chile. The mountains provided the glue that held their relationship together.

• 13:58Speaker 03

  We had to travel a lot, so we built a very strong relationship. It's a good way to start, knowing that your partner know about first aid.

• 14:13Speaker 03

  We met there and from there we started going out, but always with the mountain between us with that excuse. So that was very, very nice for us. It was a good hook.

• 14:33John Hopkins?

  Four years later, they relocated to Canada so that Camila could pursue his PhD. They settled in Whistler, British Columbia, not far from cosmopolitan Vancouver. Natalia began working as a skiing instructor and mountain guide. And when Camilo's research took him further north to the Seward Glacier in Cloane National Park, she decided to tag along for the ride.

• 15:00John Hopkins?

  It's here that Natalia first caught a glimpse of Mount Logan and the dream of one day climbing it took root.

• 15:10Speaker 03

  Of course, you go to the new mountain range, and you are curious to see what is the biggest mountain there. We're working on a glacier there for a month, basically. The plane, when we take the plane, you can see Logan from there using all the space, saying, "I'm here, and I'm the chief," let's say. "I'm the chief of this range." So beautiful.

• 15:47John Hopkins?

  While in this new area, Natalia was determined that she and Camilo should climb a mountain together. But they didn't go for Logan, not this time.

• 15:58John Hopkins?

  Instead, they plumped for Mount Malaspina, about 30 miles away. At 12,000 feet, Malaspina is a little over half as tall as its big brother. But it had never been summited before. So for the South American couple, it was a chance to write themselves into the history books.

• 16:17Speaker 03

  So we say it's a good opportunity to do what we love, and also nobody is claiming it. I think the mountainists want us to go because they are showing us, "Hey, come to do what you like to do."

• 16:35John Hopkins?

  In August 2015, Natalia and Camilo began their ascent of Malaspina, a climb they very nearly didn't return from. One night, encamped on the north side of the mountain, they heard a terrifying sound coming from just outside their tent.

• 16:54John Hopkins?

  A huge chunk of ice, known as a serac, fell just meters away from them.

• 17:02Speaker 03

  We were thinking, okay, an avalanche is coming and was very terrifying. But we were together, that was very beautiful. And when that situation or moment stopped, we went outside and we saw the big pieces of ice around our tent, likely not over us.

• 17:24John Hopkins?

  Eventually, after a final 36-hour ascent, they made it to the top of the mountain.

• 17:31Speaker 03

  It's dangerous, yeah, but when you are in the summit and you see the view, it's totally worth it.

• 17:40John Hopkins?

  The mountaintop provides a perfect view of the Malaspina Glacier, one of the largest and most spectacular in the world.

• 17:48John Hopkins?

  It's a vast expanse of brilliant, bright blue ice, more than 1,000 feet deep and roughly the size of Rhode Island. For a glaciologist like Camilo, that's pretty much as good as it gets. But Natalia's eyes kept being drawn to the north, where Mount Logan looms over the massive.

• 18:10Speaker 03

  You see Mount Logan from the other summit and it's huge. It's huge. Definitely is the queen of the range. I had one eyes on Malaspina, another eyes on Logan because it's like a kind of magnet to me. Like, say, hey, I'm here, pay attention to me. And I say, oh, I want to be there, there, there.

• 18:43Speaker 00

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• 19:11Speaker 01

  Visible puts the ultimate wireless hack in the palm of your hand. With unlimited 5G wireless data and hotspot, designed to keep you connected. Powered by Verizon's 5G network. And, no contract holding you back. Plans start at $25 a month. Or get the premium Visible Plus Pro Plan and save $10 on your first month when you use promo code HACK. Make the switch at visible.com. Terms apply. See visible.com for details.

• 19:48John Hopkins?

  It's April the 22nd, 2017. From the base of Mount Logan, Natalia watches as the tiny plane operated by the Kluani National Park Authority shrinks to a tiny spot on the horizon.

• 20:04John Hopkins?

  She's all alone now. A speck in an intimidating expanse of whiteness.

• 20:12John Hopkins?

  But thanks to the satellite phone in her pack, Camilo is only ever a call away.

• 20:19Speaker 03

  I didn't feel alone there, no. For me, I had a sat phone. If something happened, always I can ask to other person what to do, you know? Even if they are not there. At that moment, to climb that mountain with all the risks that are involved, I was ready. I was ready, yeah. My mind was clear, my body was strong, I was ready.

• 20:50John Hopkins?

  Natalia sets off, dragging the heavy sledge behind her. The snow crunches gently underfoot.

• 21:00John Hopkins?

  The first stretch of her journey should be an easy one. A two-day trek across relatively flat terrain.

• 21:07John Hopkins?

  Up ahead, she can see the slopes of the mountain rising from the blanket of white snow at its feet. Towering walls of rock and ice daring her to climb them.

• 21:18John Hopkins?

  The surroundings are glorious, but the dangers hang heavy in the air.

• 21:24John Hopkins?

  Just days earlier, two male climbers had to be rescued from the mountain by helicopter when their attempt to reach the summit ended in failure.

• 21:34John Hopkins?

  Natalia can still make out their footprints in the snow.

• 21:42John Hopkins?

  She has never needed rescuing before, but she mustn't be complacent.

• 21:48John Hopkins?

  Even down here in the foothills, there are hazards all around. The ground beneath her feet is fractured by deep crevasses. The fragile snow bridges that cross them could give way at any minute, plunging her into the void.

• 22:04Speaker 03

  You are surrounded of risk. I saw the crevasses close to me. And you say, okay, this bridge will collapse at any moment, or will support my sled, or what? So a lot of questions are in between your steps. But it's up to you if you want to listen or not.

• 22:32John Hopkins?

  For now, though, all is well. As Natalia makes her way up the gently sloping face of the ridge, she breathes in the crisp air, basking in the mid-afternoon sun.

• 22:47Speaker 03

  Everything was perfect. The weather was perfect. Then the snow was perfect. The first day was like you are full of energy, very emotional because you are there. The silence that surrounds you expands all your sense. So you can hear how the mountains move, every crack when the breeze goes through, how the little grains of snow are shining. It was like a gift to be by my own there. I was happy. I was in the right moment, in the right mountain.

• 23:31John Hopkins?

  By evening, Natalia has reached the bottom of the east ridge. She sets up camp for the night in the shadow of the steeply rising slope. The next stage will be one of the hardest parts of the ascent, scaling this 60-degree incline all the way up to the knife-edge path at the top. So far, Natalia's been able to drag her equipment along with her. But as the intensity of the route increases, that's no longer an option. She'll have to transport her kit upwards in stages, a slow, strenuous process.

• 24:09Speaker 03

  When it's flat, you can use the sled. But when you start climbing, you cannot carry all that weight in your back. So my day was like, put things in my backpack, go, lift things, go down, full the backpack again, up again, lift the things again, down again, and take the last one with me to the top.

• 24:36John Hopkins?

  This means that when it comes to the most challenging parts of the ascent, Natalia is having to traverse them not just once, but two or even three times.

• 24:47John Hopkins?

  The next few days are a constant back-and-forth slog. Two steps forward, followed by two steps back. Rinse and repeat.

• 24:57Speaker 03

  I was ready to face up any problem with all my tools around. So I was doing short period of distance, making sure I spend the night with all my equipment.

• 25:14John Hopkins?

  Eventually Natalia reaches the top of the eastern ridge, the so-called knife edge. It is a massive achievement.

• 25:23John Hopkins?

  But traversing this narrow route to the summit of the mountain won't be easy. The exposed path is like a tightrope, with terrifying drops on either side. Ice and rocks tumble down the edges.

• 25:38John Hopkins?

  Natalia centers herself, steady as we go.

• 25:45Speaker 03

  Very intimidating. You can see the void and a lot of questions attack your mind in that moment and push you to be super focused. But the beauty of that monochromatic world is like amazing. Totally worth it.

• 26:05John Hopkins?

  The wind howls through the mountain, buffeting Natalia as she carefully picks her way along the ridge, meter by meter, step by step. Slowly but surely, she's getting close to the summit.

• 26:21John Hopkins?

  After the best part of a week on Mount Logan, Natalia can look back with pride on the progress she has already made.

• 26:29John Hopkins?

  From her current vantage point, almost 4,000 meters above sea level, she traces her own tracks in the snow, leading up from the base of the mountain.

• 26:40Speaker 03

  You can see your footprint that make you proud to see that. You start understanding what is your place in the world and how important you are. Because you are occupying a space there, and it is for something.

• 27:08John Hopkins?

  On Sunday night, Natalia calls Camilo on the satellite phone and lets him know she's made it this far safely. The summit suddenly seems within her grasp. Just 600 meters more of sheer ascent, then a gentle six-kilometer trek along the plateau at the top of the mountain.

• 27:27John Hopkins?

  That should only take about three days.

• 27:31Speaker 03

  That night was perfect. It was with my tent, everything was good. I was in peace. I was very confident. It was like, I think, my five day in the mountain or six, I don't remember. So everything was perfect.

• 27:52John Hopkins?

  What Natalia doesn't know is that thousands of meters below her, something less than perfect is brewing.

• 28:00John Hopkins?

  A once-in-a-generation seismic event.

• 28:05John Hopkins?

  Two tectonic plates are scraping against each other, causing friction. When the pressure gets too much, all that energy will have to go somewhere. It's a time bomb, equivalent to over 6,000 tons of TNT. And the clock is ticking.

• 28:30Speaker 00

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• 28:59Speaker 01

  Visible puts the ultimate wireless hack in the palm of your hand. With unlimited 5G wireless data and hotspot, designed to keep you connected. Powered by Verizon's 5G network. And, no contract holding you back. Plans start at $25 a month. Or get the premium Visible Plus Pro Plan and save $10 on your first month when you use promo code HACK. Make the switch at visible.com. Terms apply. See visible.com for details.

• 29:32John Hopkins?

  The following morning, Natalia wakes early. It's minus 10 degrees, but experience has taught her how to retain warmth.

• 29:42John Hopkins?

  Without leaving her sleeping bag, she shuffles over to the entrance of the tent and pokes her head outside. Like a tortoise cautiously emerging from its shell.

• 29:53John Hopkins?

  In the distance, the sun is slowly rising, painting the perfect white slopes of the mountain in the warm light of dawn.

• 30:02John Hopkins?

  The final stretch lies ahead.

• 30:05John Hopkins?

  But first, some food.

• 30:09John Hopkins?

  Melting snow, she is chipped off the mountain. Natalia brews herself a cup of tea and makes a small bowl of porridge. Steam fills the interior of the tent, condensing on the taut gray fabric.

• 30:24John Hopkins?

  This simple breakfast is the same one she's eaten every day since she arrived on Mount Logan nine days earlier. But this time, she won't get to finish her meal.

• 30:39John Hopkins?

  A vibration morphs into a rumble, then vigorous shaking. Suddenly, it's as if the mountain is coming alive.

• 30:49Speaker 03

  I start feeling that the tent was moving side to side, but my stove was in the same place. So I say, "What's going on?" I saw the roof of the tent moving, but the water was in the same place. And I say, "Oh, oh."

• 31:12John Hopkins?

  It is a magnitude-six earthquake, the worst to hit this mountain range in decades.

• 31:20John Hopkins?

  A tectonic event like this is rare, and it's powerful enough to cause extensive damage.

• 31:26John Hopkins?

  Plus, right now, Natalia is on a precarious spot. And all that separates her from the thunderous shuddering of the mountain is a flimsy canvas tent. A tent that is currently being shaken from side to side, like a helpless animal in the mouth of a predator.

• 31:45John Hopkins?

  Amidst the confusion, Natalia struggles to orientate herself.

• 31:50John Hopkins?

  What's happening? Is she falling?

• 31:55Speaker 03

  I couldn't understand at that moment what's going on. My sensation was that a piece of ice was just sliding down to the void. And I say, "Okay, I will die very, very soon." Because the sound was like, "Brrr." Like when the train is coming, that you feel that, I don't know, kind of vibration and sound. So my reaction was to put in a fetal position and just wait for the worst.

• 32:31John Hopkins?

  Crouched inside the tent, the seconds seem to stretch out to infinity.

• 32:44John Hopkins?

  But eventually, the shaking stops, and Natalia cautiously uncurls herself.

• 32:52John Hopkins?

  She draws a nervous breath, then reaches for the sat phone and instinctively dials Camilo's number.

• 33:01John Hopkins?

  Two thousand kilometers away, in British Columbia, he's fast asleep in bed.

• 33:08Speaker 03

  He was in Vancouver, so few hours difference. He didn't understand, he was sleepy and he said, "I love you so much and... I don't know what's going on, but something is going on, but I don't, I don't understand what happened. But I want to let you know that I love you."

• 33:29John Hopkins?

  Natalia ends the call, promising to phone again when she's worked out what's just occurred. Then she tentatively reaches over and unzips the flap of the tent.

• 33:42Speaker 03

  I finished the call and I say, "Okay, you have to go outside. Be brave, you have to see what's going on." So slowly, I take the zipper up and went outside and everything was in the same place and nothing happened. I say, "What's, what's wrong?" He knew what I saw and I feel, "What's going on?" And I'm checked, and I saw that close to me was a crevasse and the bridge of the crevasse collapsed a little. So I knew that something was moving or something happened that, for that reason, that bridge collapsed. But around my tent was perfect. I didn't see any changes.

• 34:26Speaker 03

  So I went to my tent again to finish my breakfast,

• 34:33Speaker 03

  and the same sensation, again. Everything moving. I was inside without see anything and I say, "Okay, now this is the end."

• 34:49John Hopkins?

  Once again, Natalia curls up inside her tent, bracing herself against whatever terror the mountain might throw her way.

• 34:57John Hopkins?

  This time, she can hear not only the sound of the earth shaking, but another sound as well, softer, but far more terrifying. The earthquake has triggered an avalanche.

• 35:11John Hopkins?

  The insistent rumbling seems to come from all around. Camped out in a relatively exposed position, she has a pretty good chance of being buried alive. But there is nothing she can do right now, other than tense every muscle in her body and squeeze her eyes shut.

• 35:33John Hopkins?

  Eventually, the shaking subsides, and somehow both Natalia and her tent are still in one piece.

• 35:41John Hopkins?

  She goes outside to take another look around. And now, there is no question about how lucky she's been.

• 35:49Speaker 03

  When the movement finished and went out again, I started hearing more avalanches around me, but I was far. So you can see the avalanche going down, but not in the place I was.

• 36:04John Hopkins?

  In her muddled state, it's still difficult to fully piece together what's happening. But one thing is clear: She needs to get far away from here as soon as she can.

• 36:16John Hopkins?

  Through the next few hours, Mount Logan is hit by dozens of smaller aftershocks.

• 36:22Speaker 03

  The ground was moving, so I say I need to escape from here. Something bad is happening, and I don't know what it is. Never, ever was thinking about an earthquake. My first thought was run away. Run away to a safe place or when you feel safe, because something is happening.

• 36:47John Hopkins?

  Natalia packs her rucksack faster than she's ever done it in her life, leaving behind a good chunk of her equipment. There's not enough time to take everything.

• 36:57John Hopkins?

  With just basic provisions, she retraces her steps from the previous day, heading for the campsite 300 meters below, which hopefully will afford a little more shelter.

• 37:09John Hopkins?

  But that means crossing the Knife Edge Pass again. The deadly, icy tightrope, which is less stable than ever. And she's far shakier on her feet than she was before.

• 37:22Speaker 03

  I was busy, and I was so scared to cross that because I didn't know if I was taking good decisions, what was going with myself. I didn't know what's going on.

• 37:37John Hopkins?

  Woosily, Natalia makes her way along the Knife Edge Pass, doing her best not to look down. Every step is a wobbly, heart-in-mouth movement. The slippery, narrow walkway zigzags beneath her trembling legs. Yet somehow, inch by inch, she makes it all the way back to the lower campsite.

• 37:58John Hopkins?

  She sits and catches her breath for a moment, physically and mentally exhausted.

• 38:06John Hopkins?

  But she cannot linger for long, because there is a new problem. In the distance, she can see a storm brewing, a big one. Furious, forbidding clouds move in a swarm of blackness towards her. Best guess: It'll hit her position in a matter of hours. To survive the onslaught, Natalia will need the rest of her provisions, the ones she left behind in her haste.

• 38:34John Hopkins?

  This means crossing the Knife Edge two more times, there, and back again.

• 38:40Speaker 03

  I see the big clouds, more dense, coming up, black, dark gray. So I say, "Okay, Natalia, go for the rest of your things."

• 38:54John Hopkins?

  Just before turning back, Natalia quickly pitches her tent at the lower campsite, setting up right next to a large crevasse in the ice. Unlikely as it may seem, this natural hazard could serve as a backup shelter if she has to abandon the tent altogether.

• 39:13Speaker 03

  You never know what can happen. The wind can destroy your tent. And so I was thinking my plan B is to jump into the crevasse and wait there. Some weird, but it's a good option.

• 39:29John Hopkins?

  A good last-ditch option, but obviously not one she wants to have to take. For now, she focuses on fortifying her new position, packing snow into blocks and building an igloo-like wall around one side of her tent.

• 39:45John Hopkins?

  Once in place, she decides to update Camilo on her situation.

• 39:50John Hopkins?

  By now, he's wide awake, and he's been researching her predicament himself.

• 39:56Speaker 03

  It's when he told me, "Natalia, it was two earthquakes, the biggest doesn't happen 50 years ago." So it was a right moment to do that. Thank you, nature.

• 40:13John Hopkins?

  Incredibly, at this point, Natalia still has half a mind to continue on to the summit. If she can ride out the storm, she may be able to cross the Knife Edge Ridge again, return to her camp from the previous night, and then onwards and upwards. But the more she speaks to Camilo, the less wise the idea feels.

• 40:35Speaker 03

  My plan was to continue, but I was in a kind of a shock or a state of full alert that I asked myself if I was capable to keep taking good decisions. Especially in the state I was. I was scared. And I was thinking if I'm walking, feeling dizzy...

• 41:00Speaker 03

  What is the point? You are not in the state that you feel sure you are making strong steps, safe steps. Things can happen. So, we decide to ask for help. So Camilo called to National Park and is when the rescue plan start. But to take that decision was super hard. And I think recognize myself in a weakness moment is great.

• 41:40John Hopkins?

  With the decision taken, the task Natalia faces is now much clearer. Not climbing the peak, but simply surviving long enough to be rescued. With winds of up to eighty-five miles an hour currently battering Mount Logan, no helicopter is going to be able to land there. Not until the storm has passed. And the storm is edging ever closer to her position.

• 42:08Speaker 03

  I was making my fortress. So I was making a huge wall. I was putting the shovel in the right place to have the snow, to have food, all in the right place for me to just say to the storm, "Just do your thing quickly as possible, please."

• 42:31John Hopkins?

  Finally, the ice storm cometh.

• 42:36John Hopkins?

  Natalia retreats inside her tent and battens down the hatches, which in this case means sliding the little zipper to the closed position. Then she waits for the onslaught to begin. Before long, the tent is being pounded by the swirling snow. Through the fabric, Natalia can see it's starting to pile up outside as well. Left unchecked, that could spell bad news. Stealing herself for the ice cold blast, she takes hold of her shovel and steps outside the tent. Leaning into the wind, she digs out the freshly fallen snow until her little haven is surrounded by neatly tended circle of flat ground.

• 43:23John Hopkins?

  But the snow just keeps on falling.

• 43:26Speaker 03

  I set up my alarm every two hours to clean around the tent, or at least to check how are the condition of my tent. So every two hours I was shoveling around my tent. You know, it's like when you take care of your garden, same thing.

• 43:45John Hopkins?

  All through the afternoon, and then evening too, Natalia repeats her grueling routine. During her shifts out in the cold, she sees the sun drop lower and lower in the sky.

• 43:59John Hopkins?

  Eventually night falls.

• 44:02John Hopkins?

  But the storm shows no signs of abating. It looks like she's in it for the long haul.

• 44:09John Hopkins?

  So far, the wall of ice she has constructed around her tent has taken the brunt of the onslaught. But by now, the tent itself is starting to show signs of wear as well.

• 44:22Speaker 03

  At some point, the wind... I opened the zipper of the tent and the zipper get freeze and I couldn't close the zipper. And the snow is coming in the tent. I was so tired. At some point, I was like, "Oh, I don't care anymore." And that is bad. That is bad.

• 44:48John Hopkins?

  Worse still, as the storm continues raging, stronger gusts of wind start pushing and pulling at the roof of the tent itself, threatening to flatten the tiny structure.

• 45:00Speaker 03

  So, one of the problems that can happen there is that the poles of your tent can crack. And if that happen, the fabric can rip.

• 45:13John Hopkins?

  Natalia can see the poles flexing as the roof of the tent sags towards her. She's gonna have to hold it together herself.

• 45:22John Hopkins?

  She reaches up and takes a pole in each hand, forcing them upwards against the full force of the wind.

• 45:30John Hopkins?

  She's determined not to let them break. And this goes on all through the night.

• 45:37John Hopkins?

  At times Natalia is so exhausted it overwhelms her. She cannot keep her eyes open.

• 45:42Speaker 03

  I wake up every time the gas come in and shake my tent. So it was like this and wake up and yeah. So that happened all the night. It was very long night.

• 45:55John Hopkins?

  The main comfort is that at least Camilo has called for help. But there's no knowing when that will arrive. It's probably still a long way away. And in these conditions, there is no way to get a helicopter up on the mountain.

• 46:10John Hopkins?

  The national park authorities keep phoning her throughout the night to keep her posted on their disappointing lack of progress. But she already has her hands full, literally.

• 46:22Speaker 03

  They were calling me in the sat phone. It was like, guys, you know, sorry, I'm okay, but I cannot do this. Try to talk with Camilo and he can arrange all of that now. I have to take care of me and the tent, sorry. But they were super professional.

• 46:43John Hopkins?

  The authorities keep checking in with Natalia about her physical state. If she has any injuries, they want to be totally ready when they eventually reach her.

• 46:52John Hopkins?

  That is, if they can reach her in time.

• 46:56John Hopkins?

  Finally dawn breaks, but there is still no let up from the storm. It continues into a second day.

• 47:04John Hopkins?

  Natalia is utterly spent and she hasn't had a chance to eat or drink all night. Almost running on empty, things need to improve soon.

• 47:16John Hopkins?

  At long last, when afternoon arrives, the wind begins to die down.

• 47:23Speaker 03

  And when the things calm down is when I drink water, eat, and all of this because all that period I didn't do anything, just hold my tent.

• 47:40John Hopkins?

  But even though the storm is now less intense, it's not as straightforward as merely swooping in to retrieve her.

• 47:47John Hopkins?

  It'll be another forty-eight hours before conditions improve enough for the park authorities to think about mounting a rescue.

• 47:55John Hopkins?

  For Natalia, there is not much to do but stay put.

• 48:06John Hopkins?

  But in the meantime, back in Vancouver, she's become something of a celebrity. Her story has come to the attention of a CBC news crew. Camilla is even interviewed live on TV.

• 48:19Speaker 03

  Camilla told me, "I just want to let you know that you are in the news, but it's not big deal, don't pay attention on that", and blah, blah, blah, and I say, "Okay, I don't care, I'm here, I cannot do anything", so I don't care.

• 48:36John Hopkins?

  Before long, Natalia's story has made it all around the world, making news bulletins in her native Argentina and featuring in The Guardian newspaper and on the BBC. The lone woman stuck up on a mountain is an intriguing story.

• 48:54John Hopkins?

  Meanwhile, Natalia is keeping busy, readying herself as best she can for rescue.

• 49:01Speaker 03

  I was preparing a platform for the helicopter, I was fixing things, my tent, I pack everything in my backpack and that's it. One thing you don't have to do, you have to leave your tent up just in case. But I was very confident that they will come.

• 49:25John Hopkins?

  On Thursday evening, three and a half days after the earthquakes put an end to her mission to climb Mount Logan, the rescue chopper at last arrives.

• 49:36Speaker 03

  So at first you don't see the helicopter, you hear them. So you are desperately trying to find them, a little point in the sky.

• 49:54John Hopkins?

  Natalia crouches on the ground as the helicopter circles her position. It dips down to water but retreats when a gust from its propellers churns up a cloud of snow.

• 50:06John Hopkins?

  The pilot tries again, but once more, the blinding flurry forces him to back off. On the third attempt, the chopper barely makes contact with the mountainside.

• 50:19John Hopkins?

  The tips of its two ski legs touch down ever so gently, and the copilot jumps out to help Natalia aboard.

• 50:28Speaker 03

  The helicopter landed close to me. The ranger jumped off. He took me very gentle, put me into the helicopter, and that's it. It was like a super simple, very professional. They know what they are doing.

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• 51:59John Hopkins?

  Within less than a minute, they're airborne.

• 52:03John Hopkins?

  As their helicopter rises into the sky, Natalia looks back on Mount Logan.

• 52:08John Hopkins?

  Her home for the past two weeks, and very nearly her grave.

• 52:13John Hopkins?

  She's been through a staggering array of trials: two earthquakes, the constant threat of avalanches, and one superstorm.

• 52:21John Hopkins?

  And yet, despite everything she has endured, she still takes a moment to absorb the sheer majesty of Canada's tallest mountain.

• 52:30Speaker 03

  It was saying goodbye, and the mountain looks so beautiful. Beautiful and dangerous at the same time. I don't know, it's this kind of weird situation. But at the moment, it was beautiful to be flying over the mountain. And that's it, yeah. Try to put a period on that sentence of your life.

• 53:00John Hopkins?

  Back in civilization, it's time for a long-awaited reunion.

• 53:05John Hopkins?

  Camilo has flown from Vancouver to meet Natalia in the National Park. But he hasn't come alone.

• 53:14Speaker 03

  When he came, he came with a journalist. And that was another thing that shocked me, because I didn't be ready to share the story yet. And yeah, it was, I didn't like it.

• 53:30John Hopkins?

  Camilo convinces Natalia to be polite, and she obliges.

• 53:35John Hopkins?

  Reluctantly, she shares her story with a journalist. After all, he's come a long way for the scoop. But back home in Vancouver, she grows increasingly frustrated with the way her story is reported in the press. Many outlets can't seem to get the basic facts straight, writing that she survived an avalanche rather than two earthquakes.

• 53:56Speaker 03

  If you want to be a good journalist, please, do your job, do your research. People say an avalanche. Avalanche happen around me, but not over me. So, yeah, I get frustrated for that because it's like, why people are still saying that now?

• 54:18John Hopkins?

  But even more hurtful is the way she's been presented. Not as an experienced climber who survived a series of natural disasters, but as a damsel in distress, helplessly waiting for rescue.

• 54:33John Hopkins?

  Certainly, her story has attracted far more media attention than the two climbers rescued from Mount Logan a fortnight earlier.

• 54:41John Hopkins?

  And then there are the below-the-line comments.

• 54:45Speaker 03

  People was so cruel with the message. I was thinking why the couples were rescued before. Me, they didn't have the attention I had. Because they were men? I don't know. It's nothing against them. It's just the question I was doing myself. Maybe I was more sensitive, but I feel that they were talking about me without knowing me. And I don't know, questioning my decisions when, I don't know, if they climb mountains. How I perceived was like

• 55:26Speaker 03

  a Latin woman climbing a Canadian mountain solo, without any experience, using our resources. And I say, I love to climb mountains, that's it. It's what I do all my life. I climb mountains. You sell insurance. Perfect. I climb mountains. Of course, opinions, we are in a free country and blah, blah, blah. But people, please be aware that you can affect other people with your comment. And I was weak, mentally weak. And that affect me a lot.

• 56:14John Hopkins?

  But despite the bitter taste these experiences left, Natalia says her love of mountain climbing remains as strong as ever. These days, she and Camila split their time between Canada and Argentina, making the most of the world-class peaks in both hemispheres.

• 56:32Speaker 03

  My friends ask me the same question over and over again: "Are you scared of the mountains now?" I say: "No."

• 56:43Speaker 03

  "The mountains are still the same. It's your choice to take that situation as a learning situation or as a trauma situation." I know mountains are very good teachers. I love to expose myself to certain risks because I know I can handle it. That is what I do, and I love to do that.

• 57:13John Hopkins?

  And as for Mount Logan, Natalia still hasn't given up on the idea of reaching the summit one day.

• 57:20Speaker 03

  I would love to go back, but I think I have to feel the call. I did the most difficult and technical part of the mountain, so for me, that was amazing. And I feel very proud of me to achieve that kind of goal because the ridge is very intimidating, and especially when it's shaking. So I know the mountain is there. The project was beautiful, and I can go at any time. But now I feel other kinds of calls. Other mountains are calling me, and I don't feel like I didn't finish something, you know?

• 58:05Speaker 03

  It's just part of the experience.

• 58:20John Hopkins?

  Next time on Real Survival Stories, we meet coastguard swimmer Michael Odom and his best friend and colleague Mario Betone.

• 58:29John Hopkins?

  In January 1995, they are part of a team dispatched to rescue the crew of a sailboat caught in the grip of a merciless winter storm.

• 58:38John Hopkins?

  But when the helicopter's cable malfunctions and fuel runs dangerously low, the crew have no choice but to leave without Michael. In the open Atlantic, he must fight the overwhelming brutality of the ocean alone.

• 58:54John Hopkins?

  Meanwhile, Mario is racked with guilt for leaving his friend behind, while a potentially fatal scenario of his own starts to take shape.

• 59:04John Hopkins?

  That's next time on Real Survival Stories.

• 59:08John Hopkins?

  Listen right now, without ads and without waiting a week, by subscribing to Noiser Plus.