Wind going up Garner Pass

[Stephen Parks]

A video of some other backpackers in the wind going up Garner Pass in Torres del Paine.

Garner Pass

[Greg Mihalik]

Thanks.

Welcome Back.

I trust you had a good time.

[Stephen Parks]

Had a great time. That video doesn't show the strongest of the gusts we encountered, but it gives you a good idea. The only thing to do was lean forward on the poles and wait it out. I was glad to have a pair of trekking poles instead of sticks like those guys. Anyone have a guess as to what the wind speed was there? I was sheltered behind a boulder, had the image stabilization and wind noise reduction turned on, and you can see I was still having trouble holding the camera still.

Funny story about those people in the video – they were just behind us most of the way up. Often as we would take a break they would catch up and then we would go on ahead. They weren't the most intrepid hikers from the start, showed some concern about the wind and snow and difficulty in finding the markers, and had asked if we had done something this crazy before (no, we hadn't). My friend had a little bit of wine left in a flask, and while we had stopped behind another rock further up so I could find some extra gloves, he poured us both a half cup of wine and we sat a bit while the others caught up to us. The guy said "hey, you guys aren't thinking of turning back, are you?" (as in, "we want to turn back and would like you to agree that it's a good idea") I said, "no, we're going to finish this wine and head on up!" The guy said "you guys are drinking wine?" with a look on his face that seemed to say "we've been following these idiots this whole time?!?" We left then saw them only once more a few minutes later and they never caught back up to us again. I was a little worried about them, but figured they probably turned back, which we confirmed when we got to the next camp (via radio). It's a shame as they were only 35 or 40 minutes from the top of the pass. They did make it over the next day. We saw them a couple of days later as we were leaving one campground and they were just coming in. They said the winds were only half as strong the next day and they had fabulous views. I bet those views were indeed fabulous, but I don't think I would have traded the more intense experience of topping the pass with the rougher weather.

Here we are at the top:
At the top of Garner Pass

[peter vacco]

"I bet those views were indeed fabulous, but I don't think I would have traded the more intense experience of topping the pass with the rougher weather."

whoo Ya !

[Andy Stow]

That looks intense. Awesome.

[Stephen Parks]

I looked at the Beaufort scale for estimating wind speed. It lists "gale" force winds (39-46mph) with the description "Progress on foot is seriously impeded." It doesn't have a category for "get down or get blown over".

One of the guys in that first video did get knocked down by the wind. He looked like a turtle on its back trying to get up. Both my friend and I thought we got pictures of it, but it seems that acutally neither of us did.

Both my friend and I did get blown over once each, but in different locations in the park. Those were actually from lesser winds that just caught us by surprise.

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