Torres Del Paine Blizzard Kills Tourists, Closes Circuit

Published on Nov 19, 2025, 12:00 pm CST

7 min read

Key points

Five foreign hikers died in a November 17, 2025, blizzard on Torres del Paine's O Circuit and four companions were rescued alive
Chile's forestry agency CONAF has closed the high Macizo Paine circuit while leaving the W Circuit and Base Torres day hike open under tighter controls
Search and recovery operations are complicated by whiteout conditions, strong winds over 120 miles per hour, and difficult overland access near Los Perros camp and John Garner Pass
Independent long distance treks on the O Circuit should be postponed while guided W and Base Torres itineraries operate only with strict weather monitoring
Chile remains under a Level Two U.S. State Department advisory for crime and civil unrest, so the new storm related risks add to existing caution for Patagonia trips

Impact

O Circuit Plans: Postpone O Circuit bookings in the near term and confirm new dates only after CONAF and your operator formally reopen the Macizo Paine route.
Guided Trek Choices: Shift to guided W Circuit or Base Torres day hikes that comply with park rules, and verify that guides carry winter grade gear and have contingency days built in.
Itinerary Flexibility: Leave extra buffer days between Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas, and Torres del Paine so any bus or shuttle disruption does not cascade into missed flights.
Insurance Review: Confirm that your travel insurance covers trekking in remote areas, weather related evacuations, and trip interruption caused by national park closures.
On Trip Monitoring: If you are already in Patagonia, monitor CONAF bulletins, local operator updates, and U.S. Embassy or consular messages each day for route and weather changes.

Trekkers planning the full O Circuit in Chile's Torres del Paine National Park now face an active casualty event and a significant route closure after a late spring blizzard with winds over 120 miles per hour killed five foreign tourists and injured others on November 17, 2025. The storm trapped a group of nine hikers near the remote Los Perros camp and John Garner Pass, a section reachable only after a four to five hour trek from the nearest road, and forced Chilean police, army units, park rangers, and mountain rescue volunteers into a risky overland operation when helicopters could not safely fly.

Authorities have now confirmed the deaths of two Mexican nationals, two German nationals, and one British national, and say four companions were located alive and brought to safety. In response, the National Forestry Corporation, CONAF, has closed the high mountain Macizo Paine circuit that forms the back half of the O route, while keeping the shorter W Circuit and the Base Torres day hike technically open under tighter controls and active weather monitoring.

Torres Del Paine Closures After Deadly Blizzard

CONAF's Magallanes office reports that conditions along the Macizo Paine section remain extreme, with strong winds, heavy snow, and subzero temperatures that complicate both rescue work and body recovery. Officials say the decision to close the mountain circuit followed a coordinated emergency meeting and is intended to keep additional hikers from entering the same exposed sector while teams finish search, recovery, and damage assessment.

The Macizo Paine closure effectively shuts the full O Circuit loop that circles the Paine massif and links remote camps such as Dickson, Los Perros, and Paso. Earlier communications from park concessionaire Las Torres Patagonia focused on closing the Dickson to Paso segment to facilitate search and evacuation work, but CONAF's latest bulletin now treats the entire high mountain circuit as off limits until weather and operational conditions improve.

For now, the popular W Circuit and the Base Torres day hike remain open, but under conditions that are very different from a normal late November trekking season. Local authorities and operators are requiring licensed guides, carefully chosen weather windows, and stricter control of access points, especially for any itinerary that approaches exposed passes or glacier viewpoints.

Latest Developments

Syndicated Reuters reporting, backed by Chilean officials, indicates that the group of nine hikers became disoriented near the Los Perros camp area during the November 17 storm, where wind gusts above 193 kilometers per hour, about 120 miles per hour, created whiteout conditions and made navigation and sheltering extremely difficult. The same reports confirm that the five fatalities were all foreign nationals and that four survivors were eventually reached by ground teams after an extended overland push.

CONAF notes that approximately two dozen personnel, including specialized police units, army staff, mountain rescue volunteers, and park rangers, have been deployed for search and recovery operations. With helicopters grounded during the worst of the storm and the O Circuit's backside reachable only on foot, authorities caution that recovering bodies and inspecting trail infrastructure may take several days of work.

Regional officials are also coordinating with diplomatic representatives from Mexico, Germany, and the United Kingdom to manage repatriation of the victims once conditions allow removal from the high circuit. That diplomatic process should not affect normal border crossings for other visitors, but itadds another layer of official activity to an already busy emergency response in the Magallanes region.

At the national level, Chile remains under a Level Two U.S. State Department travel advisory, which calls for increased caution due to crime and periodic civil unrest rather than park specific risks. The new storm related danger in a heavily visited national park does not change that country level rating by itself, but it does mean that trekkers need to factor safety, weather volatility, and emergency response constraints into Patagonia plans in a way that goes beyond routine high wind warnings.

Analysis

For long distance trekkers, the most immediate impact is straightforward, the O Circuit is off the table until CONAF and local operators clearly reopen the Macizo Paine segment. Travel planners who were counting on an eight to ten day loop should now either pivot to a guided W Circuit itinerary, shift focus to other parts of Patagonia, or postpone the trip to a later window when weather patterns stabilize and route status is unambiguous.

Even for those only interested in the W Circuit or a Base Torres day hike, this storm is a reminder that Patagonia's shoulder season can behave more like full winter, especially along the high passes that define the O route. Operators that continue to run shorter treks are likely to enforce stricter gear checks, limit departures to small windows of stable weather, and insist on flexible itineraries that can absorb an extra day or two if high winds close specific sections or bus schedules shift.

Background. Torres del Paine's O Circuit is a roughly 76 mile, 123 kilometer, loop that combines the famous W trek on the park's front side with a more remote northern arc that crosses John Garner Pass above Grey Glacier, with typical itineraries taking six to eleven days and requiring reservations at designated camps or refugios. The route is known for rapid weather shifts, sustained strong winds, and long distances between evacuation points, which is precisely why local authorities already require guides in winter and often close the backside in the coldest months.

The November 17 storm highlights how those winter style risks can extend into late spring, particularly when wind speeds reach hurricane equivalent levels and heavy snow loads narrow exposed trails and obscure landmarks. Even highly experienced hikers can quickly lose their margin for error when visibility collapses, windchill plunges, and rescue teams are forced to travel on foot rather than by air.

From a logistics standpoint, U.S. travelers who built tight connections between flights into Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales and park entry now face the greatest disruption. If buses, park shuttles, or ferry services adjust their schedules around recovery work, travelers on fixed itineraries may find themselves choosing between eating change fees to protect safety or pushing ahead into conditions that local authorities are actively trying to control. In this environment, a conservative approach that keeps at least one buffer day on each side of a trek, and that allows for a switch to lower risk activities, is prudent rather than overcautious.

Finally, this event reinforces the importance of reading park and operator communications in detail, instead of relying on generic blogs or older trek descriptions that assume normal conditions. CONAF bulletins, Las Torres Patagonia updates, and your guiding company's emails will now be the most accurate sources for what is actually open, what gear is mandatory, and how contingency plans work if the park extends closures or issues further weather alerts.

Final thoughts

The Torres del Paine blizzard has shifted the park from a classic high wind trekking destination into an active risk environment, at least for the coming days and possibly longer along the O Circuit. Until search and recovery work is complete, and CONAF explicitly lifts the Macizo Paine closure, travelers should treat the Torres del Paine blizzard as a hard stop on full circuit plans and lean into guided, lower risk options with generous buffers and clear evacuation strategies.