Wilderness Medicine Podcast · Wilderness Medical Society

#41: Lessons from the Field and the Literature

·1 hr 23 min·5 clips

A November 17, 2025 blizzard hit Torres del Paine with winds over 190 kilometers per hour.

March 2026 brings a wide-ranging wilderness medicine roundup. The show opens with an avalanche paper and a straightforward look at what has been happening with avalanches lately. It then turns to CME, with Fred leading a segment on environmental exposures and risks during pregnancy. The episode does not stay in one place for long. It heads south to Chile for Marcelo Noria's account of rescue efforts in Torres del Paine National Park after last November's mass-casualty wilderness disaster. The setting matters. Marcelo explains why the W Trek and O Circuit can look harmless in photos but turn into serious problems when Patagonia's weather shifts quickly. The conversation treats the park as beautiful and unforgiving at the same time. It also points out how the landscape near Antarctica can move through four seasons in a single day. The show then widens the lens. Darryl brings on Dr. Aaron Brillhart for an update on Mount Aconcagua and the issues climbers have faced there over the past few years. That section is less about scenery than about consequence. The discussion takes recent deaths seriously while connecting them to fatigue and the realities of high-altitude travel. A final thread ties the South American segments together. The episode keeps returning to how rescue, weather, terrain, and decision-making collide far from the trailhead. It also reflects the show's habit of moving from literature to lived experience without losing the medical thread. Even with the quick topic changes, the through-line stays clear. This is about what wilderness medicine looks like when the paper meets the mountain. It leaves you with a better sense of how quickly a famous hike or climb can turn into an emergency.

As heard by us

A brisk mountain-medicine issue that turns current literature and rescue experience into practical judgment.

The March 2026 Wilderness Medicine Podcast moves from avalanche science to pregnancy-related environmental risk, then on to Chilean Patagonia rescue work and a later Mount Aconcagua update.

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Why you'd press play

For the avalanche-minded listener who wants a pregnancy CME segment and South American rescue plus climbing updates.

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