Nando Parrado keynote speaker

In 1972, he and his teammates were traveling to Chile to participate in an international rugby exhibition. Their flight never arrived at its destination; it tragically crashed at 18,000 feet in the Cordillera de los Andes.

In the two-and-a-half months that followed, Nando’s life was changed completely. His mother and younger sister, Susana, were killed in the accident. Nando made a superhuman effort, survived for 72 days, and found his way out of the Andes, after an 10-day snowy trek through the mountains with his friend Roberto Canessa.

Soon after the rescue of the survivors because of the epic passage of Nando and Roberto, the survivors worked with Piers Paul Read to write the bestseller, Alive. Twenty years later, he served as the technical advisor in the production of the film, Alive, where he was played by Ethan Hawke.

Today, he is a renowned speaker and also a successful businessman, sportsman and television producer. He is married to Veronique, and has two daughters, Veronica and Cecilia and his legacy of three grandchildren: Alexia, Máximo and Thor.