Human Fireball in the Mountains of Patagonia

Real Survival Stories

NOISER

Documentary, History, Society & Culture, Wilderness, Sports

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 18 December 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A young New Zealander joins an intrepid crew carving mountain bike trails through the mountains and valleys of Patagonia, Chile. But with just a month left to go on the job before he returns home, a freak accident threatens Jamie Nicoll’s hopes of ever seeing his loved ones again. While drilling into a wall of rock using a jackhammer, a sudden malfunction in the machine results in a violent eruption of flames. Jamie will find himself directly in the line of fire… A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. Written by Joe Viner | 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: Cody Reynolds-Shaw. 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 support@noiser.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	One fat white for Bethan?
0:02.0	Here!
0:03.0	And an oak party for David?
0:05.0	Running a business in Cardiff,
0:07.0	you must register for VAT if your taxable turnover reaches £90,000.
0:12.0	To avoid any penalties, check HMRC's guidance today.
0:17.0	Just search register for VAT on Gov. UK.
0:21.7	VAT, it's part of business.
0:26.8	Have a mint VAT for Reese.
0:32.6	It is October the 8th, 2010.
0:36.2	A crisp spring morning beams down over Lago La Paloma, a lake in Patagonia, Chile.
0:44.8	In its mirrored surface, the surrounding peaks are as clear as photographs.
0:49.6	There's snow-capped reflections, almost as vivid as the real thing.
0:55.0	Overhead a condor circles, riding the air currents.
1:00.0	At the far end of the lake, beyond a stretch of evergreen forest, the valley climbs upwards
1:07.0	through a series of slopes and ledges, becoming narrower until it's a tall ravine with
1:13.6	steep rocky mountain walls on either side.
1:16.6	Up here, the serenity is shattered by the din of heavy machinery.
1:23.6	Members of a work crew suspended in harnesses are drilling into the walls of the ravine,
1:30.3	their power tools gouging out splinters of dark granite.
1:35.3	Jamie Nicol can feel the reverberations deep in his bones.
1:40.3	The 31-year-old New Zealander is using a petrol-powered rock breaker to carve a path into the side of the mountain.
	...

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