Bluebird with a Side of Freshies

Powder days are every skier's unicorn, metaphorically speaking. Powder days come and go, usually when the skier has some unavoidable compromise or is somehow physically unable to get to the mountain, i.e. broken legs, decapitation, wrecked car, or natural disaster. Seeing that I missed an incredible snowy Vermont season last winter due to extreme distance so the powder itch was still in full force.

When we arrived in the small town of Farrellones to cloudy skies and very little snow on the ground. We stayed at La Cornisa, a small family run hotel with about 10 rooms, a nice fireplace, and delicious meals. The owners told us that it had not snowed in quite a while and that the slopes were pretty skied off; they were not too happy with the season so far. As we sat by the fire after dinner enjoying a delicious whiskey ( I hadn't seen Jameson in months) we joked about how awesome it would be to have fresh snow, as we do every night before skiing.

The next morning I woke up to perfect bluebird skies and 23 centimeters of fresh. The chances of travelling half-way around the world and getting a powder day are approximately 10239:1, but we lucked out.

Faceshots and virgin slopes where on the days menu and we skied until we couldn't walk anymore. Valle Nevado's impressive wide open geography made finding untracked powder too easy and I can easily say that I didn't ski a groomed trail all day. Luckily for me, about 75% of the people skiing Valle Nevado are Brazilians who have never seen snow before so the idea of skiing steep powder is extremely foreign to them.

My father and I shredding the gnar

The next day at Valle Nevado the snow had gotten a bit heavier due to the previous sunny day but there was still powder to be had, although the skies had gone back to the overcast that has defined this Chilean winter.



The third day my father and I tried El Colorado and I was surprised by the completely different feel of the mountain. El Colorado and La Parva have a local vibe to them while Valle Nevado is the international destination with the luxury hotels and getaway packages. Given this, 95% of the skiers were Chilean and the majority were beginners.



A word to the wise. Skiing Chile is an incredible experience, however, BRING YOUR OWN GEAR! I told my family to bring there gear and they did not listen. I would say that the gear to rent in Santiago is from the 70's and 80's while the gear at Valle Nevado is from the 90's. If you are a serious skier and you travel half-way across the world to ski, even for a few days, do not expect to have the same choices of gear as you would find at other worldclass ski destinations like Aspen and Whistler. This is Chile afterall and like the hairstyles, the gear is straight out of the 80's.