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.

South American Gaper Gap

Finally the cold and miserable weather has paid off.

Last weekend I went to Santiago and on Sunday Sergio and I climbed the unbelievable road to the Cordillera and into the Andes. Although the mountains are lacking in fresh snow I was astounded by the shear size of the ski resort. We skied at Valle Nevado, the most modern and largest ski resort in South America. Given the fact that the mountain is higher up and mostly west facing, the conditions are better than the other two mountains, La Parva and El Colorado. The higher altitude gave us colder weather and the fact that it is west facing hides it from the incredible strong South American sun. Even with the clouds and minimal sun screen that a cute liftie gave us my lips are still burning from the killer UV's reflecting off the snow.

I rented some gear down in Santiago and my fears (maybe delights) of South American rentals came true. At first the guy tried to rent me 150cm skis, which I haven't put on my feet since I was about 8 years old. I just told him to give me the biggest skis they had, which happened to be 170cm Saloman Scramblers...so dirty. Finally the boots scared the crap out of me: Rear entry, red Solomans circa 1979. If my toenail doesn't fall off in the next few days I will be pleased. The gear, complete with my beautiful green windpants and broken sunglasses, made me the sickest looking gaper on the mountain.

Given that the base of the mountain is at 2880 meters or 9449 feet and the peak at 3669 meters or 12037 feet there is not a tree in sight, only even bigger snow capped peaks of the Andes and huge rock cliffs that would surely make Shane McConkey a very happy boy.

Sergio and I stopped on the way back down from the mountains so he could try to sell some used snowboard boots at a roadside stand. As I stepped out of the pickup truck my eyes lit up in wonder. It seems that every amazing one-piece ski suit from 1970-1990, that Haik Kavookjian has been looking for on eBay, has ended up in the Southern Cone. The rows of dayglo colors were unbelievable and I was so tempted to make a few purchases. However, having to travel halfway across the world with one of those suits in my bag ultimately dissuaded me and I left the suits for some happy Chilean.

The thoughts of this place on a powder day is a fantasy that I can only hope will come true in my final few weeks in Chile. I will most definately be returning to the mountains in late July with my family and hopefully I can get a few more days in.