Chilean Adventure (short version) August/September 2007

Not much time...

August 28:

Leaving Ottawa at 8pm...3 hour wait in Toronto before the direct flight to Santiago at 11:55pm. Bought the new Skiing mag.

August 29:

Arrived in Santiago at 10:30am. Demonstration next to the Hostal turned ugly and Police started cracking down (and heads) South American style using tear gas and water canons.

August 30:

Used the bus transportation from Santiago. Road is probably the craziest I've ever seen, Did a big tour of Valle Nevado. This place definitely reminds me to France. Spring has definitely started in this part of South America.

August 31:

Same bus different area. El Colorado & La Parva. Hard frozen conditions in morning. Meet up some fellow Ottawans partners who landed in Santiago that morning late in the afternoon for the trip. We squeezed in the car rental and toward the South.

September 1:

Arrived in Termas de Chillan in the afternoon...started skiing at 2:30pm. We were all blown away by this place, a hidden gem. Visited the Snow Pub that night..

September 2:

Lifts started closing everywhere, only the bottom was open. 2 of us didn't ski, one was pissed off having only skied 2 runs. Wind clossures everywhere. At least we poached the Hot Springs.

Over one foot of snow is forecast for tomorrow...odds are very bad for opening lifts. Not even sure for Tuesday...winds are suppose to be like today. We supposed to be in Portillo on Wednesday where it hasen't snow in many days with no snow in the forecast.

More later...

edit: only the bottom was open (not closed)

So I guess you have not yet made the two runs I asked you to do for me Have fun!

September 3:

Wind closure again. Rain in Las Trancas 7 km away from the ski area. Forecast was for 33cm on top.

September 4:

OH YEAH!!!! So good that we decided to ski here tomorrow regardless of our paid ticket in Portillo. Sleeping in Portillo tomorrow night.

So I guess you have not yet made the two runs I asked you to do for me Have fun!

You're welcome Luc...je pense que tu aurais trippé aujourd'hui. $$$$$

Last edited by Patrick on Tue Sep 18, 2007 1:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

September 5: (ski hard, party harder)

Instead of skiing in Portillo (already booked and paid ticket), we decided to stay in Termas. The rustic double accessed fresh tracks on every run. After the skiing day we drove the 8 hour to get to Portillo. Arrived past midnight just in time for the party

September 6-7-8:

Portillo in full Spring mode. Warm days (10c) and no fresh snow in the last 3 weeks. Fun nonetheless. Nightlife is crazy and start way too late. I'm too old for this.

September 9:

Ski Arpa day, catskiing tomorrow. Last skiing day of this trip.

Waiting for a report.

Waiting for a report.

I'll give the short format first.

I unfortunately have a busy month ahead of me.

September 8 (evening):

Definitely no easy way to get from Portillo to Los Andes. Had to beg someone for a ride down.

September 9:

Ski Arpa. Crazy dirt road. A quick summary of the snow conditions and skiing from SUCKS to AMAZING. However I didn't regret my day. If I woould have stayed in Portillo I might have hike all the way to the top of Super C with my fellow Ottawans.

September 10:

Followed Tony & company on his tour through Val Paraiso. Beautiful place, would have like to spend more time. Watch you belongings walking the popular places in Santiago. Witness to pickpockets in action.

September 11:

Santiago: 34th anniversary of the "coup d'état" by Pinochet. Demonstrations near the Moneda (Presidential Palace where Salvador Allende died). Riot and mounted police, armored vehicules versus demonstrators. I got a good look, but made sure be far enough the get away if it turned bad. Also saw other sights in Central Santiago.

September 12:

Took the Metro outside Central Santiago (trains and stations design look very much like Montreal's system). Later that afternoon I left to the airport. Meet waiting for my flight Johnny and his wife from Bozeman (Johnny skied Arpa with us). There was also Micha from TO that I talked to in Portillo.

DAMN there wasn't any Golpe at the airport.

September 13:

Arrived this morning, wasted time going through emails, posts, letters and now I don't have enough time for a nap...I need to pick up my daughters from school and go to their swim lessons.

September 14:

Tomorrow the whole family will be heading for the Laurentians instead of work and school. Family related and unfun.

Waiting for a report.

Working on it.

Hoping I can start posting the long version of my Chilean adventure one or a few days at a time starting next week. (Trying to trackdown some pics).

Attachments

Andy skiing September powder (Brendan's pic)

n872640363_1184187_5046.jpg (38.37 KiB) Viewed 8964 times

Waiting for a report.

Working on it.

Hoping I can start posting the long version of my Chilean adventure one or a few days at a time starting next week. (Trying to trackdown some pics).

That looks like a good start.