El Arpa Snowcat, Chile, Sept. 8-9, 2007

Tony Crocker

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El Arpa snowcat skiing is located NE of Los Andes on a separate (and considerably more rustic (unpaved last 12 KM) road than the one to Portillo. Elevation range is 8,600 - 11,600, slightly higher than Portillo, but as it's not at the crest of the Andes El Arpa gets somewhat less snow.

The drainages used by Arpa face south, which would be desirable for preserving powder. Much of this snow was dry chalk, though only some of it was smooth. Powder is more likely to be degraded by wind than by sun or skier traffic. The 2,000 plus foot fall lines are much longer than those at Portillo and would be impressive indeed in fresh powder.

After the 3 dry weeks I did not expect any powder, but I was hoping for smooth corn as at Mt. Bailey in April 2000. Due to prior wind effect the surfaces were variable, and you had to plan your turns and stay on top of your skis.

There were 4 long runs, totalling 9,500 vertical. The 3rd run was the best, with smooth windbuff in upper elevation chutes and soft but fairly consistent snow lower down. The first 2 runs had a higher proportion of harder snow and the last had some fairly wet snow at lower elevation.

Patrick is supposed to join us tonight and for another day of cat skiing tomorrow. But he missed dinner 2 1/2 hours ago and has not contacted Casa St. Regis where we are staying. As there is no public transportation between Portillo and Los Andes, he may have problems getting here.
 
On Sept. 9 Patrick and another skier Kevin (recent Duke graduate grew up in Colorado, is teaching English in Santiago now) joined Adam, Richard, Johnny from Bozeman and me for snowcat skiing.

It was a bit cooler and quality of skiing slightly improved from Sept. 8. First and 3rd runs linked some chalky upper bowls and the second 2 bowls linked by a ski width choke point we sidestepped. Kevin lost an edge there and slid the lower bowl. For the final run we had a 15 minute hike to reach a new drainage. Johnny and Kevin hiked it faster and skied a quick corn lap, then caught up with Patrick and me. Adam took a pass on the hike as his Peru illness was lingering and flared up with the shorter hike from Laguna del Inca at Portillo Sept. 7.

From the hike we skied a narrow chute that was a sustained 40 degrees for at least 500 vertical. This called for conservatism with variable snow and occasional small rocks to avoid. This was definitely the most challenging terrain I have skied in 27 days of snowcat skiing.

So Arpa does deliver in terms of terrain, and the sustained fall lines and mostly south exposure would be excellent for powder. The caveat is snow conditions, as it gets less snow than Portillo and the wind can mess up the powder. There is not much sunny exposure up high for corn, and lower down the sunny exposures were too thin or burned off.

My friend Richard had little experience in variable snow, so owner Toni Sponars (73 year old Austrian, spends our winters as a private instuctor in Aspen) skied with him full time both days. Meanwhile guide Rob showed the rest of us some of the more technical skiable lines.
 
Sounds like almost a must-do if you are skiing Chile

Curious to see how it all compares.

But it looks good.

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Pics from Arpa below.

The cat road had no snow below Quebrada Baja in ChrisC's map, so we took a pickup truck up to that point to start. For the last run you could ski Exhibition to 8,600 ft. and then walk 5 minutes across some scree (watch out for the thorny scrub brush and leave your gloves on!) to the base/parking area.

La Vega linked wide open upper intermediate chalky slopes. The upper bowls and short constricted chutes in the pictures are in the Las Monjas area. Most of our runs funneled into Ratonera. The last run the second day we climbed Alto del Arpa and skied a couloir through the diagonal rocks into the bottom of El Cirque.

Richard unloading snowcat. We are exactly half the elevation of Aconcagua in the background.
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Ratonera:
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Not sure of location, maybe La Cocina?
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Travesia Caballeros:
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Avalanchas:
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Exhibition:
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Second day, Plateau Alta, Las Monjas:
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Regrouping above Ratonera:
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More Arpa pics; thanks again to ChrisC for posting the map, so I can describe where the pictures are.

Above and below Las Monjas cliff band:
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Not sure of location, still high up in chalky snow:
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The hike up to Alto del Arpa:
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Couloir skiing:
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View back up from El Cirque:
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Good corn on Exhibition:
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