Shredding in the Andes

caseyengstrom

New member
Hi,
I'm headed down south this coming summer, and was looking for a little information about resorts down under, specifically in Argentina and Chile. I'm trying to bum it for a season somewhere with good backcountry riding, but am a little weirded out by all that I've read about Las Lenas... not that the terrain dosen't sound sick, but I'm trying to improve my spanish, and from what I've heard about Las Lenas its pretty much a gringo-ville.... Any information on other south american resorts would be greatly appreciated. Whats the difference between the northern resorts and the southern (patagonia) resorts?
thanks
 
Several discussions on this board:
First this one before I had been to South America: http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=1098
My week at Las Lenas in Sept. 2005: http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=1164
Las Lenas 2006 with reference to a TGR thread of people who were there:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=2157
Planning for 2007 Chile trips:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=3011
4-page discussion of South America options:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=3248
Plus several TR's self-explanatory by title.

I will again repeat my warning about the strong La Nina which currently shows no sign of letting up. La Nina is bad news for the low latitude areas of Portillo/Valle Nevado and Las Lenas. I recommend not advance booking for these areas in 2008 until adequate snow is on the ground. Chillan and points south in Chile MAY have better odds. I say MAY because I have no data to back up that conjecture. I do have the data from Portillo and Las Lenas (Valle Nevado is between them) and it's not pretty.
 
Thanks Tony,
yeah, it seems the La Nina doesn't swing too well with the southern hemisphere, the record years at Las Lenas have all occurred during El nino.

I'm curious, does anyone have information about Termas de Chillan and points south?

thanks.
 
caseyengstrom":3w40g2lg said:
I'm curious, does anyone have information about Termas de Chillan and points south?
Before Tony bugs me about my belated trip report from Chile, I'll say "yes".

Termas would fit into what you're looking for (backcountry and more off-the-beaten path). To Tony disbelief, I will post that TR once the skiing dies down here. :wink:

I heard some good things about Bariloche. Pucon is another place, but the hill is small but has possible backcountry. I haven't been to these places personally.
 
I've been to bariloche in the summer (december). The town is great. It looks like a german hamlet. In the winter there may be more foriegners, but even so you should be able to get your spanish work in. The town, however, is not ski in ski out, you must drive to the resort. It is unique in that from the town you can see a desert, a rain forest, and a huge lake. From what I could see it looked like the resort had nice terrain. A large chunk of the mountain is below the tree line with cut out trails, which can be nice in white-out conditions. However, the reason there are trees at all is because the elevation is pretty low. I was told they get rain events in the middle of the winter, and they don't get a gigantic amount of snow, so snow quality might be an issue. Again, this is based on talking to people in the town, and summer observation, so my report is more conjecture than fact.
 
In one of the other threads there was a reference to a local website stating that the bottom third of Catedral (Bariloche ski area) is often not covered, so skiing is above that with downloading at the end of the day. http://southamericaski.com/view.asp?p=142 .

That said, Bariloche had an outstanding season last year. But I would still advise waiting into June to see how the season starts, then booking for the August/early September period most people recommend once you know who has decent snow.

Chillan and other areas farther south in Chile are the safest bet if you have no flexibility to put this off to another season or wait through June to commit to this one. The usual problem with waiting is dealing with the airlines. But winter is off-season for flights to Santiago and Buenos Aires. I think it was well into July before Patrick booked anything last year.
 
Tony Crocker":3d0e1232 said:
I think it was well into July before Patrick booked anything last year.
I can't comment on booking from the US, but I booked on July 23rd for a late August departure from CDN.

I will again repeat my warning about the strong La Nina which currently shows no sign of letting up. La Nina is bad news for the low latitude areas of Portillo/Valle Nevado and Las Lenas. I recommend not advance booking for these areas in 2008 until adequate snow is on the ground. Chillan and points south in Chile MAY have better odds. I say MAY because I have no data to back up that conjecture. I do have the data from Portillo and Las Lenas (Valle Nevado is between them) and it's not pretty.

MAY is a very good warning. From my understanding I got in Termas, coverage and snowfall was better (how much?) than usual for season (snowfall) and early September (coverage).

We know of the warning about snow in the South America, any thoughts about NZland in 08? :shock:
 
I recommend flying into santiago instead of buenos aires. It is a shorter flight (12 hours from miami) due to its more westerly location. It is also a shorter flight to bariloche, or just a drive to some of the chilean resorts. However, as a city itself, buenos aires is more charming... but that has nothing to do with skiing.
 
I've analyzed NZ many times. Average snowfall no more than 200 for South Island lift service. So stick to August/early September. And it still may not be that great skiing if you hit a low year. But there are lots of things to do in NZ when the skiing is mediocre, or shut down by weather.

I did get some NZ data on the 2006 trip. No particular impact either way from El Nino/La Nina. Australia is helped out some by La Nina, but the overall quality of skiing there does not justify a trip from the Northern Hemisphere.

Patrick, I think this might be a good year for the Euro family trip and a few days of glacier skiing. :lol: With the good eastern season, Tucks in July looks like a safer bet than last year.
 
Thanks for the input. I'm just looking at my options, a bit like posting the list of all areas to see my options for next weekend on that Eastern Closing Day thread. Not that I'm considering skiing in New Brunswick or Newfoundland.

Tony Crocker":2elgd52b said:
but the overall quality of skiing there does not justify a trip from the Northern Hemisphere.

It's more about the experience. I can just hear Tony says, "there he goes on that experience thing again...that experience thing brought him to Colorado in October skiing wrod when the trip would have made better sense in the Winter months." :wink:

Kiwiland has been on my to-do list since I've been 18. Many friends have done it, except the first to think about it, ME!!! :roll:

Tony Crocker":2elgd52b said:
Patrick, I think this might be a good year for the Euro family trip and a few days of glacier skiing. :lol: With the good eastern season, Tucks in July looks like a safer bet than last year.

Not sure what the wife wants to do? I agree about that July comment, seems safer than last year at this moment.
 
From an "experience" point of view, Bariloche might be the best resort in south america. It has one of the nicest towns I've ever been to in a "alpine" setting. I use the quotes because the town itself is on the border of three distinct climates. It has a distinct european feel to it. Of course, the resorts near mendoza (Las Lenas), will be right next to some of the best wine country in all of south america.
 
The "overall quality of skiing there does not justify a trip" comment referred to Australia, not New Zealand. After all, remember that I've had 3 NZ trips, all during ski season

There are many interesting things to do in both countries besides ski. In NZ I'd recommend spending at least 2 weeks, probably skiing about half the time. On a similar trip to Oz, a day or two skiing max, and even that only if you're going to Canberra anyway. From Sydney it's an L.A.-to-Mammoth drive for Mountain High quality skiing. Marginally closer from Melbourne.
 
the resorts near mendoza (Las Lenas), will be right next to some of the best wine country in all of south america
Las Lenas is very remote, 240 miles from Mendoza, probably 2 hours from the closest wineries. Also, logistics of Las Lenas usually involve flying in on the Saturday-to-Saturday charter and being in the resort the whole week without a car. I do know that Extremely Canadian has occasionally taken its customers on wine tours on days when the lifts have been shut down. If I were doing the one-month grand tour of South America skiing, I'm sure I'd visit Mendoza wineries driving between Las Lenas and Portillo.

There's much more variety (more wineries, a full scope of grapes grown with the mirror image of California microclimates) in wine touring in Chile. There are worthwhile one-day stops between Santiago and any of the resorts. Aconcagua Valley is down the hill from Portillo. Colchagua is halfway from Santiago to Chillan. Maipo and several others are just outside Santiago. And skiing Chile using a rental car from Santiago is a more popular option.
 
Table below is sum of 6 months MEI table values, year, and Portillo snowfall for the 7 strongest La Nina years since 1970.
-8.99 1975 109.45
-8.32 1971 284.65
-6.66 1973 87.80
-5.95 1988 106.30
-5.26 1970 204.72
-4.77 1974 248.03
-4.10 1999 264.96

The current La Nina is increasing in intensity. The FEB/MAR value of -1.546 most recently published last Friday is stronger than any month from 1998-2000. Since the 6-month MEI total for the upcoming season is very likely to be in the range of those top 4 seasons in the list above, you can see why I would be very skeptical of committing advance $ to South America skiing this year. Las Lenas did not exist in the 1970's, but had 163 inches snow in 1988.
 
rfarren":2d59d33e said:
I recommend flying into santiago instead of buenos aires. It is a shorter flight (12 hours from miami) due to its more westerly location. It is also a shorter flight to bariloche, or just a drive to some of the chilean resorts. However, as a city itself, buenos aires is more charming... but that has nothing to do with skiing.

Santiago is 8 hours from Miami, not 12. Same time zone as Miami when North America is on daylight savings. Beware that prime ski season is also Miami's hurricane season. I've had to divert to Dallas twice on my way home.

Termas de Chillan is somewhat painful access compared to Valle Nevado/La Parva/el Colorado or Portillo. You take a train from downtown Santiago to Chillan (5-ish hours) and you're still 90 minutes from the resort. You blow a travel day getting there. The in bounds terrain is nothing special. The off piste beyond the Don Otto double can be great and there are some spots with pretty good pitch.
 
Geoff":ts7f9na3 said:
Santiago is 8 hours from Miami, not 12. Same time zone as Miami when North America is on daylight savings. Beware that prime ski season is also Miami's hurricane season. I've had to divert to Dallas twice on my way home.

Got to love that direct Toronto-Santiago flight.

Geoff":ts7f9na3 said:
Termas de Chillan is somewhat painful access compared to Valle Nevado/La Parva/el Colorado or Portillo. You take a train from downtown Santiago to Chillan (5-ish hours) and you're still 90 minutes from the resort.

There is also direct bus service from Santiago to Termas.

Geoff":ts7f9na3 said:
You blow a travel day getting there.

But it isn't that bad if you fly overnight. Last Summer my compatriots arrived in mid-morning in Santiago, skied later than afternoon at El Colorado then we headed down to Termas to ski the next day.

Geoff":ts7f9na3 said:
The in bounds terrain is nothing special. The off piste beyond the Don Otto double can be great and there are some spots with pretty good pitch.

There are only 20something trails over a huge area. There is also some fun stuff between these trails, however the terrain beyond the area is... :-# =P~ :-$
 
Ok... 8 hours from miami. My flight to santiago is around 11 hours. Flying back from bariloche was the worst 24 hours of my life.

2 hours from bariloche to santiago... 5 hour layover...
8 hour flight from santiago to miami... 3 hour layover...
1.5 hour to atlanta... 2 hour layover
2 hour to nyc...

Its funny... when you spend that much time on a plane, you start hoping for turbulence, or anything to spice up the flight.
 
rfarren":3c1uuf8q said:
Ok... 8 hours from miami. My flight to santiago is around 11 hours. Flying back from bariloche was the worst 24 hours of my life.

2 hours from bariloche to santiago... 5 hour layover...
8 hour flight from santiago to miami... 3 hour layover...
1.5 hour to atlanta... 2 hour layover
2 hour to nyc...

Its funny... when you spend that much time on a plane, you start hoping for turbulence, or anything to spice up the flight.

Oh Man...I REALLY do love my Ottawa-Toronto-Santiago flight compare to that.

Left Ottawa at around 8:30pm and arrived the next morning in Santiago at 10ish in the morning. 11 hour overnight flight don't suck like flying to Europe where you have to deal with time differences and a very very short night sleep.
 
Patrick":wnmfjtip said:
Geoff":wnmfjtip said:
Santiago is 8 hours from Miami, not 12. Same time zone as Miami when North America is on daylight savings. Beware that prime ski season is also Miami's hurricane season. I've had to divert to Dallas twice on my way home.

Got to love that direct Toronto-Santiago flight.

I've looked at taking that. I have a jillion United miles and it's not a very long flight from Boston to Toronto

Geoff":wnmfjtip said:
Termas de Chillan is somewhat painful access compared to Valle Nevado/La Parva/el Colorado or Portillo. You take a train from downtown Santiago to Chillan (5-ish hours) and you're still 90 minutes from the resort.

There is also direct bus service from Santiago to Termas.

Huh. I didn't know that. Useful information. The resort puts people on the train and then shuttles them from Chillan to Termas. Do you have a link to the bus details?

Geoff":wnmfjtip said:
You blow a travel day getting there.

But it isn't that bad if you fly overnight. Last Summer my compatriots arrived in mid-morning in Santiago, skied later than afternoon at El Colorado then we headed down to Termas to ski the next day.

What I meant is that if you get off your plane in the early morning, clear passport control, and get your gear off the conveyor belt, you still have to travel all day to get to Termas de Chillan. If you ski Valle Nevado/La Parva/el Colorado, you can be on the slopes by 11:00. No matter how you do it, it's a haul from Santiago to Termas de Chillan.

Geoff":wnmfjtip said:
The in bounds terrain is nothing special. The off piste beyond the Don Otto double can be great and there are some spots with pretty good pitch.

There are only 20something trails over a huge area. There is also some fun stuff between these trails, however the terrain beyond the area is... :-# =P~ :-$

The in-bounds stuff is pleasant enough but there's nothing particularly challenging. I rarely skied anything groomed because there were always racers on it. If you duck under the rope at the top of the Don Otto and walk up that little hill, you hit superb skiing. You'd better be avalanche-aware. That first cornice slid a few times when I was there. The stuff baking in the sun on the traverse to where the steam is always coming out also slides.
 
Geoff":r9uvh67q said:
I've looked at taking that. I have a jillion United miles and it's not a very long flight from Boston to Toronto.

If I remember correctly, the flight leave Toronto at 11:55pm and arrives the next morning in Santiago at 10:35am. I paid $850 CDN ($1017 CDN with taxes).

Geoff":r9uvh67q said:
Patrick":r9uvh67q said:
There is also direct bus service from Santiago to Termas.

Huh. I didn't know that. Useful information. The resort puts people on the train and then shuttles them from Chillan to Termas. Do you have a link to the bus details?

I found out last year when I was researching my trip. I found a Santiago-las Trancas bus, I presume that one might continue to Termas 7km further. Unfortunately, I found last year that there is very little information online for most bus companies.

Info from the Chil'In Hosteria website in Las Trancas.

http://www.chil-in.com/eng/venir/venir.htm

Santiago - Las Trancas : Bus NILAHUE
(6 h for travell, 2 bus every day (06 h 50, 14 h 45), Tel : 027785222
Terminal Alameda, metro universidad de Santiago

Geoff":r9uvh67q said:
If you ski Valle Nevado/La Parva/el Colorado, you can be on the slopes by 11:00. No matter how you do it, it's a haul from Santiago to Termas de Chillan.

Not if you take that the Air Canada flight. Andy & Brendan got at El Colorado after getting lost at 2ish in the afternoon. That was my plan initially, land and take the train to Termas. Andy convinced me to wait for them before heading south to Termas.

Geoff":r9uvh67q said:
The in-bounds stuff is ...and the ....
:-$ :wink:

I should really finish my TR from last year. :roll:

Last year's Chile discussion where I was looking for info(LINK)
 
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