Ski Chile 2015

[KansasBoarder]

Hola! Morning from Bariloche, Argentina. Bit of a lull between the storms right now, so time to reach out and find friends for the next leg of the adventure. Looking to partner up for some tours - things are pretty limiting solo as one would expect. I'm going to loop back into Chile in the next few to see friends for the Dieciocho. Then, time to shred. Might be back in the high Andes, or doing the volcano thing. Let me know if you would be open to a gringo splitboarder. High quality pictures of yourself guaranteed.

[Casey E]

We just got back from 3 weeks in Chile. It was an awesome mountain and ocean adventure. Casey E. provided incredibly useful information and steered us in the right directions. We rented a car and went where the conditions were best. El Arpa and Portillo up north, 3 Vallees in Central and Volcanoes further south. When the weather turned warm we hit the amazing coast for kitesurfing. Awesome country and great people.

THAT´S why I started this thread! Thanks bigpowbs!

[Casey E]

Less then 3 weeks till I land in Chile! starting off by heading down to Temco and Pucon area to meet a friend of a friend living down there and ski a few days then heading up to Santiago to grab a rental car and begin our journey. Plans are all up in the air at the moment but looking at road tripping to Patagonia now skiing as much as we can on the way! Anyways, any maggots have some good landscape shots from the last few weeks? thinking any shots of El plomo and other central andes zones, shots around Antucco( sierra velluda) really any current backcountry condition pictures showing coverage. Thanks!!
Scoped a few lines on the carretera austral that have nice hiking trails to beat the forest and nice couloirs that seem to hold snow until feb so hopefully still skiable in oct! Plans are rather condition and time dependent but after our first mission we have roughly from the 11th of Oct and have to be back in Santiago on the 9th. Casey where will you be on these dates? would be sweet to ski together a day or buy you a few beers! Cheers to all looks like its been a riot down there can't wait to experience the beauty! Thanks again!

Lseed, aren't you sitting pretty! You can keep up to date on remote mountain conditions, more or less, using the Chilean Volcano Monitoring Service , here for Volcan San Jose in the Cajón del Maipo: http://www.sernageomin.cl/camaras/Sa...ja/sanjose.jpg

Planchon, Antuco, Callaqui etc can also be viewed, if they are online, which is not often. Also several volcanoes further south are monitored as well.

We should definitely hook up. Don´t understand your dates, but my calendar looks something like this:

Now to 19 Sept - La Parva
20 to 24 Sept - "free", sort of, around Santiago.
25/26 of Sept - 60th birthday celebration (don´t let that scare you off), and first grandson´s baptism.
27 of Sept - Full super moon full lunar eclipse campfire and ski on Cerro El Franciscano in La Parva (3,600m).
29 Sept to ? - Villarrica area with my wife, where I will be coordinating work on my humble piece of land, and hopefully, touring the Araucania.

[LSeed]

Dates are Land in Santiago Oct 4th Leave Santiago November 9th. Will be in the Lake Region for a few days right after landing but getting shown around by a friend of a friend. Then we check out the Maipo area for a bit starting October 11th-whenever we decide to move south then hopefully more lake volcanoes, then have a few sweet lines scoped on torres del paine and in the El chalten area as well as potentially some goodies on the Carretera Austral if we decide to go that route or potentially just detour onto it. So, maybe meet up sometime mid Oct somewhere.

[LSeed]

Also, just heard about that earthquake, sounds from the news nobody hurt/not to much damage? hope this is true.

[P.A.B.C.]

Who felt the earthquake? My building shook nonstop for a long time, and aftershocks keep it going. Any thoughts on aftershocks and skiing for the next few days?

[Casey E]

Who felt the earthquake? My building shook nonstop for a long time, and aftershocks keep it going. Any thoughts on aftershocks and skiing for the next few days?

8.4 richter and 2 minutes, near Illapel, about 250km north of Stgo. Multiple significant aftershocks, but the worst should be over now. Panam highway blocked at 150km north. Tsunami alert for entire Chilean coast, probably worth getting up/away if you are on the coast. 2 dead so far, not much real physical damage as yet. Shook like hell in LP, Margaritas absorbed the shock.

Aside from some inconvenience in transport and elec north of Stgo, this should not not affect the general public in Stgo or points south. There may be some rockfall on roads, Not to worry, this happens every few years in Chile, albeit more frequently in recent years.

[Casey E]

60 replicas, up to 7.9, helped to stir the waters:




Seems the tsanami damage is greatest in the 4th region, 400 km north of Santiago. 8 reported dead, including heart attacks.

[P.A.B.C.]

Anyways, any maggots have some good landscape shots from the last few weeks? thinking any shots of El plomo and other central andes zones, shots around Antucco( sierra velluda) really any current backcountry condition pictures showing coverage. Thanks!

Here is a shot from Sunday in an unexplored zone down the road from Portillo. I plan to write up a trip report soon.

[Casey E]

Lucky me skied 6 of the last 7 days in La Parva, and almost got shut down by the wind several times, but the snow quality kept us going.

Friday 11 broke clear and cold, with 25 cm of wind-and-ice-fog-mutated pow, which made for an epic day.





Where huckers huck:


Hoar frost on the Fabres rocks:


My son Nico and I ripped powder until we physically couldn't anymore.




What´s wrong with this picture?

That must be Wrong Turn Rolando stuck up in the rocks there.

This was followed by 2 days of paradiso bluebird groomers supremo, with the usual suspects animando la fiesta:







This dude started skiing in Farellones in 1939!



Then from Monday on we got stuck with a clump of clouds hovering over the central Andes, with wind gusts up to 80km and snow devils roughing up the powder. Tough times for chairlift rides, making for good times for poma rides, as the on piste snow continued to be wunderbar, mainly on recently groomed southern exposures.

Wednesday it almost snowed but ended up just blowing and a few flakes fell:



Thursday was clear until 2pm, then fogged up.

Through it all the racers took over the best pistes, running all the variants from slalom to downhill.


On the positive side, the temperature hovered just above zero most of the time, preserving the snow quality. Good off piste is once again limited to certain wind buffs on southern exposures.

This crummy weather will not dampen spirits for the 18 celebrations. Anyone in La Parva tomorrow can drop in for some good spirits in the afternoon. PM me for directions.

Viva Chile!

[LSeed]

What´s wrong with this picture?

That must be Wrong Turn Rolando stuck up in the rocks there.

Wheres Jerry? hahaha epic!

[KansasBoarder]

What´s wrong with this picture?

That must be Wrong Turn Rolando stuck up in the rocks there.

Wheres Jerry? hahaha epic!

Classic. Sometimes Jerry's get gnarly!



CaseyE, thanks for putting this thread together. Helps keep people connected and moving on their adventures. More than likely, I'm going to begin my slow journey back to the north as the weather moves in this week. If I make it near Santiago by the 27th, I would dig joining in on the full-moon party. It's up on the backside of Cerro La Parva, yeah? Well, enjoy your Dieciocho Hangover! Maybe see you soon in the mountains.

[Casey E]

Classic. Sometimes Jerry's get gnarly!




CaseyE, thanks for putting this thread together. Helps keep people connected and moving on their adventures. More than likely, I'm going to begin my slow journey back to the north as the weather moves in this week. If I make it near Santiago by the 27th, I would dig joining in on the full-moon party. It's up on the backside of Cerro La Parva, yeah? Well, enjoy your Dieciocho Hangover! Maybe see you soon in the mountains.

You are welcome to join us the 27th, closing day for LP, weather permitting. Have to decide to try to ski down with the red eclipsed moon or with more light, but the luminosity will be 30% greater than the lowest annual luminosity, as the moon will be at its closest point of the year. So far we are at least 5 lunaticos. Keep in touch.

[Casey E]

More on the earthquake. There have been 300 aftershocks, including 15 above 6.0, but most have not been perceived in Santiago. 13 dead, hundreds of homes seriously damaged, coastal infrastructure trashed in particular Tongoy, Coquimbo, and La Serena. Tsunami hit up to 500m inland. This map shows those replicas above 4, stars are above 5.










The road ruta 5 opened on the 17th, my son went to La Serena and is fine.

[Thesystemsplit]

It's amazing this hasn't made the main stream news more.


Burn n Turn

[Casey E]

It's amazing this hasn't made the main stream news more.


Burn n Turn

Donations to help the victims can be made to http://www.desafiolevantemoschile.cl...ar/con-dinero/, via different options including paypa. This is a private, reputable organization that has worked wonders in previous disasters in Chile.

Thanks in advance!

[Casey E]

The video from Sept 11:

https://youtu.be/fMbfzfoa6u8

[LSeed]

A bit more stoke for the backcountry boys, volcano webcam from Planchon near San Fernando:

Hey Casey, Which aspect of Planchon is this that I am looking at?

[Casey E]

Hey Casey, Which aspect of Planchon is this that I am looking at?

Great question. The Vn Planchon Peteroa webcam has disappeared from the Sernageomin website, and I was never sure which aspect it was, as this is a large 3 volcano chain with the active part being the flat part in the middle ("Peteroa") flanked by Planchon to the north and Azufre to the south. Here is my photo of the western aspect of the chain from the panam highway:



I think the active bit is just to the left of the Azufre peak in the middle (I have seen it smoke before). From the east looking at the east face, the webcam would have to be up high near the border with Argentina, and there are two lakes near the base of El Planchon. I couldn't find this view on google earth, so for now, this is a mystery......

Google earth shows this looking from the northeast, with Planchon in the middle and Azufre to the left. The international dirt road goes up the valley in the foreground.



The route up Planchon is here:
http://www.andeshandbook.org/montani...o/182/Planchon

It starts near the Termas de San Pedro, which I scouted out on google earth for some touring and moderate runs in the opposite direction, up the Rio de las Zorras towards Argentina and Cerro Santa Elena:



This is 34km in a straight line west of Las Leñas, so the Las Leñas website will give you a good idea of the snowpack in the area.

[Casey E]

For the next full moon, which starts Sept 27, there will be a total eclipse:

Global Type: Total Lunar Eclipse

Santiago: Total Lunar Eclipse

Begins: Sun, 27 Sep 2015, 21:11
Maximum: Sun, 27 Sep 2015, 23:47
Ends: Mon, 28 Sep 2015, 02:22

Duration: 5 hours, 11 minutes

The moon will rise before sunset, and anywhere with a clear view east will get front seat row for the show. Weather permitting, we will be in La Parva.

[LSeed]

^^ yea sweet, i was going off of that approach on andes handbook and then looking at all the different aspects of the peak and just couldn't figure where the webcam shot was from haha. super cool looking peak though might have to go make some wiggles down her! 13 days to go and its still snowing down there!!!

[Casey E]

If it is of interest to anyone beyond LSeed, this is the prediction for precipitation by the Chilean Meteorological Service for the spring (SON):



Pretty much above normal rainfall predicted everywhere, but note rainfall is sparse this time of year in the central zone. The temperatures will be above normal in general, except for the central zone, where there has been little rainfall since August but as the temperatures have been low for the past 2 weeks, and will continue so this week, the snow is holding up for now.

There will be lots of snow on the volcanoes this spring!

At the other extreme, with the unusual rains in the desert Atacama region, the parched lands have burst into flower. A friends shot from this week:

[stalefish3169]

Here is a handful of pics from my trip at the beginning of this month.



Portillo. Skiing down to the little peninsula on the opposite side of the lake was amazing.



More Portillo. This is basically the view from the hot tubs.



Scenic La Parva. Thanks again Casey! PM me if you want the rest of my photos.



Bluebird La Parva pow morning with very few people on the hill!



Torres del Paine!



Sunny for about 45 minutes in Patagonia!

[Z]

Is anyone able to book tickets on sky airlines website? Looking to get from Santiago to Coyhaique/Balmaceda, and can't seem to book on their site? Need to be in Chile to book? Anyone have any insight?

[Casey E]

Is anyone able to book tickets on sky airlines website? Looking to get from Santiago to Coyhaique/Balmaceda, and can't seem to book on their site? Need to be in Chile to book? Anyone have any insight?

Not sure why this is. Here in Chile, I don´t get to "choose my country", and when booking, get (they mix English and Spanish, cheapest fare):

SUMMARY OF YOUR PURCHASE
Santiago de Chile (SCL) Balmaceda (BBA)
Tuesday 29 de Septiembre - 10:30
Balmaceda (BBA) Santiago de Chile (SCL) Monday 12 de Octubre- 14:25
1 Adult
SUBTOTAL:
USD 268,00
ALL AIRPORT TAXES:
USD 16,00
TOTAL:
USD 284,00

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