Ski Chile 2018

[Casey E]

Nuking in LP now, with wind...


Some 20-30 cm accumulated, -5C

[gnarbro365]

Woke up to light winds and 20cm in Portillo.

Around 7:30 the winds picked up and are now blowing harder than I’ve seen all season, which is really saying something! Hopefully all of the snow doesn’t blow to Los Andes...


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[Casey E]

Yup, as forsworn







3,000m of untracked by 10:30am. Say no more.

[Casey E]

30-40cm when it stopped. Some more pics

A provoked sluff on the the fast route to Mconkeys and La Chiminea.



Sweet spot





All of a sudden almost anything could be skied.

[skiandgolfnut]

Looks incredible! Good for you!

Seems like Portillo got less than that but hopefully got some more after Gnarbros post early this AM.

Hopefully this was just the refresh needed for next week to be enjoyable even with a warm up coming. Just in the nick of time!

[2FUNKY]

Wow. I like this thread.

[idahospud]

Damn, I left too soon! Just got back to VT and I'm telling myself that sitting here drinking a delicious American beer watching fog roll over the hills is totally better than still being in Chile skiing fresh snow.

If I say it enough times, maybe I'll believe it?

[gnarbro365]

Hard to say what we ended up with, because of the insane winds, but I’d say a total of around 24cm is a safe bet.

Big winds out of the south(ish) gave way to clear skies and strong winds out of the north(ish).

I didn’t see it for myself, but people said the base of Juncalillo looks much better! That’s where we needed snow the most. We’ll see how long it lasts with the forecast.


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[skiandgolfnut]

Hard to say what we ended up with, because of the insane winds, but I’d say a total of around 24cm is a safe bet.

Big winds out of the south(ish) gave way to clear skies and strong winds out of the north(ish).

I didn’t see it for myself, but people said the base of Juncalillo looks much better! That’s where we needed snow the most. We’ll see how long it lasts with the forecast.


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awesome! How was the skiing today?? Bluebird powder must have been pretty awesome!

[gnarbro365]

awesome! How was the skiing today?? Bluebird powder must have been pretty awesome!

The skiing was great! None of the upper lifts (condor, vizcacha, Roca Jack, carcara) opened, so today should provide a second round of good skiing...especially off traversia.

Portillo is such an interesting place. August is FULL of gringos. Mostly Americans, but some Canadians too. The resort has a totally different vibe. Also, with a couple pros/their camps here, the level of skiing and lines being hit is definitely amped up a bit.

[gnarbro365]

Heli terrain did not see as much wind affect, at least in the southern zone Portillo flies to. 50+cm of blower.

Reports of whoompfing from other parties has everybody’s attention. Our quick obs pit and CT pointed us to fairly conservative terrain. Did see some small slab avalanches from the air.

The bigger concern ended up being the temperature. 9 degrees (CELSIUS!) around 2pm at 10k ft. Anything even partially facing N was heavy around noon and the ridges and cornices were shedding roller balls. Some small avalanche activity shut some of the upper lifts down early in the resort. Is spring really here? Say it ain’t so!!!

[Casey E]

The winds that hit Portillo tues morning struck the 3V tues night, ripping the snow off some ridge lines and filling in the days tracks.





La Muela and friends



Most anything has been skied now. Note the tracks up and down Cerro L Parrva -


The heat rose astonishingly during the day, my terrace thermometer at 5:30 pm



We cooled down with some Maldito Antojo ginger poleo mint pisco sour



Highly recommend....

[Casey E]

https://www.facebook.com/andinismo.c...6832169088449/



Chillan burped something fierce yesterday, 1,500m of dirty ash.

[skiandgolfnut]

Two days to go...48 again today?

Everything going to melt by then?

As long as everything stays open I'll ski in soup I dont care!

[JustARandomSnowboarder]

Hi,

I'm heading to South America in one week, for about 7-10 days of snowboarding (intermediate level). Trying to decide between Bariloche (Cerro Catedral) and the 3 Valleys near Santiago. Any idea what's the snow like in Bariloche? Should I favor one over the other? It also seems Bariloche has a better ratio of chairlift/platters - I tend to embarrass myself quite badly when going up a t-bar, so should this be a factor as well, or do the 3 Valleys have enough skiable area using just the chairlifts? Would appreciate any advice.

[gnarbro365]

Two days to go...48 again today?

Everything going to melt by then?

As long as everything stays open I'll ski in soup I dont care!

Oh, we’ll be open!

If you want some karma bring a shovel and a plastic bag and pick up a few rocks on your way down the groomers.

[Casey E]

Hi,

I'm heading to South America in one week, for about 7-10 days of snowboarding (intermediate level). Trying to decide between Bariloche (Cerro Catedral) and the 3 Valleys near Santiago. Any idea what's the snow like in Bariloche? Should I favor one over the other? It also seems Bariloche has a better ratio of chairlift/platters - I tend to embarrass myself quite badly when going up a t-bar, so should this be a factor as well, or do the 3 Valleys have enough skiable area using just the chairlifts? Would appreciate any advice.

Not sure about the snow/lifts currently in Bariloche, but the 3 Valleys have 8 chairs you will actually ski (the rest are wimpy), and many platters and t-bars. Of the 8, 4 are in La Parva, 2 in VN, and 2 in EC. EC’s upper mountain is ALL t-bars (5). VN has 3 platters and 1 t-bar on it’s upper mountain, aside from the Andes Express, Chile’s only high speed quad. La Parva has the best lifts in my opinion, with 5 good platters (fun going up and down), and the 4 chairs which each serve different terrain.

[m-ruta]

Looks like I'm headed south for September with a buddy. Flying in and out of Santiago and driving an unsettlingly cheap camper van around wherever we feel like going (or wherever it feels like going, I suspect). No real intrest in paying for lift tickets if we don't have to and hoping to get lots of earned turns in.

We figure we've got a decent itinerary hammered out but would most definitely appriciate any must hit zones, resort uphilling beta (as it seems a lot of classics are partially lift access), van living/dirtbag info, etc that the southern maggots can provide.

[Casey E]

A quick look at southern ski area webcams -

Corralco



Chillan



And an area I don´t mention much, that is small but fun and has good access to the Volcan Llaima, "Las Araucarias", from their facebook page:





They did a nice drone video (on a good day) https://web.facebook.com/AraucariasL...840443828/?t=0

Pretty thin on the lower mountain, but the upper mountain should have a good base.

[Casey E]

Looks like I'm headed south for September with a buddy. Flying in and out of Santiago and driving an unsettlingly cheap camper van around wherever we feel like going (or wherever it feels like going, I suspect). No real intrest in paying for lift tickets if we don't have to and hoping to get lots of earned turns in.

We figure we've got a decent itinerary hammered out but would most definitely appriciate any must hit zones, resort uphilling beta (as it seems a lot of classics are partially lift access), van living/dirtbag info, etc that the southern maggots can provide.

What is your itinerary?

[mtndave]

Not sure about the snow/lifts currently in Bariloche, but the 3 Valleys have 8 chairs you will actually ski (the rest are wimpy), and many platters and t-bars. Of the 8, 4 are in La Parva, 2 in VN, and 2 in EC. EC’s upper mountain is ALL t-bars (5). VN has 3 platters and 1 t-bar on it’s upper mountain, aside from the Andes Express, Chile’s only high speed quad. La Parva has the best lifts in my opinion, with 5 good platters (fun going up and down), and the 4 chairs which each serve different terrain.

Thank you for your detailed lift information, I will definitely try La Parva. Any recommendations on transfers to LP (prefer early as possible) and ski rentals (rocker skis) while staying in the Las Condes area?

[m-ruta]

What is your itinerary?

The thought is to hang around Santiago for the first bit so we can get our shit together near a major centre and the van rental agency. Portillo, Valle Nevado and the Cajon del Maipo areas are on the hit list for that bit of the trip. From there, a general southward trajectory. Chillan - Antuco - Pucon, Las Araucarias, Corralco area, then down to Bariloche. Total trip length is 5 weeks (fly out Oct 8).

If we've got tons of time we'd both love to go further south and we do have friends spending the month in El Chalten, but we expect we'll get sucked in further north and be lucky to get as far as Bariloche.

We're not married to the idea of visiting any particular spot and the idea is to be super flexible. Depending on time we may either loop back and revisit a spot or two or just rally north for the airport.

Edit: I should also add that we do have the option to drop the van in Puerto Montt and fly back to Santiago, but we're not sure if that's really worth it as it would cost us a one way fee, plus flights and whatever ski bggage hassle is to be expected on a Chilean regional airline.

[Casey E]

The thought is to hang around Santiago for the first bit so we can get our shit together near a major centre and the van rental agency. Portillo, Valle Nevado and the Cajon del Maipo areas are on the hit list for that bit of the trip. From there, a general southward trajectory. Chillan - Antuco - Pucon, Las Araucarias, Corralco area, then down to Bariloche. Total trip length is 5 weeks (fly out Oct 8).

If we've got tons of time we'd both love to go further south and we do have friends spending the month in El Chalten, but we expect we'll get sucked in further north and be lucky to get as far as Bariloche.

We're not married to the idea of visiting any particular spot and the idea is to be super flexible. Depending on time we may either loop back and revisit a spot or two or just rally north for the airport.

Edit: I should also add that we do have the option to drop the van in Puerto Montt and fly back to Santiago, but we're not sure if that's really worth it as it would cost us a one way fee, plus flights and whatever ski bggage hassle is to be expected on a Chilean regional airline.

That sounds wise, keep your options open. I would think about going south hitting the different watersheds along the way to Chillan: Cachapoal; Tinguiririca, Teno, and Maule mainly, depending on the base and the weather outlook.

Rio Maule has a paved road to the Argentine border, it is actually open, and you can also go by the Parque GUAIQUIVILO lodge mentioned earlier in this thread.

The area around Malalcahuello (Lonquimay) also has lots of BC options. You can camp at the Suizandina lodge, where Sergio will give you tips. Leave the volcanos to the end of the trip, as they will hold snow well into October, just a question of how far you have to go to the snowline.

Driving Pto Montt to Santiago is a one day deal (11 hours), on a smooth 4 lane highway. Probably better than the hassles and cost of a flight and car drop.

[Casey E]

Wish I had better news to spice up this thread, but it appears as though we won't be getting another good winter storm. Not that this precludes more snowfall, it is just that at mid-August with nothing on the horizon we can only expect some more minor precipitation events. True south faces may still hold powder, but more exposed areas will be everything from freeze/thaw to crud to good windpack.

Recent photos from Tucker on facebook show that there is a reasonable base up high in the Cajon del Maipo, and the La Parva bowl.







So delay your angst until you actually get out on the mountain. I understand the groomers are still doing fine, with the usual flat spots melting fast.

The forecast as it stands, with Puma Lodge now added to fill in the space between the 3V and Alto del Padre -

[m-ruta]

That sounds wise, keep your options open. I would think about going south hitting the different watersheds along the way to Chillan: Cachapoal; Tinguiririca, Teno, and Maule mainly, depending on the base and the weather outlook.

Rio Maule has a paved road to the Argentine border, it is actually open, and you can also go by the Parque GUAIQUIVILO lodge mentioned earlier in this thread.

The area around Malalcahuello (Lonquimay) also has lots of BC options. You can camp at the Suizandina lodge, where Sergio will give you tips. Leave the volcanos to the end of the trip, as they will hold snow well into October, just a question of how far you have to go to the snowline.

Driving Pto Montt to Santiago is a one day deal (11 hours), on a smooth 4 lane highway. Probably better than the hassles and cost of a flight and car drop.

Thanks for this Casey, much appriciated! The detailed beta in this thread is incredibly helpful. Really looking forward to getting some turns in. Low tide or not, it's going to a lot better than september novelty skiing in BC!