Ski Chile 2018

[FlimFlam]

Just got back from Portillo and that place is awesome!
GB nice meeting you!
My only regret from the trip was not making it 2 or 3 weeks longer and exploring more of Chile and the Andes.
Next time for sure...I can’t wait!

[Alvaro]

Went to the "portezuelo ibañez" in aysen this month, it has a ton of cool terrain if someone is thinking about going that far south

[BeardedClam]

Heading towards Antillanca y environs on saturday, slowly moving north over 3 weeks. One gringo and a puerto varas loc, any words of advice, sounds like we've got friends in most snow towns, planning on dieciocho en fallerones

[Alvaro]

if you are staying until wednesday in antillanca and your friend surfs, you could go score heavily this wave in that zone that only works on massive swells like the one that is coming

[Beder]

Snowing in Las Lenas now. Just in the nick of time too. Great skiing via the snowcat on backside earlier this week but it was getting desperately boney up front


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[Casey E]

Here is a different view of the weather for the Region Metropolitana, that gives an idea of the extent into the Andes across several watersheds that feed the Rio Maipo. The main snow/ice masses visible are, N-S: Juncal; Tupungato: and Marmolejo-San Jose.



Will this fizzle like today’s forecast?
San Jose de Maipo, aptly named, is the capital of the Comuna de SJ Maipo, which takes in much of the mountainous part of the region. It is on its way to being a “geosite”, as explained in this video here:
https://www.facebook.com/geomaipo/vi...8579413068350/

The disheartening view from Alpha chair south towards the Cerro San Ramon.



I guess the message is go high, and go south.

[gnarbro365]

Snowing in Portillo, but not enough to make a difference. Spring is definitely in the air.

It’s been super warm here recently, so I took advantage. Slightly NSFW/NSFL....









Yes, it was cold.

[Casey E]

Snowing in Portillo, but not enough to make a difference. Spring is definitely in the air.

It’s been super warm here recently, so I took advantage. Slightly NSFW/NSFL....

Yes, it was cold.

Spring is sprung and the moon is riz. I wonders where the birdies is? Ask a Chilean what a birdie means in the context of your risqué photo... get some local culture. Solo un gringo haría eso...

Did you meet these gals there?

[Casey E]

And fizzle it did. Clouds above and clouds below, yet nary a flake to be seen.



La Parvas lower runs are frazzled, but the upper ones are surviving. It will be the first of the areas to close, while Colorado and VN may survive to the holidays (Sept 15-19).

[gnarbro365]

Unfortunately I did not see those young ladies.

Picked up around 2-4cm total in Portillo. No official word on a closing date, but we live and die by the week-long reservations and the forecast looks VERY warm. I’ll update if I hear an official closing date.

In other news, I fly out the 20th of September from Santiago. If we happen to close early, I’ll be looking to ski some corn, maybe hit some hot springs, and see some more of Chile...anybody around?!


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[skivan]

Spring is sprung and the moon is riz. I wonders where the birdies is? Ask a Chilean what a birdie means in the context of your risqué photo... get some local culture. Solo un gringo haría eso...

Did you meet these gals there?

I liked this picture better

[Casey E]

Cold and clear today, with barely a skiff of fresh above 3,200m. The runs are hard and pebbly, but still packed powder above 3,000m. Off piste is marginal and highly variable. Las Vegas closed.

The view from Las Tórtolas north and east, with l->r: Falso LP, Ancla t-bar (VN), Cerro LP, El Pintor, El Plomo, Bismarck, and Tres Puntas poma (VN).



Looking SW from Águilas chair to where the Danes were running a downhill.



And a telltale sign on Piuquenes, no kids under 7, the poma could lift ‘em off the ground....

[gnarbro365]

Portillo seems all set to close on the 9th. Another season they don’t make it to the 18th...the new norm?

I’ve had such a rad time here, and made the best out of the dumps we had. I can’t imagine this place with 500+cm!

I’ll be spending this last week trying not to get hurt and saving my North American winter season. After we leave Portillo in the 11th...who knows!


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[33ºSouth]

First time posting here. I'm living in Santiago and have some free days with the Chilean Independence day holidays coming up from Sat. 9/15 thru 9/19. Potentially looking to head a bit south and do some touring where there's still decent snow coverage.

If anyone's interested, hit me up.

[Casey E]

The season is now winding down in the central zone, with closing dates not yet officially announced but would probably be something like this:

Portillo Sept 9
La Parva Sept 9
El Colorado open just weekends after Sept 9
Valle Nevado ? (full of Brazilians for the 18th)

29°C in Santiago yesterday, and 33°C forecast for today. Global warming?

The precipitation deficits to date are
Santiago -60%
Curico -48% (half way to Chillan)
Chillan -48%
Temuco -12%
Osorno +1% (near Antillanca)

The forecast is flatlined for snow in the Central Zone, and redlined for temps. But the volcanoes in the south should be in good shape, with the snowline around 1,500m in the northern parts and 1,350m further south. My sources say Corralco has been very good lately. Some snow is forecast from Chillan south in the next 9 days.



I hope to go south on the 11th of Sept, not sure where we will be skiing yet, but will probably spend the holidays (Sept 15-19) in Villarrica, away from the crowds.

[Casey E]

Slava provided this photo from Chillan yesterday



And described the conditions as “really hard refrozen snow here even at 12:30-13:00”. Good for his races. The volcano is “tranqui”, just vapor.

I have opted to head to Antillanca for a few days next week, maybe do V Casablanca, then maybe go to V Osorno, and finally Villarrica and environs for the 18th. No snow on the horizon, so it had better at least unfreeze a bit!

[Casey E]

Ah, the vagaries of air pressure....

Nothing much sparkling up the horizon?



Release some pressure, and voila!



Now, there is an old adage from the 3V, "something always falls for the 18th". Perhaps something will go right this September...

[Casey E]

But until the flakes fly, maybe, we will be in this lovely, "The Shining"-type hotel, a venerable classic of southern Chile.





That is the Termas Puyehue Wellness & SPA Resort, formerly the Gran Hotel Puyehue, born in 1907. Back then, guests arrived by steam boat across the Lago Puyehue. Seems the place went right from the hands of the Huilliches people to the germans, first the Hubachs, and now the Scheiss. It is at the entrance to the Parque Nacional Puyehue, established in 1941, and the lovely Antillanca ski area, 18 km away.

A rather exceptional day near Antillanca in Oct 2011



On the way to the Volcan Casablanca



Doubt I will be that lucky this time around, but I take what I can get, and the hiking, kayaking, biking, hot springing and general carousing won't be too shabby...

[BeardedClam]

The puihua has come to antillanca and the corn is not looking like it will be here soon. V osorno might be good this week if it dies and the temperatures rise. Hopefully it is good for you there. The base area had snow for the day of the storm and day after, now not so much

[Casey E]

We leave Puyehue tomorrow and here is a teaser

First day cool blue bird then clouds just as it softened up:. Here looking north to some local backcountry and distant V Puyehue, from the top of Don Pedro t-bar.



No snow at the base of Antillanca, but plenty at the top.

Yesterday bluebird all day and I skimmed to the top of V Casablanca (2,000m), here on the left



Not sure of the resolution here, but left to right were Casablanca, Tronador, Yate; Puntiagudo, Calbuco and Osorno volcanoes.. Lanin and Mocho/Choshuenco were also visible to the north:

More to come...

[m-ruta]

Had some amazing skiing these past 2 weeks near Portillo, in Maipo and Maule. I think 9 of out 11 skiing days have contained some kind of preserved or fresh pow, so very stoked! Some proper rugged approaches but we don't mind.

Now trying to figure out what to do with this storm that's currently filling the forecast. Currently sitting a little north of Chillan and waffling. Where would those in the know go with a van to sleep in and near unilimited flexibility?

[Casey E]

Had some amazing skiing these past 2 weeks near Portillo, in Maipo and Maule. I think 9 of out 11 skiing days have contained some kind of preserved or fresh pow, so very stoked! Some proper rugged approaches but we don't mind.

Now trying to figure out what to do with this storm that's currently filling the forecast. Currently sitting a little north of Chillan and waffling. Where would those in the know go with a van to sleep in and near unilimited flexibility?

I would say stay where you are or further north, as it looks like 6 days of mostly wet snow or rain showers in the southern mountains. Further north you will at least get drier conditions with better visibility. It is currently rainy and windy in Puerto Varas with no end in sight. If you haven't done the Teno or Tinguiririca valleys you could give them a try. The forecast -

[Casey E]

Our trip to Puerto Varas was an exceptionally beautiful drive. Here are some of the volcanoes we could see from the highway or nearby:

V. Callaqui from Los Angeles


Tolhuaca and Lonquimay


Llaima


Puntiagudo and Lago Rupanco


Osorno


Where there are volcanoes, there are hot springs, like Termas de Puyehue source

[Casey E]

Volcan Casablanca was a blast. Gorgeous drive in, easy skin up, creamy soft snow going down, and just a bit of walking on the way out. 10 volcanoes could be seen at the top, from Lanin in the north to Yate in the south.

Laguna Toro and the temperate rain forest


Some of the terrain north of the volcano, with V. Puyehue across the valley.



The crater and Tronador to the south.



The next two climbers. a french couple



The hoot down





Into the Raihuen crater


Our tracks

[gnarbro365]

Had the pleasure of spending a few days further south with some friends.

First morning we set out for Sierra Nevada. The route started out mellow with a few kilometers of road walking and great views of Lonquimay...


Then we hit that dreaded zone between consistent snow and dense forest. It was slow going and ate up lots of time. Bienvenido a Chile!



I’ll say that even though we used it all season at Portillo, I’ve never hated coligüe more. But the trees were a trip!


After gaining the ridge we found consistent snow and had an easier time. Looking at the summit over a loooong corniced ridge...


Looking back at Lonquimay...


Pretty straight forward after that with epic views of the surrounding volcanos from the summit!



The ski down was super fun.

The slog out, more like type 2 fun. In total, it took us 12 hours. With lower snow levels I imagine we could have shaved off quite a few hours.

A little beat down, we decided for a little mellower option the next day...Lonquimay.


We decided not to use the lifts of Corralco and just skin the whole thing.
About three and a half hours later we were on top...



The skiing was fantastic and we lapped the super long Cumbre t-bar for a while before heading all the way down.

We decided we deserved some relaxation and headed for some hot springs in Rio Blanco Canyon. Perfect.


We had plans to try one more volcano, but the weather turned and with no end in sight we booked it back north. I’ll be in Santiago until the 20th!