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Thread: Ski Chile 2018
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09-17-2018, 07:22 AM #251
Haven’t been to Chile since 2005. Shocking to even write that. Time flies and these TRs are a) awesome and b) helping me reminisce
Keep the stoke coming. Much appreciated.Uno mas
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09-17-2018, 07:57 AM #252
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09-17-2018, 09:37 AM #253Registered User
- Join Date
- Jun 2011
- Location
- Golden
- Posts
- 184
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09-19-2018, 07:30 AM #254
For anyone stuck in Santiago, a parting shot at Valle Nevado
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09-19-2018, 08:12 AM #255
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09-20-2018, 04:16 PM #256
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09-22-2018, 11:02 AM #257
I’m heading down to Chile for about 10 days on Tuesday. Solo, looking to do some (lots of) ski touring. I’ll have touring gear including sharps and probably overnight gear. Never been, I and am pretty much winging in on a last minute decision. If anyone will be around and wants to get out, please shoot me a PM.
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09-22-2018, 09:04 PM #258
Going to Corralco tomorrow, and hope to ski powder Monday. Been all wind and rain for the better part of the past 6 days in Villarrica, no glimpsing the volcano. Extremely soggy now, and the dirt roads are all holes. Seems the wind shut down Corralco the last couple days. Going to be lots of snow above 1,600m in the Araucanía for this spring.
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09-23-2018, 08:30 AM #259
here's a few short edits from 3 weeks around
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bno2EHcl...n-by=ctarilton
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnqR1mCA...n-by=ctarilton
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnuRcAwF...n-by=ctarilton
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn4VoUwg...n-by=ctarilton
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn811Vag...n-by=ctarilton
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn_fxvpg...n-by=ctarilton
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoAeNkPg...n-by=ctarilton
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09-23-2018, 08:15 PM #260
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09-24-2018, 08:59 PM #261
Ski Chile 2018
So after being shut down for 4 days from wind snow and rain, it finally dumped low and relatively calm yesterday. Today was mostly clear with some wind and cold. What fell ended up fusing to a solid smooth spongy frozen base, as a 2-5cm layer of dry yet moist whipped creamy stuff, with minor drifts, wind pack and icy patches where exposed by the wind. To boot, it was all metamorphosing during the day. Fun way to end our trip south.
Classic shot of Corralcos core.
Cumbre t-bar took until 3pm to get dug out, but was worth the wait, and the day rounded out at the hot springs.
Cumbre del Cumbre
More photos soon.Last edited by Casey E; 09-25-2018 at 05:35 AM.
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09-25-2018, 07:16 AM #262
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09-25-2018, 05:01 PM #263
Optimism has taken VN, now assuming the coming snowfall pans out.
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09-25-2018, 05:20 PM #264
Tucker C posted some good recent pics from El Cajon
https://www.facebook.com/202698/post...4140561837683/
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09-26-2018, 06:28 AM #265
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09-27-2018, 09:21 PM #266
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09-28-2018, 07:31 AM #267
^^^^nice!
really enjoyed following this thread all summer. hope you get some more worthy days.27° 18°
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09-28-2018, 06:03 PM #268
Just had to share this shot, from a glass-half-full guy getting the goods in a dire year for snow, today I guess. Cerro Arenas. Link below
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater
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09-29-2018, 11:04 AM #269
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nKAtsPiSxuhqdsWR7
Found some good chalky snow yesterday touring out of Valle Nevado. Probably heading south from Santiago to ski Corralco and nearby area M-W this week.
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10-01-2018, 11:14 AM #270
Can someone provide me with a bit of insight into the Puerto Varas region and Volcan Osorno?
It's still a ways off, but it looks like I'll be heading to Puerto Varas next August on a work trip and I'm just wondering how easy it is to access Volcan Osorno from the city, as I wouldn't mind getting in a day or two of skiing between meetings. Not a lot of information on the internet, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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10-01-2018, 12:05 PM #271
Puerto Varas is a rising tourist town on Llanquihue Lake within about an hour of the ski area base on V Osorno, via a beautiful paved road. There is also transport available. http://www.volcanosorno.com The ski area there is very basic, and has a problem with keeping the snow at the 1,230m base, but 300m higher up there is lots of snow. Right now (Oct 1), it looks like this:
Estación Base 1260 MSNM 40 cm
Estación Primavera 1425 MSNM 100 cm
Estación Glaciar 1670 MSNM 260 cm
The have one chairlift you will actually ski, accessed from a smaller one. Accessing the summit can be complicated by weather and ice. Antillanca ski area is further north, and about as reliable for snow. Both are worth a visit for the scenery in itself.
Within 100km of PV, there are MANY great things to do, the Osorno volcano is just one.
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10-01-2018, 06:56 PM #272
Awesome, thanks for the info. I'll definitely plan on skiing while I'm there.
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10-06-2018, 08:08 PM #273
Chile TR
I just returned from a too-short trip south. I was there for just 9 days (including getting into and out of the country) and managed to ski 6 of them.
After 15 years I the Sierras (I know) I moved from Placerville to Missoula just before this past boreal winter season. Because they are way cool at Sierra@Tahoe, they voided & refunded my pass, yet let me keep the physical pass for "nostalgia." It was my fifteenth, after all. Storm days at Sierra, in the trees, with a "Fast-Pass," are as good as it gets on skis, by the way. The Powder Alliance perks on a refunded S@T pass had allowed me to ski multiple days at Bridger, Hood Skibowl, Schweitzer, Stevens & Timberline for zero dollars and zero cents.
Just a few short weeks ago I thought, maybe I should answer the knock and use it once more at La Parva, which is part of the Alliance. I had just enough miles to comp a plane ticket to Santiago. I had never been south of the equator. I booked the trip. Then La Parva closed early due to a thin snowpack. For a few days I debated calling the whole trip off.
When in doubt, go skiing.
I arrived last Wednesday and took a taxi from the Santiago Airport downtown to pick up a Wicked little camper van, then I spent the rest of the day procuring supplies and getting loosely organized. I drove up to Valle Nevado Resort (still open) that night and slept just outside the gate. The place is chill with zero hassles this late in a dry season. Lift tix were steeply discounted, reflective of the reduced available lift served terrain. I rode the lifts there last Thursday then after closing I toured in an area just down the (very switch-backed) road from the entrance.
The weather had really cleared up there by last Friday so after a few laps on day 2 at Valle Nevado I toured out to Cerro La Parva through the closed, adjacent La Parva resort. I thought was windy. The conditions up high were good. There was settled unconsolidated snow in protected areas and windbuff elsewhere.
The weather turned worse that Saturday. Everything is alpine at Valle Nevado at so I took a day off skis and posted up at a coffee shop down in the Lastarria barrio to research zones and weather. I had done very little planning before leaving Montana. Thanks go to Tucker C & Casey E for the beta provided, and also to my Bozeman bud who has spent some time in South America climbing and skiing. The weather was slated to improve to the south, so that evening I knocked down some of the 8-hour drive to Corralco on Volcan Lonquimay. I finished the drive on Sunday evening and had enough daylight to slap skins on and go for a short tour in near-zero vis.
Monday dawned beautifully. The US & French teams were training there (saw Shiffrin) and one of the racers told me it was the first time in 4 days he had seen the volcano. I started skinning toward the peak but shortly thereafter got a look-back, responded with a head nod, and scored a sled ride from the US squad to their training area, saving me an hour or so and some energy. I jumped off the sled, gave a fist bump and started skinning again.
Turns out, it wasn’t actually windy on Cerro La Parva, the real no-joke wind was blowing up high on Lonquimay. The sustained ridgeline winds were knock-down strong so I meandered toward the leeward gully. It was too steep to skin so I started booting. Though more protected, the post holing was taking too much time and effort so back to the ridge I went. I picked my poison on the ridge and actually enjoyed every challenging step to the peak. I dropped into that leeward gully where the wind-stiffened pow was quite sweet. I spent the rest of the day riding the platters and touring lower on the mountain. Corralco is a fun place.
My plan was to stay in the South for a few days and hit nearby Volcan Llaima on Tuesday. A changing weather forecast dictated otherwise so I jumped in the van and drove back up the Pan-Am Highway until nearly exhausted. I got up early and finished the drive to Maipo Canyon, where the weather had cleared splendidly and a key gate had recently been opened. I arrived Tuesday afternoon and shared a beer with Felipe, a Maipo Valley local who kindly gave me the lay of the land. I set off for Cerro Union. About halfway up it I looked down at my feet and noticed that one of my binding my heel pieces had fallen off. Uh-oh. In the US I usually roll with backup skis for my backup skis (hard on gear) but I hadn’t even packed spare parts for this trip. It must have fallen off during my skin in so I stripped the carpets, turned around and retraced my steps with eyes focused on the snow. I had to find this thing.
I did not, and it was not in the car. Some locals at the trailhead tried heroically to help me out, and did provide some comfort, but finding a long-cartridge TTS heel assembly with the right thread pattern just was not going to happen down there. I had ordered the thing from Europe. Giving up my only remaining ski day, I despairingly retreated back down to Santiago, two hours away.
I had seen a striking line on the way in to Cerro Union and was set on coming back for it the next day until it became clear that my binding was toast. Driving away from that line felt like an abomination.
Alas, I pulled up my big-boy pants and forced a smile. Maipo Canyon is a beautiful place with massive glaciated mountains and I felt lucky to have seen it. My trip, after all, had already been made after day 2 at Valle Nevado and the subsequent time on Lonquimay was a total blast (especially the wind). There is plenty to do in Santiago. I had to fly out in two days anyway so I was only sacrificing one day on skis.
I woke up early in a Santiago Copec parking lot with a much improved disposition after some sleep. While debating how to spend my now-free day my mind kept coming back to a discarded big red ball of shielded 18-gauge electrical wire that for some reason I had picked up off the ground a few days prior at Corralco and chucked in the van. When piano wire is not handy the mob chokes people out with this stuff so maybe I could turn it into a ski binding.
When in doubt, ski. I did that day until 22:30.
Last edited by B__; 10-06-2018 at 10:38 PM.
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10-07-2018, 06:25 PM #274
Great TR. Way to finish strong.
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10-23-2018, 02:05 PM #275
As the skiing has about finished (Corralco still going on weekends!), it is time to wrap things up for 2018 with a recap on weather.
The rainfall variance to "normal" as of now is (N->S):
Santiago -55%
Chillan -36%
Temuco -6%
Osorno +4%
Coyhaique -2%
This reflects the snowpack at similar latitudes. I may include Coyhaique in future analysis, as there is growing interest in going further south, and some radical climes. As for the drought situation, while 2018 was dry in the central zone, the south has regained some of the lost rainfall in the last couple years.
As for El Niño, although we continue under "neutral" conditions, or La Nada, all the signs are there for a Niño event this summer here, which could affect the weather through next winter.
A good sign was also the weakening of that dang Pacifico Sur high pressure system, going negative for the first time since Dec 2015.
For next fall, the IRI Columbia forecasts 76% probability for El Niño.
For me, the beach is getting attractive again. Puertecillo, a lovely not crowded beach destination south east of Santiago, hit the spot a week ago.
Until next year!
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