Ski Chile 2018

[Casey E]

Well tonight’s dump should be 20-40cm, with snow showers after dawn, until sometime later in the day. Hope that the wind has pity on us!


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[Casey E]

Yay!

[gnarbro365]

^nice!

Seems to be reaching Portillo a bit later. ~12-15cm overnight and another 15+ since 8am. Very cold temps. Let’s hope it continues through the day!

[Casey E]

The boys in Lonquimay got the boards ‘n beers out...

[Casey E]

Meanwhile, on the way into Puma lodge, mushing has gotten underway (courtesy of Ignacio Escobar and hounds)



And up in the Cajón del Maipo, Baños Morales is getting theirs

And courtesy of Cristian at the Placa Roja lodge

[skiandgolfnut]

gnarbro, are you in portillo for the season? appreciate the updates!

I have reservations for early August but can cancel by early July. The long range forecasters seem to predict a dry winter but it seems like we are on our way to a nice base.

[Casey E]

Colorado opens Wednesday and La Parva Friday. No more snow on the horizon.



70 years! My father in law skied there even before that, using mules to carry their gear up. Imagine the “gear”...

[gnarbro365]

gnarbro, are you in portillo for the season? appreciate the updates!

That is the plan, but obviously it is all snow dependent.

We’re currently making a little snow in the base areas, and plan to move up to the top of Plateau today. In my North American eyes, there is enough to open about 60% right now. But, as Casey mentioned, the forecast for the next week or two is warm and sunny.

Official projected opening date is still the 24th I believe. I’ll be updating in this thread regularly. Feel free to PM if you want more details, and make sure you find the tall white Gringo in patrol gear when you come!

[gnarbro365]

The Plateau today.

[Casey E]

[QUOTE=gnarbro365;5366820]The Plateau today.

Yeah! Portillo has a base! What you see is about as good as it gets though, other more northern exposures may be still rock-strewn. I imagine you enjoyed "patrolling" the Plateau....

[Casey E]

Some updated precipitation stats -



Santiago still has a -46% deficit, and Chillan -40%. The Lake District, from Temuco to Osorno, is near normal.

So the base in the 3 Valleys is pretty good considering they have really only gotten snow in the past few days, probably 60cm at the bottom and 80cm at the top (packed).

[skiandgolfnut]

Will two weeks of no snowfall and warm weather melt what is there currently or will this base survive until the next storm? I don't see how Portillo can really open end of June with nothing more. I won't panic as I still have until August but the long range does not look great. Still, I know from last time I went, they only really need 4 or 5 of these storms to run all winter.

[gnarbro365]

Will two weeks of no snowfall and warm weather melt what is there currently or will this base survive until the next storm? I don't see how Portillo can really open end of June with nothing more.

Plans are to open as scheduled. Definitely not all terrain, but basically everything that is normally groomed. Keep your eye on the 5 day forecast instead of the extended to keep you sane .

[Casey E]

Here is a good satellite comparison of the Andes before and after the recent storm.

[Casey E]

Skied La Parva today, pretty marginal stuff. The base is about 20cm less than I thought, with dirt showing through in places. Warm (+6C at 6 pm), and cloudy. The wind buffed much of the off piste, lots of rocks.

That said, we had a good day, the snow was nice and we used our rock skis. With the heat being turned on the next few days, things will not improve.

Some pics
The view of the upper bowl from La Nevada



Nooks and crannies had to be scoured for powder.



Short, sweet and risqué

[Casey E]

Now for some lexicon, what is this called?



It is a “jauría de perros”, just so you know in case you are accosted by one on the slopes and have to explain to the authorities that be.

[Casey E]

The Barros Negros bowl today l from the Auto Pista del Sol.




The Las Flores bowl

[Casey E]

Las Vegas and Fabres not running, a big chunk. Even so, one such nook:



A piece of the downhill course there.

This next shot highlights the crux of the biscuit for surviving the the normal entrance to a piece of pow, under current conditions, the transition from solid windpack on the south side of the ridges to 30-40 cm of heavy powder under it. Transition well, and you will be fine. A bit of speed and careful observation help...

[Casey E]

The forecast for the central zone is not looking good:



The rocks we hit on the weekend will just become more prolific, today in Santiago it was +25C. Portillo still holds their opening date as June 23, but Chillan has yet to announce an opening date, citing a lack of snow. Oddly, the area around Curico (between Santiago and Chillan) seems to have a fair amount of snow, as shown by this webcam shot today at Volcan Planchon-Peteroa:



If lady luck shines on us, we may go and find out for ourselves how things are up in this area next weekend.

Around Temuco, it is a different ski season. Some shots from the webcams today:

Quetrupillan volcano -


Villarrica volcano -



And to round it out, Corralco published this shot from the top of the Cumbre t-bar (not open yet) :



The central zone may have to wait, and maybe too long. If you are planning a trip soon, try to hold off, unless you can switch to the south. The Chilean Meteorological service is forecasting greater probabilities of a El Niño, but towards springtime:



They also put up a nifty map to show how the low pressure systems flow when the surface temp rises in the mid Pacific Ocean and the Antarctic high pressure nudges them north:



Rounding off the analysis is this recent projection for June-Aug precipitation:

[wyeaster]

one of these days i hope i make it. maybe a jaunt down from ecuador

[Casey E]

A quick conditions alert

La Parva conditions suck, but the view from my terrace doesn’t.



Breaking news from Antillanca, where precipitation has been massive, but the frigin freezing level rose and leveled the base.

[BeardMech]

I though rain was good for the base...

[gnarbro365]

Snowing in Portillo. About 6cm since this morning. Another 15+ forecasted through the evening, and it is much needed.

The extended is looking a bit better, but definitely still in fantasy land.


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[gnarbro365]

[gnarbro365]

The sun poked its head out Sunday evening after the storm. Picked up around 16cm. We could use more!