Ski Chile 2019

[Casey E]

The rain finally turned to snow..Clouds remain, but are just laying low further north in the Lake District. Now find the sweet spot...



Further south the instability continues, with snow falling on V Osorno.

[Casey E]

This just in from the southern central andes, Heliski today

[Casey E]

Volcan Osorno thursday

[Casey E]

And the east side of Llaima looks nice today

[Casey E]

Taking advantage of the high pressure system stuck over Chile now, here are some views of the volcanoes going south with the increasing base.

San Jose (south face)



Planchon Peteroa (north)



Descabezado Grande, Cerro Azul (west)



Chillan (north and south)



Antuco (west)



Villarrica (north)



Mocho Choshuenco (east)



Osorno (north)

[Casey E]

This is what a Puelche looks like


When the normal westerlies become easterlies, cold in winter, warm in summer.

[Casey E]

Now it wants to snow in the central zone... at least things look more normal..

[byates1]

[Casey E]

So the dry Puelche is battling the moist Nor'wester in the Araucanía, keeping the big precipitation at bay for the most part. It is an unusual situation near lake level, with the easterly blowing and showers together. Got the old timers taking notice.

All indicators (including the cold rain now) indicate that something will fall in the next 3-4 days, so I am heading for the weekend to the epicenter of the collision, Las Mellizas (Cordillera de Las Raíces), or thereabouts. Rubber boots off and ski boots on!

The forecast for the nearby border passes is

[Casey E]

The verdict was a stalemate. “Ni fu ni fa”. Which was fine, as the vis was reasonable, and the snow soft.

The Icalma pass


There were more animals on the way than humans.



Laguna Icalma



And as it turned out, Arenales was the destination. A Pehuenche ceremonial construction.



Rafa papa rips it





Rafa hijo entering the Lenga/Araucaria forest.

[Casey E]

V Villarrica has entered into a new phase of activity. According to http://sitiohistorico.sernageomin.cl/volcan.php?iId=22, some buzzwords extracted by me:

"Se espera la ocurrencia de explosiones de mayor energía y volumen, en las cuales fragmentos balísticos podrían
acumularse en los alrededores del cráter de manera inestable y generar avalanchas mixtas de detritos
volcánicos, hielo y nieve, las que podrían desencadenar lahares de bajo a moderado volumen encauzados por los
ríos y/o quebradas de las cuencas que drenan el volcán (ver mapa adjunto"

Have fun translating that, but keep and eye out for "ballistic fragments" and "mixed avalanches of volcanic detritus, ice and snow". Still they cover their arse by saying "this could evolve into a major eruption or relaxation of the volcanic system". The latest report raised the alert to orange (one below red which is "apretar cachetes", or simply, "run").

Given the continuing Puelche, which somehow was blowing down from the volcano together with cold rain this morning (this is weird, believe me), the plume spreads northwest this time, towards us (yikes! but the locals pay no notice, so I am tranquilein John Wayne).

[2_1_3]

¡Nieve primavera!

[Casey E]

Thanks to Slava for this shot of Chillan trying to spoil his race



The snow falling now should cover the ash-snow from the last bout of spewing.

[Casey E]

[capulin overdrive]

Thanks for another season!


This thread helps make summer more bearable.

[BeardedClam]

Heading south at the end of the week, hanging around pro montt for a bit as well as maybe nevados y corralco

[Casey E]

Hate to hasten the death knell for the ski season, but I am leaving for Canada next week and there is no snow left around Santiago, with even the spring runoff in doubt. The precip chart tells the story, with the central zones general parching now being called the worst ever, a "mega drought" and worse. 119 comunas have "agricultural emergencies", and talk is of extensive catastrofe zones with livestock die offs and more. This comes on top of around 10 years of below average rainfall -



Skiing is still going on south of Chillan, for example Antillanca is boasting a 3 meter base at the top, but running only on weekends. The heat of September pushed up the snowline everywhere, with little left at the ski area bases.

A good way to finalize the season on a positive note, is this video from a dry year (2018 I think) in the central zone.

https://youtu.be/N6u-xu8AUhY

[Casey E]

Well the fat lady hasn’t sung yet.

Osorno just got a dump


It is snowing low in Corralco



And from Arenales in Lonquimay, the Rustiko boys are still going at it

[Casey E]

One last trip report, from early Sept in Lonquimay.

I pulled into Arenales after a lovely drive through the high route from Villarrica via Icalma. As fate would have it, a friend had a new toy



These kids don't venture far, and kept to the hill in the back, where some nice short lines were had.





Lots of room elsewhere in the upper Cautin River basin, accessed from either side of the Cuesta Las Raices pass.



We got some good runs in but when the kids tuckered out, I convinced a local guide in the group to ski up Cerro 9, above the old ski area. It was windy but with lovely light.



Where to next time?



The guide, Gustavo Curical, is a local Pehuenche, and certainly knows the zona.





The Arenales day lodge, with its Mapuche flag and volcanic warning sign.



When I finally left, it was snowing profusely.



Next up, Lonquimay town and lore, and V Batea Mahuida.

[detrusor]

Looking at booking the family to Portillo next August. Open to any and all advice. Me, wife, 9 and 11 year old girls who rip.

Seems like worth it to stay in the lodge? Yes no? Please fill me in!


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[gnarbro365]

Looking at booking the family to Portillo next August. Open to any and all advice. Me, wife, 9 and 11 year old girls who rip.

Seems like worth it to stay in the lodge? Yes no? Please fill me in!


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Portillo generally doesn’t sell day tickets, and there is nowhere to stay near the resort that isn’t affiliated with the ski area.

They offer several lodging options, all include some sort of food/lodging/lift ticket combo.

You could test your luck and rent a car a try to get the family up there for a day hoping they’ll sell you three day tickets, but I’d go for a mini week if I were you. Inca and Octagon are nice, but I think the hotel is worth the extra coin.

[Kinnikinnick]

A couple things down the road, but if you get the big dump, you could be closed out from the realest.
Stay at the hotel. You could look into renting a whole room in the dorm style, but have to share bathrooms and noisier.


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[detrusor]

Thanks


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