Ski Chile 2021

[Pinned]

Thanks for posting all the updates and photos - awesome to see a familiar activity from a different place / perspective.

[Casey E]

Looks like this won`t happen again this season, but it was sweet while it lasted (that one powder day)...

[Casey E]

Well, it is snowing again in La Parva, but 17km away in a straight line, it is dry. Quirky



V Villarrica is plastered and puffing.



As is Chillan

[Casey E]

Coming on strong for the 18!



(Don't believe anything beyond 6 days though...)

[Casey E]

[Casey E]

The precipitation deficits to date from N to S, Tobalaba to Puerto Montt takes in most of the ski areas. -30% to -70%

[Casey E]

Luckily, our land near Temuco has gotten a good soaking lately, which also means you have to follow the dinosaur tracks up the access road

[hoarhey]

buddy was able to make it to Antuco last night, just barely...
Sounded like a snowmobile transfer was requited to get to the base area.

[Casey E]

Must be good about everywhere right now. After the wind storm It snowed low and soft.

Valle Olímpico Colorado


Where the 3 Valleys meet, from the top of Cono Este (thanks to Slava)

[Casey E]

Tomorrow I am finally heading to Malalcahuello, and a post-18 ski at Corralco. Fingers crossed it isn’t too sloppy.

Meantime, some shots of Portillo courtesy of Slava. He had to skin up el Condor for some “fresh” steep. Beautiful as always….

[Casey E]

Some pics from Malacahuello this week

Excursion to the Las Mellizas area of indigenous communities, with motorized access.



As far as we could get with the cars, next up sleds etc. A month earlier the cars would have gotten to about 5-10 km below here.



The extensive bowl along the main Cordillera Las Raices ridge







Looking south to Sierra Nevada and V Llaima



North to V Callaqui



V Tolhuaca and the Crater Navidad lava flow (1989)



Snowline


The cherry on top was the moonrise through the Araucarias

[Casey E]

The next day at Corralco.

The good



The bad



and the ugly



Easy social distancing at the upper base



But we went back to town for a late lunch



With a potent local brew

[Casey E]

Had to top things off with a trip to the Termas de Malalcahuello, just outside town.





The lovely Rio Cautin, which flows through town



Just down the road it is joined by the Salto de la Princesa

[Casey E]

Slava says there is more snow in Laguna del Maule, pics from Wednesday

[Casey E]

Borders are now open to non-residents.

https://www.chileatiende.gob.cl/coro...do-de-frontera

As summarized by emol:

“According to the Undersecretariat of Tourism, foreigners who enter the country from tomorrow, October 1, will have to meet the following requirements: Have approved their vaccination process, since only those people who have their complete vaccination process can enter the country; have a negative PCR test no earlier than 72 hours before their flight; have medical insurance that allows them to enter the country and fill out the C-19, as is done now.

Once they enter the country, foreign citizens will have to undergo a PCR and serve a 5-day quarantine, which does not necessarily have to be done in a transit hotel.”

https://www.emol.com/noticias/Nacion...eso-chile.html

[Casey E]

Good news on the ski area front. The concession to run a year-round resort on Volcán Villarrica (a national park) would appear to be going to Andacor, who has run El Colorado forever. The Enjoy Casinos group has had it for far too long, and it is widely considered to be a disaster. There were no other offers for the concession.

https://www.lavozdepucon.cl/2021/07/...en-el-destino/

The potential is certainly there. Last sunday I skied up the old ski area road and lift, after a freezing sleet storm. I chose a route down a volcanic gulley, which, incongruently, was powdery on the north facing slope, but icy elsewhere, until it warmed up.

End of the old road


A strange ski up, through ruins from the 1970 eruption which destroyed the old area. I avoided the actual ski area access, as the crowds and sled jockeys are a bit too much around there.



Nice vistas on the way up. The Huerquehue National Park peaks above a shoulder of V Villarrica.



A brief Iridescent cloud cover



The top of the old tbar, with Caburgua lake. Those ruins rattled and dropped ice chunks down the upper slopes, adding another dimension to the experience.



The top of the abandoned new ski area chair, a waypoint for skiers and trekkers climbing the volcano.





The new ski area, with the abandoned chair (the only worthwhile one) in the foreground



The most popular crater hike in Chile. Those clouds are mildly toxic.





A gully run



My route down, a natural half pipe of sorts, ending in a rock dodging ride down the old road switchbacks.

[NWFlow]

Casey, that looks.awesome! Can one often ski good snow up high in that region this time of year and enjoy spring in the valleys?

[Casey E]

Casey, that looks.awesome! Can one often ski good snow up high in that region this time of year and enjoy spring in the valleys?

Yes, that is the deal, as it probably is anywhere mid-latitudes (35-45) where it rains in the spring and the valley floor is 1,500-3,000m below the summits. Very green here at 300m altitude.

[NWFlow]

Cool, sounds and looks like a great time to visit!

[Casey E]

Malalcahuello dawned white today, freak storm, down to about 900m (Corralco post).

[Casey E]

So that last snowfall got us out to ride the Villarrica lifts on Sunday, and get a "before" snapshot. We were told the Andacor takeover was nowhere near a done deal, but by January 2022 the decision should be taken.

It was a cold, partly cloudy day, with a down wind keeping the clouds off the top half of the volcano, but the ski area in and out of them. The wind also kept the 2 upper chair lifts closed, a disappointment after waiting 30 minutes to get one of these artifacts



The access chair



The only lift running was a little tbar, hardly worth the full price ticket



So we bailed and went touristing. The road was icy volcanic dirt on the way up and mucky down, plus rutted both ways.



Another challenge for Andacor.

[Casey E]

Fortunately, there is a lot more to southern Chile than volcano skiing. Here are some shots from September and early October this year.

The hot springs!

Peumayen





And across the Liucura river, Quimeyco



Seafood just off the boat!

Scoring a bag of locos (abalone)



And some congrio (conger eel)



Raw locos sashimi



And whatnot



Some of the local talent at the Mehuin caleta





And the beach



The usual cheesy shops were mostly closed, pending remodeling of the caleta, but this one was open



The flag on the left is a version of the Wallmapu, or Mapuche land, flag, which is now seen flying more frequently in mainly rural areas, and being sold for the national day holidays alongside the national flag.

News flash - the government just declared the Araucania and BioBio regions to be under a "Estado de Excepción", to counter the widespread violence, described by them as perpetrated by "drug traffickers, terrorists, and organized crime, armed groups". This gives more power to the police and allows for "support" from the Military. While this problem has been getting progressively worse for years, a recent trucker strike, blocking the panamerican highway to protest the frequent incendiary attacks (there have been hundreds), was perhaps the last straw. As may have been the two churches (evangelical and catholic) burnt yesterday, and an armed takeover of a Alto Pemehue National Forest Reserve, which looked like this:



But, just not to end on a negative note, the lakes!

Tinquilco



Caburgua, which is showing the effect of the drought on the widening beach



And this little gem at Kulatrayken Park waterfalls, where a swiss couple has set up a nice trail and restaurant.

[Casey E]

Corralco, Villarrica, and Antillanca have now closed for the season, so wrapping things up for 2021, which was a rather rough season in general, the precipitation deficits were:



The relevant stations are highlighted. Santiago and area was worse than the -51% indicated, as a good part of the precipitation fell in January as rain.

The medium term outlook is not good. La Niña is back, and the Patagonia will be getting the effects of a Polar Vortex and the larger ozone hole over Antártica, as well. Weird times.

https://climatologia.meteochile.gob....cas-202109.pdf

An extract on the subject


But, it looks like the last days of Antillanca in October were pretty good:

Antillanca Vive la montaña
Increíbles postales nos regaló esta tremenda nevada de Octubre. - 2 de octubre en Antillanca. - Aún queda temporada y mucha nieve para disfrutar de los últimos días del invierno 2021.…

[Casey E]

And... for my parting shot from Mehuin

Coffee, tea, or me?

[liv2ski]

Thanks for the photos this year Casey. Have a great summer and we will be looking for your stoke in 7 months.