Portillo

We woke very early the morning after Dieciocho to make the long drive up to Portillo, Chile's oldest and most prestigious ski resort.

A snow covered railroad track emerges from a rocky tunnel high on the slope across from the new international highway. No longer in use, the railroad once carried passengers and freight over the Andes to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The international highway in the bottom of the valley climbs many steep switchbacks to reach the pass above Portillo. The now abandoned railway line had to follow a gentler ascent for twenty kilometers up the valley in the distance before doubling back to cross the middle of this steep slope above the highway.

Snow sheds like this one protect the highway from avalanches.

Claudio, our driver, remembered guiding Richard and Henry during their first visit to Santiago in 2007.

La Parva peak rises high above Portillo and provides a dramatic alpine profile that is very different from the views at other Chilean ski areas.

Fast moving clouds indicate turbulent stratospheric conditions while the warm spring sunshine was rapidly turning the slopes to slush.

A spring day at Portillo.

La Laguna quad lift.

The view down to the base area from the La Laguna lift.

Looking past Susan up valley at the Laguna del Inca .

Martin and Joni at the top of Juncalillo, one of Portillo's modern quads.

A view of the exposed portion of the snow shed protecting the international highway.

Here is Joni standing on the slope passing directly over the highway snow shed we traveled through earlier that morning.

To ski the steep slope above "The Plateau" it is possible for expert skiers to take a surface drag lift called "The Condor". It is one of three surface lifts of its kind found only at Portillo.

The four skiers approach the red banner that indicates the top of the lift.

At the top the Condor lift comes to a complete stop so the skiers can dismount one at a time.

Four expert skiers ride the Roca Jack lift at the same time.

The Roca Jack lift harness hangs in the background for a few minutes before returning to the bottom of the run to bring up four more skiers.

Susan skiing down from the top of Roca Jack.

The view down to the Hotel Portillo from the top of El Plateau.

The famous Hotel Portillo embodies European ambiance in antique facilities that reminded us of the way ski holidays used to be experienced half a century ago.

The outdoor pool is only for the use of guests who must stay at the hotel for a full week.

Stein Eriksen has a place of honor on the trophy wall.

We loved seeing this bib from the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics on display at the Hotel.

Watch this short video showing the very challenging Roca Jack surface lift in action to get an idea of the speed of the ascent and the method of disembarkation at the top.

Dieciocho

Valle Nevado is the summer home of the U.S. Alpine Women's Ski Team and also the site of the International Racer Alpine Ski Race Academy, a race venue for ski racers from all over the world to hone their skills and stay in condition. There are seven different full-length slopes to train for the Super-G and the giant slalom, and at least five for slalom races. Every morning, while the snow was still hard and fast, different sections of the mountain were closed to recreational skiers and devoted instead to team race training. Racers of all ages could be seen with their coaches working the courses making practice runs.

Back in Language Pucón in August, we met a Swiss ski racer named Heidi Boesch who was studying Spanish before leaving to race at Bariloche, Argentina. We were able to ski with her at our local Villarica volcano area and came to appreciate her beautiful style and speed cruising afuera la pista with us one afternoon. We knew she would be at Valle Nevado for the Dieciocho races to collect qualifying points for joining the Swiss National Team.

So it was really no surprise to hear the name, Heidi Boesch, called out at the plaza award ceremony when the race medals were being handed out for the various age groups competing. Heidi came in first place among the women aged in their mid-thirties. It was a pleasure to be able to congratulate her in person.

Dieciocho (pronounced dee-ay-see-OH-cho) is the Spanish word for eighteen. In Chile, it is also the name of the September 18 national holiday, Fiesta De La Patria, that commemorates Chile's first struggles in 1810 towards winning independence from Spain. On this day, Chileans celebrate with barbeques and dances. The celebration at Valle Nevado was exceptionally representative. On the terrace of the our hotel at over 9,000 feet, we could watch traditional dancers, listen to traditional music and eat barbeque, too.

The first group of dancers were a travelling troupe from Rapa Nui, the tiny Chilean territory in the pacific ocean known on maps as Isla de Pascua or "Easter Island".

But the most traditional independence day dance is the cueca, the Chilean national dance. The band had guitars, an accordian and a vocalist who performed what are, basically, poems set to a dance rhythm.

The steps of the cueca proceed in three distinct parts and have a mathematical precision, much like square dancing in the United States.

We loved the costumes, hats and spurs of the dancers

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At the end of the day we got our skis and luggage and caught our transfer down to our hotel in Santiago.

Dieciocho fever was in full swing in town, too. We ate a special meal of traditional foods and, from the hotel rooftop, watched a parade before city officials with military marches from all the armed services and the winners of a contest for the best cueca dancers.

You can see the handkerchiefs of the cueca dancers spinning in their hands overhead.

Centro De Ski La Parva

Centro De Ski La Parva is a sister resort to Utah's Snowbird Resort, where we often ski when we are home. Of the three resorts in the "Tres Valles" La Parva was the most family-oriented, but word-of-mouth held that on the higher slopes La Parva was the most interesting for skilled skiers, offering more varied and exciting terrain. Thursday, we decided to upgrade our Valle Nevado lift tickets so we could also cross over the pass into La Parva territory and see for ourselves.

We consulted the map at the top of the Andes Express and skied along the middle ridge following signs leading us to La Parva. The weather was getting colder and cloudy, with reduced visibility, but we wanted to explore the unfamiliar territory anyway. Descending into the middle valley, we found broad trails and gentle, open terrain, surrounded by steep ridgelines and cliffs.

Henry checked out the terrain park, but was not impressed by its modest size and the few features available in comparison to the snow park at Valle Nevado. The snow conditions were not as good either. Spring melt was more advanced here than on the higher slopes next door.

But we did find the steep and interesting slopes we'd heard about from other skiers. Great terrain does exist at La Parva, only you've got to ski it on a powder day earlier in the season.

Here's Joni at the cliffs high above the family-friendly slopes that define the resort. We'd like to come back when the snow is deep and fresh to really ski these slopes the way they should be skied.

There are no hotels at La Parva village. Guests mostly come for the day from Santiago or stay in private lodges and slopeside condos. We headed back across the ridge to Valle Nevado to have lunch and to ski on slopes that were still deep with snow.

Valle Nevado

Our hotel rooms were comfortable, in a sixties-retro style, and each had an ultrasonic humidifier to help moisturize the dry, high-altitude air. We had slight headaches, too, but they were tempered by acetaminophen and the excitement of skiing a new mountain.

Morning came quickly after a restless night's sleep. We ate the superb breakfast buffet at our hotel's restaurant where we'd had a French cuisine dinner the night before. Coffee was served as soon as we sat down. The buffet included the usual breads and yogurts, sliced meats and cheeses, and ripe Chilean fruits like chirimoya, kiwifruit, strawberries and clementines. I especially liked a fruit drink called a "Chirimoya Allegre", which was half fresh-squeezed orange juice and half chirimoya juice. A breakfast chef made us eggs or omelettes cooked to order.

Then it was off to the slopes. Our ski locker attendant quickly learned which skis and boots belonged to whom. Over the next three days, he would have our gear ready for us when we went out and put away to dry when we came in.

Skies were cloudless blue the first day as we explored the unfamiliar slopes. It was spring conditions, but the south-facing slopes were largely protected from the sun and the snow coverage was still good. As at Chillán, it had snowed a week earlier and some slopes still had a few inches of softer snow on a firm base. By following the sun, we could enjoy skiing the groomed corduroy piste in the morning and venture into the ungroomed by late morning and afternoon.

Henry spent most of the day getting his thrills at the terrain park. Valle Nevado has the best snow park in Chile, with its own poma lift and enough professionally constructed jumps, rollers, rails and boxes to satisfy the gnarliest skier or snowboarder. Meanwhile, we ranged all over the 800 hectares of skiable terrain moving from slopes that were changing to slush onto others that were just softening up.

There is a mid-mountain restaurant and a mountain-top refugio where you can take a break.

The alpine views were stunning whether you stuck to the trails or tried going "fuera de pistas".

We never had trouble finding a lift to get to a trail that would lead us downhill back to our hotel.

The large, open slopes offered every type of terrain, except it was all above treeline. It was great having bluebird clear skies all day while we learned our way around, but we also knew the weather was changing. With a cold wind and no visability, the big slopes could become a big challenge.

Heading North

Tuesday dawned bright and clear in Pucón just as we began our trip north with Joni and Martin Plaehn to experience skiing in the mountains near Santiago. Here is Martin posing next to the Pucón city sign on the road out of town. The words,"Hasta Pronto", translate to "See You Soon".

Looking back from the "Bienvenidos" side of the sign, the Plaehn's finally got to see the Volcán Villarica dominating the skyline.

We got to Temuco for our Santiago flight on LAN Airlines in plenty of time to check all of our bags and skis. We were several bags over the limit, of course.

On the approach to Santiago, I got this shot of Cerro Aconcagua (6962 m), the highest mountain in both the Western Hemisphere and in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also one of the Seven Summits that all the famous mountaineers try to climb since Snowbird's Dick Bass first climbed all seven in 1985.

This aerial photo of the El Colorado and La Parva ski areas shows the rugged terrain in the Andes east of Santiago. Click on the photo and you can see the area more clearly. The narrow road from Santiago climbs the steep slope in the foreground to a T-junction on the main plateau. We counted sixty-five switchbacks up to the plateau. To the left is the ski village of Los Farrelones. To the right is the road to Valle Nevado, which requires climbing another twenty-five or thirty switchbacks and lies behind the central massif in the valleys that are out of view. On weekends, the road is one-way up in the morning and one-way out in the afternoon. Fortunately, we arrived on a sunny weekday, so the road wasn't snowpacked or very busy.

Here is the view near Valle Nevado looking down the last few switchbacks to that plateau.

Here is a view looking up the final switchbacks to the hotels at Valle Nevado. We could feel the altitude at 2861 m (9387 feet). It was a long day of travel and we looked forward to drinking a complimentary Pisco Sour, eating a good dinner and collapsing into a comfy bed.

Siempre Geometricas

One of our guilty pleasures is always showing our guests the incredible hot spring baths at Termas Geometricas. This time we also invited two of Henry's friends, Tomas and Caco Schmeisser, as well as our visitors from Utah, Joni and Martin Plaehn.

To begin with, it is always a long drive over to Coñaripe on the other side of the Volcán Villarica and then we still must drive 18 km up the rough unpaved road to the hotsprings.

But once we arrive and make our way up the boardwalk into the beautiful sanctuary, any doubt is always dispelled.

The smiles on our friends' faces are matched by our own.

Geometricas is always magical.