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.