Last Call for South American Skiing This Year
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From: Agatha September 20, 2011 |
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Ski resort Valle Nevado sits in the rugged Central
Cordillera, an hour and half drive above Santiago.
Cyclists get ready to embark on a wheeled protest of
the development of coal power plants on the
Patagonian island of Riesgo.
Valle Nevado on a powder day. In low season there is
little competition to cut fresh tracks. Most skiers
stay on piste, leaving the bowls and backside
waiting for those who want them.
When it's raining in Santiago, it's snowing in Valle
Nevado.
Referred to as the San Francisco of South America,
Valparaiso is vertical and colorful.
BNQT got word that Ben Pomeroy was heading to South America for a last minute ski trip and tapped him to collect the cheap way to get south before the season ends. Hailing from the East Coast Ben loves the unexpected surf havens of New York and ski groves of Vermont and has been exploring them since he was a baby. When Ben is not traveling he is recording peoples' stories and discussing policy and big ideas for his web based environmental radio show Now or Never.
It's September Time to Go Skiing
Words, Images and Video By Ben Pomeroy
I want one thing for you really badly. I want you to cut fresh tracks all day through bone dry Andean powder and do it on the cheap. Lie - I want a few other things for you. After you have had your fill of face shots and spectacular mountain top scenery, I want you to drink delicious red wine and well crafted beer with hilarious people from around the world in a cosmopolitan city that likes to party all night.
You are going to Santiago, Chile and you are going as soon as you can.
Friends, it’s spring skiing in September and it might be best time for a northern hemi ski/ boarder bum to get steep and deep on the cheap. Rates are low, resorts are empty and Chile is experiencing some late season storm cycles.
But as a fellow dirt bag, and I mean that in the best way, I also want to detour you around the expensive resort packages and give you the flexibility to change mountains or regions on a whim or updated snow report. Chile’s ski hubs in the central cordillera or in the south at Nevados de Chillan can have vastly contrasting conditions day to day. This makes Santiago a strategic, if unexpected ski town.
Striking snow capped mountains tower above this metropolis of 7.2 million, brimming with great restaurants, lively bars and topflight museums and to access it all, an immaculate Metro. You will benefit from the emerging number of quality hostels that set you back for around $15 per night. If you are like me, you stay at La Casa Roja, an Aussie/ Chilean owned hostel that has an in-house ski shuttle manned by two of the more knowledgeable powder hounds in the city, Tim Lauder and Daniel Arredondo.
Local ski bums hooking up visiting ski bums, I made fast friends with Tim and Daniel, who after picking up snow seekers from other city hostels, floor their van up to Valle Nevado and La Parva. These are two of the best mountains in Chile - only an hour and half from downtown.
The week I lodged at La Casa Roja, I linked up with fellow skiers from Montana and France and proceeded to devour powder at Valle Nevado, La Parva and the legendary and very steep resort of Portillo. The day at Portillo, being one for the record books.
Yes, there is a lot of van time and most of is spent white knuckling mountainside switch backs. No, you are not waking up and getting on the slopes in your pajamas. But you save money ($15 + $20 round trip ride + $60 lift ticket). And equally as important you have flexibility. If at 10pm you see that Nevados de Chillan 5 hours south of Santiagao is getting dumped, Tim and Daniel have cabin hooks ups down there and most importantly, the led feet to get you there faster than the bus (which is nice by the way).
Go to BNQT.com for more videos.
Day trips out of Santiago:
Valparaiso is a must. This beautiful and bohemian hillside port city is a one of kind. Spend your day riding up and down the Ascensores ( wooden tram cars) looking out on an apron of bright colored houses spread along steep streets facing the Pacific. I stayed at Hostel Pata Pata and met Valparaiso’s unofficial cultural docent, Ricardo Jerez, who took his time to walk me and two new friends around the mural covered walls of his favorite neighborhoods. No important detail was ignored, as he pointed out everything from vintage door knobs to the better fish restaurant. One of the great views of the city is from Pablo Neruda’s living room at La Sebastiana one the poet’s three homes.
If you are a fan of Chile’s renown man of letters, visit Isla Negra, an hour south of the city by bus. This ocean side home was his favorite and like the other houses, in Santiago and Valparaiso, it is a designed and furnished like the interior of a ship, filled with art and the oddities that fueled Neruda’s poetic inspiration.
El Vino did flow:
Chilean wine is not just Concho del Toro. I was blown away by the volume of vineyards surrounding the metropolitan region. Aquitania is one of the boutique brands Maipo Valley and you can access it by Metro. The winery boast a pinot and a cabernet Sauvignon that could easily out match some of your favorite Napa and Sonoma all-stars.
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How to fly there.
Links in a Hand List:
La Casa Roja (hostel and ski shuttle)
Valle Nevado Resort
http://www.vallenevado.com/en/
La Parva Resort
Portillo
http://www.skiportillo.com/ingles/
Nevados de Chillan
http://www.nevadosdechillan.com/
