Now it’s Thursday, conditions look exactly the same as the past two days, and I’m assuming the worst, but still not throwing in the towel. I mean come on, I’m on vacation a ski vacation nonetheless, every day is a good day, but even better if I can ski……so here we go again:
Yeah buddy ski day today and I have a ride up there, no hitchhiking!!! Woohoo!! Alright gear on, skis in the car, day pack ready. Let’s go.
We get up there to a warm overcast day, hardly any wind down low, and the Otto lift spinning with the staff saying it’s going to open. Alright I’m buying a ticket. Not ten minutes after I purchase the ticket, the staff determines it’s time to shut Otto down because there is 25 kph plus winds up top. Awesome…. There goes twenty-five mil pesos down the drain. I’m not accepting another down day, not today. Time for “Plan B.” I proceeded to pull out my skins and take off layers; let's hike the resort.
A short forty minutes later the quick hike turned into a slow slog as I gained a ridge and the previous 25 kph turned into a 50 kph head on Andes winter welcome hurling snow and ice into my face, slowing me down to a miserable crawl. There was so much snow being blown around combined with the low visibility cloud, I couldn't see a damn thing. After another hour of Andes winter love, I decided to finally get some skiing in. The next one thousand vertical feet of miserable, icy, crusty, thigh rattling groomer skiing brought a huge smile to my face. Finally. The down days frustration had melted away. One more quick lap later I was finally all smiles heading back to the hostel. And what is on the plate for tomorrow? Supposedly a few inches of fresh and a bluebird day of skiing.
Friday comes and so did the snow, but not so much the bluebird. We pulled up to fresh tracks and blue skies. Hallelujah, I'm soooo happy. Plus I could finally see the mountain and started scouting lines and adventures. After two runs of a few inches of fast pow, the glorious scenery was quickly hidden by a thick low lying cloud. Considering the low tide snow and sharp volcanic rocks poking up all over, this was not a the best scenario, but thank goodness for skiing. Another good thing was getting to ski with Dave from Powder Quest, especially since he had a good knowledge of the mountain. We met at the hostel restaurant the night prior and had a fun time. Now that he sent his group up north, he had a few days to himself. If you're ever looking for a guided adventure down in South America, or need some info on the Chillan area head on over to Powder Quest's website and get in touch. The best part of today was finally getting face shots, with skiing for a whole day without having to hike for turns in a close second.
And what better way than to finish off the day? How about with a Chilean asado. Of course no one is going to say no to slow cooked steak, chicken, and pork straight from the local butcher consumed with hot rolls, Chilean wine to die for, beer, and shenanigans. How'd this great idea come to fruition? Well I'll just pat myself on the back for this one; and then give credit to Isi for getting the meat and to Alejandro for taking the main duties of cooking. It was a great time and a few of us managed to keep the night going till about 3:30 am at the local pub owned by a pair of gringos. So back to bed by 4:00 am just to start it all over again in a few hours. Enjoying life the Chilean way.
Here are some pics from the Asado
Rhys and Dave
Here are some pics from the Asado
Rhys and Dave
Dave and Me
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