Poster: A snowHead
|
As per another thread here, they have snow in Chile in our summer. I didn't much enjoy 43 degrees last summer, and didn't really want to go somewhere warm to surf, if temperatures are generally up. So I thought I'd come to Chile. Those folk who like to "earn their turns" are probably still walking, as it's quite a way from the UK, 14 plus hours even flying. There's one direct flight which is my least-favourite airline, BA, but direct flights are good, especially if you have to switch in the US. Actually switching in the EU is going to be as bad soon, thanks to you know what.
You do get to fly over some fairly bit mountains, mind. Not that you could see them today.
Actually some people may prefer walking, as my flight at least was quite sporting. We didn't have to eat each other or anything. I had some vague memory of hearing that crossing the Andes (the easy way) regularly involved turbulence. When the air crew announced that aviation law is different in Chile, and you have to have your seatbelt on 40 minutes before landing, that memory came back.
I buckled up and waited for the ride. They very carefully ensured there was no garbage or loose stuff, and double-checked everyone's seats were upright. The turbulence was intense, like riding a massive white-water wave in a massive jet plane. I was sitting at the back but I could see down the tube as peoples' shoes and socks took flight. Everything behind me was making loud rattling noises. People were screaming throughout the cabin. The non-Gringo bloke next to me grabbed my hand at one point. I gently explained to him in English he didn't understand that "it's always like this, don't worry". Ok, so I was bullshitting, but I didn't want him to soil himself and it seemed like the right thing to do. He was truly scared, I did what I could.
We had a few zero-G vomit-comet moments, where the noise actually reduces for a second or two during the freefall. I was trying not to laugh, as it was like a big surfing roller coaster, and I figured it was probably always like that. Planes mostly crash because people bang them into things, not because they can't cope with a bit of chop.
After I suppose about 20 minutes, it let up, and we cruised uneventfully around a couple of loops down into Santiago. Many passengers staged a sitting ovation for the crew. Me, I kind of expect them not to kill me: they were doing their jobs. I was going to tell them that for once I actually did enjoy that flight - it was a massive roller coaster ride - until the Captain came on the PA and said that none of the air crew had ever experienced turbulence that bad and he was very sorry, but they would give the plane a thorough check over now. I thought it best to just say nothing.
The airport was pretty standard, smaller than many. Customs quick and polite. Baggage... they had three flights in at the same time so it took about an hour, but that's pretty much standard these days. There were Americans and Canadians there with snowboards... and one solitary snowboard bag from the UK.
Airport taxis from SCL are a big thing. I think that's American cruise ship people over-reacting. It's an easier airport to clear than most. The taxi thing is slightly different: get a ticket (no cost) from the "official taxi" people who are in an office between customs and the non-controlled bit of the airport. Show the ticket to a guy with the taxi company uniform once in the public area, and they take you and your bags to a cab, which charges the fixed rate written on the ticket and takes cards.
Santiago itself... well there are fancy bits and not so fancy bits. Like anywhere else, but it's hard not to look like a Gringo unless you have the complexion and hair colour, which I don't, so although I've seen nothing dodgy, I'm sure it's there and I'd not be gormless.
Note mountains in the background.
South America's biggest tower. There's a fancy shopping mall at the base of it, all the same brands as you get anywhere else, world wide.
It's about 10 degrees outside, pretty nice with a bit of sun and all. It's been a very bad snow year,
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
More info please. Bad snow year means what?
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
Yes I remembered the AF flight when I was booking this. I reckon today's flight may get in that top 10 next year It's definitely in my top 10.
"Bad snow year" - well the local guy (see TGR link in other thread here...) and the Guarniad reckon there's been a heat wave. 2/3rds of the ski lifts are running, apparently, which is the media relations way of saying 1/3 aren't. So not a bumper year.
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Quote: |
Airport taxis from SCL are a big thing. I think that's American cruise ship people over-reacting. It's an easier airport to clear than most. The taxi thing is slightly different: get a ticket (no cost) from the "official taxi" people who are in an office between customs and the non-controlled bit of the airport. Show the ticket to a guy with the taxi company uniform once in the public area, and they take you and your bags to a cab, which charges the fixed rate written on the ticket and takes cards.
|
Yep! It’s definitely an “American” thing. Some US international airport does that too, JFK for example. It’s to “protect” the foreign travelers from being taken to dodgy places by the taxi driver, or charge an arm and a leg for a ride to the next block.
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
phil_w wrote: |
"Bad snow year" - well the local guy (see TGR link in other thread here...) and the Guarniad reckon there's been a heat wave. 2/3rds of the ski lifts are running, apparently, which is the media relations way of saying 1/3 aren't. So not a bumper year. |
Many thanks for info - was considering heading out next month (on that same direct flight), but had been holding-off based on conditions, but I gather finally it's getting some, so there is hope for Sept...
|
|
|
|
|
|
I look forward to reading more @phil_w. We're heading out that way in a couple of weeks time, flying into Santiago. Will be prepared for a bumpy ride!
It's not a ski trip per se, but hopefully we'll be able to do a couple of days in the ski areas close to the city (snow permitting!)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
"Tormenta" - a word I know from Terminator 1, although I understand that was bad Spanish.
I put a buffer of a couple of days to allow for stuff to go wrong. It didn't, so I have time to be a tourist in Santiago. I read up on street safety and it sounds terrifying. But then I looked up a few other places I've been and they all sound horrific too. Sometimes research isn't helpful.
The hotel has a small gang of "concierge" blokes in uniform, there are at least 5 of them at all times. I asked them, and their collective opinion was to be that Gringos shouldn't be wandering around on their own. I thought about that and figured that they have mostly rich clients with stupid mechanical bling watches, and maybe haven't encountered anyone from New Brighton before. So I sneaked out when they weren't looking.
It's fine. Well the bits I went to are fine. No one gave me a second look.
The metro is good and easy to use. The internet is both wrong and right as always. You have to buy a "Bip" card - like an Oyster card. The kiosks only take cash, but some (not all) stations have electronic machines which take cards and have English instructions. Easy.
There are a few buskers & beggars about, but they're non-aggressive. They have some old guys with moustaches busking Frank Sinatra type music, which is awful but seems to fit in.
Locals use card payment for everything, and not all accept cash. Cash machines charge a flat $8 for each withdrawal, so if you need $5 for a Bip, that's a poor deal. Probably best to avoid cash altogether.
I went to the Human Rights Museum, which is about that but focuses on the Pinochet US backed military coup here, and the murder and torture which came from it. Architecturally it's interesting inside and out, and the displays are extremely visual, which is just as well as my Spanish is none existent. I'm massively anti fascist, as is this. This place is really effective.
Incidentally the US army has a deployment of squaddies here, they appear in the mornings in military fatigues. I guess these guys are hofficers if they're staying here.
I was the only gringo, but they were herding groups of local school kids through (it's free). I was thinking that perhaps UK WW2 museums could focus more on what that war was about - fascists and the stuff they do. I don't understand why the UK didn't take a stronger stance against Pinochet; I'll have to read up on that when I get home.
The park near the museum reminded me of Eastern Europe in the immediate post USSR days. The infrastructure was in poor repair, like they had the capital but forgot the operating costs. There were feral dogs and Kebab stands, and a few private security guys with side-arms here and there. I didn't see any hostiles, and the open layout feel safe.
My Merlin bird app identified the green parrots as... Monk Parakeets. They live in trees where they make big stick houses and sit around squawking. Like you do. They also have spuggies (House Sparrows), but I didn't see any Condors down town, although they do appear in the heli company's advertising so I'll be looking out for those.
Here's a bit of street art, also related to Pinochet's coup in 1973. Plaza de Armas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I did a trip around South America in the early 90's including a few days skiing above Santiago
I can vouch for bumpy flights. We hit bad turbulence on a flight between Santiago & Buenos Aires. You could see the fuselage bending lengthways (not just the normal bending wings), some folk without seat belts got lifted into the air. When we are arrived in Buenos Aires we had to wait whilst those with injuries (all minor I think) were taken off. All of our other flights were uneventful.
Santiago struck me as very friendly, it didnt feel very "foreign" certainly did not feel out of place wandering about.
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
When we were in Santiago in 2019, the areas to avoid were pointed out by a local taxi driver who also told us the local thieves were very good at their ‘job’ and would not physically harm us but simply relieve us of our wallets.
I recommend the funicular railway in the park in centre of the city and the ice cream cafes in the same park.
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
Stayed in the Santiago Marriott a couple of times when it first opened 1999 & 2001 It used to be the tallest building (130mtrs)in Santiago..
I asked them about Earthquakes. They said the building is new and has been built to the latest code & to withstand a major quake
The first visit (1999) they offered me a room near the top with an incredible view and i think it as only about 30 bucks a night including Breakfast & Dinner !!!
Could not believe it ..on the first night around 01:00 ...there was earth shaking in Santiago region ..the building was swaying .
The evacuation siren came on & I had to walk down the emergency stairs about 35 floors and out onto the Street...
I rented a Hire Car and drove up and down to Valle Nevado , and the other areas on a daily basis .. Used to be one way traffic up the hill in the morning & then one way traffic down in the afteroon...
Tyre Chain up gangs were along the road .ready to fit if necessary
Maybe they have improved the road now..
Nowadays , i prefer the vibe on the Argentinian side of the hill..
|
|
|
|
|
|
@phil_w, very nice - have a great trip. I may have soiled myself had I been on your flight! (I don't really like turbulence at all).
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
First things first, last week's storm made Valle Nevada significantly better, I'm told, so anyone heading there can maybe relax a bit. There's more to come also. Plus Portillio apparently has had snowmaking since 2019. Where I'm going - Noi Puma Lodge - they have a meter's fresh at 3,000m. So that's better than expected. The next tormenta is expected four days from now, so we need to get into it before that stops play, which it probably will.
Went to the Oriental to pick some people up this morning. Here's the Oriental's lobby:
We drove south. You know, into the sun. Well, it took me about half an hour of background brain confusion before a non maskable interrupt informed the foreground process something weird was going on, and I realized I'm on the other side of the equator. It is kind of confusing, to start with at least.
We left the city heading... away from the sun. The roads are all pretty much UK standard, except with less garbage. We passed industry and a few towns. The lots were all surrounded by railings, and all ground floor windows are secured with bars. Otherwise everything seemed no different from most places.
We had a busker at one traffic light, and Nigerian-style food sellers at others: people wearing jackets with pockets full of toffee bars.
We turned off the main road, then turned off that one, and eventually got beyond Google maps usefulness. It eas the driver's 1st time, and he tried to get lost a couple of times, but Open Street Map sorted him out. The road... well I've driven a few famous ones and this is right up there with the only-just-possible. I don't have photographs of the last bits, but anyone prone to sea sickness wouldn't like it, and you definitely need a high clearance vehicle for the massive ruts.
The lodge itself is a hotel you can book direct, and it's not bad. Rustic, but it feels safe and friendly.
Um, yeah, there's no snow down here at 1,600m. Apparently there hardly ever is. I can see some steep fields of snow from here though, and there are three massive drainages, up which we shall be flying tomorrow...
A film crew were unloading as we arrived, and I hoped there may be famous skiers/boarders there. And then I noticed that the massage ladies were ferociously slim... and discovered that they were in fact the models for the shoot the crew is working on. So no famous snowboarders, just fashion. The fashion industry still hasn't woken up to ultra processed food, I think. I shall try to see what these thin ladies eat - they definitely need to eat more!
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
@phil_w, uh, why there?
Nevados is predicted 40cm in the Thursday storm and riding is from top to bottom on the mountain. I'm here now.
EME, Nilaque (or otherwise) bus company to Chillan, either bus to Las Trancas (other terminal in Chillan) or get a taxi.
Say hola if you get here.
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
Sounds good. I'm here because there's a helicopter parked outside and someone has to do it...
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Yep Pinochet was a big buddy of Thatcher. Probably a Falklands thing in there but didn't make UK support/ haven the right thing. It's a while since I did a couple of trips to Chile but it always seemed pretty wealthy and educated to me.
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
My son and his fiancée went to Valparaiso, Chile's second city, in 2019.
Walking to their Airbnb apartment, one of the attractions of which was the supermarket on the other side of the road, they noticed a strange smell and the heightened feeling of tension in the locals on the street, all looking around and behind.
They got to their first floor apartment, and five minutes later had a great view of a full scale riot!
Huge water cannon...baton wielding police, petrol bombs...the works!
All right outside their building.
The strange small was Teargas!!
The attractions of the supermarket were never explored...it got torched!
A curfew was put in place and a couple of days later the police escorted all the foreigners they could find to the train station and put them on a train to somewhere else.
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Protests: I read about them, I think they were supposed to be anti-police not anti tourist, so no doubt scary, but maybe not dangerous. I've no qualms about persuading my gf it's a safe place to visit. I was over-cautious, but it seems fine.
--
And so to snow...
- There is some.
- The warm temperatures mean there's not a lot here below about 2,200m, but from 2.600m up it's good, proper winter snow, not spring stuff.
- Some aspects have had some wind, but with careful selection the snow's pretty good. It's more moist than some, but not wet.
Allegedly the Chile side of the border gets less wind affect than the other side, but they would say that on this side.
I know, poor arm placement.
Not the prettiest heli colours, but it's growing on me.
Being shot. The guy with the camera is Max Palm's dad, also a heli guide. No double back flips were on the menu today, although I did a ground level double front flip when I encountered some over confident snow. That's something I'll post if I can extract the frames.
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Nice!!
We went to Valle Nevado as part of our honeymoon a fews years ago now. It was good fun - although there was quite a bit of ice on the highest slope and I mean ice not compacted snow.
Great part of the world, with some excellent wine which they keep to themselves and tourists, but don't sell it here!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Excellent report - pls keep the info/over-confident-front-flip snow coming!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Did the Oriental used to be a Hyatt or is it a Hyatt? It looks familiar - unless there are a lot of cylindrical hotels in Santiago.
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
Keep on truckin'
|
|
|
|
|
|
It's possible the hotel names have changed. The cylindrical thing isn't common I think.
We're trying to get the most out of this before the storm comes in, as that may stop play for us for the rest of the week if we're not lucky. On the plus side, the new news is that there are two storms... a smaller one expected Tuesday / Wednesday, then the mother of all storms (it's massive on the radar...) coming in a little behind that. So we may lose two days there, but ride Friday. You buy a week's package, but here you're really buying "helicopter time", and we used about a third of ours yesterday, maybe a bit more than that in a full day of 14 long runs today. You can see how that plan works. If we're lucky and the storm is less than expected, we can either hang with the skinny models in the hot tub, or pay more money.
That's the track log from my Venu 2. The day actually started and finished at the big red blob, but it doesn't start tracking until the 1st descent - the green marker. You can see the heli making transitions between the drainages we "farmed". As we're paying for the heli time, we want that to be efficient.
This has a Condor in it, top left. The other bird is an A-Star B3. And those are our tracks. At the top - about 3,600m there, the snow's cold and pretty good. At the bottom - around 2,600m - the unseasonably warm weather makes it less fun, which is why we're picking up at that altitude.
These are getting samey, so I'll wait and see if we find some different terrain, but here's the Hometown Hero doing its thing assisted by Phantom levers, Backlands and F2.
I've no new snowboard gear for this trip, so nothing to comment on there. The guys I'm with struggled a bit with "reference" when the sun was occluded today; my photochromic goggles made it easy for me.
Oh, the guides have a magic wand which avoids them having to dig snow pits - a probe which you shove into the snow and which generates a profile from the resistance measured versus depth. I have it on video somewhere so I'll post a picture eventually, but you can probably google them. I'm not sure how much they are, but I'm sure every back country skier will have one in due course, and maybe that'll help make people safer. It looks like a probe with a yellow Garmin eTrex fastened to the top of it, that sort of size.
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
Great TR Phil! How long you there for? Looking forward to the rest!
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
Oh, and amazingly, 2 legible and pertinent posts from Whitegold and Stanton, whatever next
|
|
|
|
|
|
Maybe their accounts have been hacked
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
I have a week's "package" here, 12 hours flying time. Everyone - 8 people - is on that deal. Two groups in an A-Star B3, one guide each.
We started breakfast with 2.8 hours flying time left - intentionally - and we all agreed to burn more if we could get it, which looking out the window I thought unlikely today. The first storm is here, or to be more precise the cloud and poor light from the edge of it is here. We went for a flight ... the ridges had gusting wind, but there was "no reference" for the pilot to land.
That's #63 in "reasons you're not going heli-boarding today. On the positive side, snowboarding in poor visibility isn't all that great anyway, so it's a down day for us, and we have fingers crossed that we'll get out in the gap between this storm and the next. Assuming we do get out, we're pretty certain to burn all the already-paid-for flying time, so we're losing nothing financially by sitting on our asses waiting for the storm to pass. We probably spent half an our trying to land today, so we're down to 2.3 hours left. It's an industry which sells untracked powder not sitting around, but you can't have one without the other.
There are worse places to hang out. The film crew and the starving skinny women have gone. They flew them up to the alpine yesterday, where they shot footage for a new Alaskan line of clothing. Which to me means waders and fishing jackets. Probably not what they were modelling. I don't think they'd really be comfortable in AK. Their crew had some interesting Steadicam rigs.
There's a barbeque warming up for this evening, with a couple of unfortunate lambs slow roasting on spits. As a near vegetarian I'm feeling a bit sad for them, but I'm sure it'll taste good. Especially accompanied by local wine. The drainage behind there is one of the three which converge here, hence the lodge location. Argentina is up that way just over the back of the bigger peaks, which may not be visible from here.
And looking to the right, with respect to that previous shot... which is then to the south, I think. It's confusing.
So excuse #63 is where you can see the mountains, but you can't really tell where the floor is as you try to land. The risk isn't that you'll crash nose-first into the peaks, more that you'll put a blade down because you don't read the contours of a landing correctly. I was a bit concerned they may "push the envelope" - there is a financial incentive - but they backed off, which was the right thing to do.
Just had a slideshow from Juan Señoret, Chilean Alpine hardman and nice bloke to keep us out of trouble. He's bagged various stuff including first ascents of those South American mountains I have bags and jackets named after - Fitzroy and the like. He did the first (only?) traverse over the three Torres del Paine towers, and has some good shots of decent looking rock.
There were two Condors soaring above the lodge earlier - can't really see them in mobile phone photos, but my DSLR probably caught their silhouettes. The Merlin bird app (free, really cool) says we have Chilean Swallows feeding around the hotel, with some House Wrens in the bushes. The Condors must be a thousand meters up - I think they're scavengers, so presumably need to be able to see a long way more than they need to get down to eat quickly.
If tomorrow is conclusively down, they'll probably organize something to stop us getting into trouble - horse riding or biking or something like that. After all, non skiing tourists come here, and they find stuff to do, so we can do that... until there's a break in the weather...
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
Excellent report thanks. It does seem pretty warm for winter.
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
Quote: |
Did the Oriental used to be a Hyatt |
Yes, I asked someone and it used to be the Hyatt, and something else in between. If it helps, it's better than the Ritz-Carlton in my view.
To me, heli is a long term bet. In the mountains, you can't guarantee that the weather will cooperate. You can be pretty sure that you'll get the amount of vertical or the number of flying hours you pay for, but you may well have to sit out some days when the weather's bad. In BC the "down day ratio" is about 1 in 7; I don't know what it is in Chile. But Chile has just had a massive global warming heat wave, so a lot of the resorts here are struggling (see other posts here). There's no way that's going to be good.
This week we sat for three days solid, in the middle of nowhere in bad weather. With decent food and Chilean wine, but not much else to do.
It is what it is; I'm just as happy in a 5* hotel as I am at home, and I don't have to cook so that's all good. What you don't want to do is divide the trip cost by the number of days to work out how much that sitting is costing you. That's just poor economics. And it won't help. The people flying here next week have a major storm to deal with, and whilst it'll be epic once that storm's done, if you're in the mountains when it hits, you're probably going to be sitting around some.
Thursday evening showed the first promise, after a day of heavy rain at 1,500m.
We set up for an early start on Friday, with a view of using at least our remaining flying time, and getting whatever snow we could. As it dawned, we could see snow much lower than previously, suggesting (a) the upper stuff hadn't been rained on; and (b) it was much colder. The temperature had dropped about 20 degrees, from plus 15 to minus 5 at altitude. I was confident we'd get out (the guide had been very good with his weather assessments). Another bloke had driven off to Valle Nevada to ski in a white out the previous day... and he came back first thing (a 03:00 start from Santiago...) because he too knew we were going to get in it.
There was broken cloud, and "sucker holes" of blue here are there. The wind was moving the high cloud along at pace, and the blue holes got bigger, so we went out to play...
We flew to the closest drainage - we knew the fresh snow would have filled out tracks in there, and we wanted to get it before the weather closed us down again - we knew the big forecast storm was coming soon. We were concerned too about the slide risk, although nothing around us had slid. We proceeded with care. There was about 40cm of fresh, probably from the Thursday precipitation. The top 15cm was "dried out", by whatever does that up there, so the snow was pretty good at minus 5, although not the finest. I got my first face shots of the week in this stuff.
The snow was a bit more "bouncy" than earlier in the week - whatever it was down there gave more back when pushed. We duly did our things, nothing slid, no one fell, it was all good.
We finished around lunch time, refuelled and paid our beer tabs, then set off in the machine for Santiago. That's about a 3 hour drive with some serious 4wd work, or 35 minutes in an A-Star B3. We flew down the main drainage to lower altitudes, then northwards across the foothills of the Andes. We passed a Condor, which I may or may not have managed to photograph, seeing the black and white markings on the top of its wings as we shot past.
Eventually we banked left towards Santiago, which has a fair amount of smog visible from up there. The buildings form interesting patterns, here's an example:
So that's a wrap, probably no more snow for me until December, unless anyone knows where the stuff's going to be in October/ November.
As far as Chile's concerned... it's a cool place, and seems safe enough to me. The snow... well they don't have any trees, so you get to see pretty mountains, but you're riding "apline" snow, which can get boring. On the other hand the terrain we were in had more half-pipe type features than I've ever played in, and I had a ball in those. I may even have helped teach a few skiers how to ride pipe! Our crew were all experts, I think because you have to be fairly committed to travel quite so far at this time of year. You don't need much skill for open slopes like this though, although maybe technique helps if you're riding hard all day.
I'm sure I'll be back.
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
phil_w wrote: |
I don't understand why the UK didn't take a stronger stance against Pinochet |
An article today about it.
There used to be a Chilean restaurant in Liverpool run by refugees from the coup.
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
There's some tree skiing at Chillan and Antillanca in Chile, and Cerro Bayo and Chapelco just over the border into Argentina
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
The lower and more gentle home runs in Corralco go through the edge of a forest of Monkey Puzzle trees. You have to watch that the saplings don’t rip your kit.
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Ski lots wrote: |
The lower and more gentle home runs in Corralco go through the edge of a forest of Monkey Puzzle trees. You have to watch that the saplings don’t rip your kit. |
Likewise at Caviahue in Argentina
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
phil_w wrote: |
So that's a wrap, probably no more snow for me until December, unless anyone knows where the stuff's going to be in October/ November. |
Hintertux hopefully!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I think Virgin now fly to Santiago
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
Sick vid.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Very noice
Cracking tune too
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|