 Poster: A snowHead
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Has anyone ever used Casatours, Snoventures or Powderquest for skiing in South America. Any thoughts/reviews of any of these companies. Thanks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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?
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thanks mountainaddict, do you mind me asking the approx age group of your tour? What was the accommodation like. Did you hire skis out there (am looking as doing it as part of a few week trip to SA so wont be able to take skis), if so what was the quality/cost? Many thanks.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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DIY
Its the best way.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Not the best way when you are a single female...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hi Beccam,
It might be worth looking at Snoworks, I just did one of their courses and everyone was raving about the Chile/Argentina trip that they do.
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beccam
Mrs MA & I were early 40s. The other 3 in the group were one male single US traveller aged 50 and 2 females travelling together aged about 25 and 40.
We generally do do DIY travel and are not usually big fans of the group/organised thing. However, this was the trip that changed our view - we would not have had anything like the fantastic time we had with Casa if we'd organised it ourselves and gone DIY. The whole group (plus guide/driver) just got on so well that it made the trip. Other plus points were skiing/boarding as a group and doing all the off piste stuff/volcano hike. We would never have got round to organising local guides so that was just amazing.
Another factor was that the 2 areas we skied at (3 Valleys nr Santiago and Termas de Chillan) are about 7 hours drive apart. It was great to do the trip in between in a minibus with everything taken care of. That was the day we stopped off at the winery for a slap up meal - with obligatory wine tasting of course. Again, we'd probably never have done that on our own and doing it as a small group was excellent.
At Chillan, Casa also organised a visit to the thermal springs and a volcanic hot mud wrap - interesting! And a night at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere for a cracking meal followed by a hot tub under the stars. And a stop at a non-touristy market on the way back to Santiago.
Accommodation standards did vary:
Santiago - excellent. A big, posh apartment in a good location.
Farellones (ie 3 Valleys ski area) - basic but clean and in a great spot at the foot of the slopes.
Termas de Chillan - rustic log cabins with wood burning stoves. Very cosy.
Overall, we felt like we got a great taste of the real Chile, with a great company who went out of their way to keep the guests happy and entertained - in fact the service was second to none. I know that fellow snowhead Bergemeister (on a different tour with different Casa Staff) found the same thing. Based on our experience I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to a single traveller.
At the time we booked, Casa were quite a bit cheaper than other companies - but I don't know if that still applies.
We took our own skis. Bergmeister's skis were lost in transit - so they had to hire in Farellones. The best they could find was long, skinny skis circa 1990.....  That was in 2006. Not sure if that applies everywhere or will still be the case but just a cautionary note.
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A gang of us went with CASA tours way back in 2001 - can't fault them, although that was when they were young and fresh. Jeremy who used to run/own has since moved on I think. Back then it was very good value and there is no whay you could cover all that ground in 2 weeks.
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FAQ
Bergmeister (and Mrs BM) has also used Castours (based on my recommendation). They also had a fantastic time.
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