 Poster: A snowHead
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thinking of planning a trip to south america in july/august this year , and want to try and fit in a weeks skiing in Chile , its my big 50 and want to do something special , so was thinking of doing a tour of the best off piste skiing the andes has to offer , and also to see the desert and coast , and may be even try and do the inca trail , as this is a great time of year to do that. Was originally thinking of a snoworks trip but the timings dont work so am going to have to go DIY .
would love to hear from anyone who has skied in south america , especially doing a multi center ski tour 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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carbon_copy, I have no experience of this although have looked at skiing in Chile loads on the internet as it's a bit of a pipe dream of mine. Hope you get somthing sorted and will look forward to reading what the experts have to say on this thread.
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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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Lots of info on TGR if you search. Threads usually get bumped when the seasons ends too!
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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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Sunshine81, Cheers , set on going in 2012 
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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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narc, Yep , have looked at it from a tgr/epic prospective , was hoping for some experience from this side of he pond , can't seem to find much on here 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I know a few people who've done Chile/Argentina from the UK a few times now, They only go every few years due to the cost, but if you are interested, send me a PM and I'll put you in touch.
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RobW, On its way
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Done both Chile and Argentina.
Easiest gateway is Santiago (SCL).
If you only have a week, then Portillo may be the best option for you. Self-contained ski area with dramatic scenery, great skiing and an old school lodging and dining experience.
Alternatively a combo of Valle Nevado area and cat skiing at Arpa.
All within a couple of hours drive of the airport.
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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.
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I have done summer skiing in Vallee Nevado area few years ago. Vallee Nevado is very convenient, only an hour's drive from Santiago, so you can either do day trip from Santiago or stay in one of the hotels up in the mountain.
Vallee Nevado base is at 3000m, humidity is extremely dry. It is usually fairly quiet on weekdays.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Mike's info seems pretty spot on, I work in Portillo, so can heartily recommend there. Amazing terrain, good snow, and hardly ever crowded. I've skied Valle/La Parva/El Colorado as well, they have more variety in terms of lodging/dining, but the terrain there is dull compared to Portillo, unless you do road laps on the Santa Teresa face, which is a bit time consuming. Met some of the guys that run Ski Arpa (the cat skiing op down the road from Portillo) recently and it sounds really fun there too. I hear the most challenging terrain is at Las Lenas (Argentina), but that the Marte lift that accesses the good stuff is frequently closed.
South America is fantastic, I spent 7 months down there last year (3 skiing) and absolutely loved it.
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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.
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Sweet Jimmer.
So Niseko Resort Area for northern winter and Portillo for southern winter?
You ISIA?
Easy to get work at Portillo?
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Yep, used to do NZ in the summers, but made the leap to Chile last year and don't think I'll be back in NZ for a while! Yeah I have my ISIA through the NZSIA.
It's not easy to work in Portillo, I was super lucky to end up there. I applied ahead of time and didn't get it, so went to Bariloche instead, then a volcano erupted on the town, killing the ski industry for the winter. When I emailed Portillo again someone had dropped out and as I was already in SA I got a job for July, and managed to extend for the rest of the season. Most of the guys who get hired ahead of time are demo team/examiners/friends with the bosses. it's a lot easier to work at the Santiago resorts or Bariloche.
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You know it makes sense.
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Excellent. Thanks for the info.
That's what I thought about Portillo. Had the same message from former ski school director Michael Rogan when I met him in 2000.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Mike Pow, thanks for the tgr link . saved me a lot of searching jimmer, cheers
using santiago as a starting point my research has come up with a tour that takes in corraclco/puco'n/huluo-huluo
using mostly snow cats to access the off piste and a couple of volcano climbs over an eight day trip . thinking i could tie this into a trip to the atacama desert , is this practical in a two week time frame, in august .would be really cool to see two completely different sides of one country
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Poster: A snowHead
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I went for a 3 week trip to Chille last September. Flew into Santiago, drove to the Termas de Chillan area. Had a day on piste with superb fresh powder, then a couple of days touring on the volcanoes above the resort. We were really lucky with the weather, and as well as the 3 days at Termas de Chillan, we also managed to do Volcans Antuco, Llonquimay, Llaima, Villarica and Osorno, all in a little over 2 weeks. We were ski mountaineering, which may not be your thing, but it's easy to do without guides if you have the relevant experience. All of the volcanoes we did had ski lifts on them, and you pass through the ski areas. Whereas they are all beautiful places, the most interesting off all of them skiing wise was where we started - Termas de Chillan. The terrain is fairly uninteresting at the other areas. Part of our plan was to head to the Bariloche area, but we didn't make it because the skiing was so good in Chile.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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wibble, Sounds great, want to use this trip as an intro to touring so will probably be looking at lift served and snocat accessed off piste , with a couple of easy ascents on skins , Think villarica and Mocho are the two volcanos suggested for this on the tour I was recommended.
Did you do any non-skiing activities whilst in chile ??
Thanks for your post and welcome to snowheads
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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carbon_copy, Villarica was pretty straightforward. Navigation is easy - just follow the hundreds of people in front of you! That said, it sounds like you will be hiring a guide, so just follow them! Watch out for the out-of-control sledgers on the way down... We never got to Mocho-Chosquenco. The hotel sounds interesting (and expensive).
Apart from a ridiculous amount of driving (about 2500 miles), we didn't do a huge amount extra other than ski the volcanoes. We did only have 17 full days in the country. We went for a very snowy walk in the trees to Lago Chico in Parque Nacional Huerquehue near Pucon when the weather wasn't so good . Also walked up Cerro Campana (to the NW of Santiago) in the Parque Nacional La Campana, near the end of the trip. Very hot and dry, with great views of Aconcagua, and if it wasn't for the cloud inversion, we'd have seen the pacific as well.
Hope you have a good trip.
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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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| jimmer wrote: |
| I've skied Valle/La Parva/El Colorado as well, they have more variety in terms of lodging/dining, but the terrain there is dull compared to Portillo, unless you do road laps on the Santa Teresa face, which is a bit time consuming. |
Not sure I agree with this - we found some very interesting terrain with a fairly easy skin from the top of the La Parva lift system. I really enjoyed skiing at both Portillo and the "Three Valleys". TR with some pretty pics and potentially useful info here:
http://www.snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1845531
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Those lines do look fun, in truth I skied mostly at Valle and barely got over to La Parva, so can't say I explored too heavily. Still not quite Super C or the Gargantitas though!
Nice TR as well. I just bought my tickets yesterday, and those shots have really made me look forward to the next winter.
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Excellent. Enjoy.
Look forward to the TR.
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