Advertisement
Published: September 25th 2012
Skiing in Chile was always on the agenda, since learning that Santiago has very accessible ski resorts, AND we would be around for the end of the snow season (SCORE! low season prices!).
Having never skied or snowboarded, I was naturally apprehensive about injuries and broken bones, and didn’t want to have to nurse anything that serious, whilst on holiday...in South America...all in Spanish! So it would all work out, as it would be the last adventure we did before heading home.
It turns out that this year’s snow season wasn’t all that great in Chile, and the ski resorts and slopes would be closing a lot earlier than usual. As soon as we arrived in Santiago from San Pedro, we quickly got our A’s into gear and headed up into the mountains and saw for ourselves why the slopes would all be closing soon! The days were gloriously warm and there was hardly a snowflake in sight! Spring was in full bloom, with beautiful Cherry Blossom trees flowering, and nature was clearly telling us we had missed winter…Great first impressions for a first time skier!
However, the top most ski resort, Valle Nevado, was still open and
Chilextremo Hostal
In all it's full bloomlucky for us, willing to take our money for ski lift passes and snowboard equipment rental.
The first time I put the board on the flat snow/ice section and stood on it, I nearly saw my arse! Flip this snow stuff was slippery man! Thank goodness James had got me a snowboarding lesson and the friendly Irish lady taught me all the basics. (we had decided long time ago that he would stay away from instructing me in any adventure sports again, following our near breakup after him attempting to teach me kite surfing!)
Our first day was super exciting and James was over the moon to be back on a snowboard and ‘shredding’ the slopes. I slowly got the hang of it and eventually was able to go a good couple of metres without falling on my bum or knees. Yah for me! Although, when you see 3 year olds come skimming past you, with not a fear in the world, you realize just how pathetic you really are! Thank goodness I wasn’t the only adult on the beginner slope!
The most awkward thing (and maybe the most anxious part of it) was the flipping ski
lifts! I think I averaged a 95%!u(MISSING)n-successful dismount rate, not just for the first day, but for the entire week! I always jumped for joy when I was able to come off the lift without falling on my arse, albeit a handful of times. But nothing really compares to when they have to stop the whole ski lift to allow you to pick yourself up…because you fell off whilst getting on!!!
And apparently you cannot call yourself a true snowboarder unless you have caught ‘an edge’ and catapulted yourself into the snow. I did this numerous times, hitting the snow both face forward and backwards! Eina! I don’t think it would have been so bad if the ‘snow’ was actually fresh powdery snow and not rock hard ice!
Unfortunately the slope conditions worsened a bit over the next few days, and instead of decent snow, the sloped became very icy – making it nearly impossible for me, an expert beginner, to really get into the hang of things. I took it easy by taking full advantage of the crepe and waffle café!
However, our luck was to change and on the 4
th day of being in
the mountains, the temperature dropped and it started snowing!! My first time seeing it snowing!! This gave the slopes a nice covering and because the temperatures stayed cold, the powder snow lasted a couple of days. James was in his element and had an absolute blast!
By this time though I was pretty banged up and achy so unfortunately couldn’t take full advantage of the long ski runs, but, still enjoyed the benefits of the crepe cafe!
We stayed in the small town of Farrellones in a fantastic hostel Chile Extremo, a little way from the actual ski resort which meant that we had to arrange for transport up to the slopes. For the first few days we booked a transfer for there and back, but to save a bit of money (more money for me and Nutella crepes!) we ventured out onto the main road and stuck our thumbs out. Yep, for both James and I, this was our first time hitchhiking. We were unsure of the hitching etiquette when we arrived at the ultimate ‘hitching corner’, and saw another girl also waiting. Do we stand next to her and try for all three of us, or
not stick our thumbs out and wait for her to go first, or do we walk down the road a bit away from her or finally, do we hide in the bushes? Well, we played it cool and went to chat to her. But, it turns out we had obviously not done the right thing, as she promptly turned around and walked further up the hill away from us, just after we said hello. Fortunately, she got a ride pretty soon after. We sighed a quick relief and stuck our thumbs out – well I did anyway, James was adamant that I would get more takers than he would! Not long after a car pulled up and we quickly jumped in. We soon became pretty friendly with the young Chileans (who thank goodness spoke English!) and they ended up getting us discounts on the rental and lift passes, as well as offering to take us camping and partying in Santiago. We unfortunately had to decline. We had some more slopes to
shred, bro! Our second attempt saw us catching a lift on the back of an open truck; it was a very cold 20min ride!
We also happened to
be in Farrellones for Chile’s Independence Day, which saw us heading to the local high school’s gymnasium for a real ol' traditional Cueca music festival. This after finishing off a bottle of Pisco with a Canadian in the hostel! We arrived at the hall at midnight, to find it only half empty (apparently we had gone out too early) so decided to order ourselves a Chicha de Uva each (the local favourite cheap wine) and flip, did we not heave a little when they handed over full 750ml bottles of the stuff. Nothing small around here! Needless to say we couldn’t manage half of the bottles, after all the Pisco!
We realised that we have been lucky enough to participate in all four countries Independence Day celebrations. We were in Buenos Aires for Argentina’s, Machu Picchu and Cusco for Peru’s, Copacabana and the car blessings at Lake Titicaca for Bolivia’s, and then up in the mountains in Farrellones for Chile’s. Nice J
Overall, it was a great week in the mountains and a fantastic experience. Something we’ll definitely be doing in the near future!
With one week left to go, we travelling down to Valparaiso for 2
days, then back to Santiago and finally homeward bound!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.168s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 13; qc: 61; dbt: 0.1257s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Terri Peckham
non-member comment
Hi James and Toni. You guys have had the most fantastic time away. What an experience!!! Memories that you will treasure for the rest of your lives I am sure. Enjoy your last week away before you head back home. Am going to miss your blogs!!! Will chat when you get back. Lots of Love xx