Skiing in the Andes.... a dream realised!

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Got picked up early this morning in a people mover, after not getting our wake up call from reception... lucky for us, leigh had set the alarm. Also lucky for us that we had both been wide awake since 2 am with our jetlag. Plus, we had two separate occasions of people bounding into our room. Some geek came in about 4 am calling out "Phoebe? PHOEBE?!".. WRONG ROOM!!!! The joys of staying in a hostel.
So, we stopped along the way to rent our ski gear, including pantalons (hehe), gloves, skis, boots, etc. and headed up to Valle Nevado, about a 40 min drive from Santiago. Another horrendous driver, much worse than the last.
Now it´s been a few years since i skied but a few minutes into it i had my form back and was swooshing away. Leigh hadn´t skied in 20 years but handled the slopes pretty well considering. The chairlifts were another matter. Leigh liked full participation from everyone involved. First chairlift we got on came up behind us and she started screaming "i´m not on it!". My response "sit down then!". She sat. All was good. Up we went. We get to the top and about 20 metres before we were to get off at the top she started calling out to the chairlift guy "help me! help me! grab me, it´s my first time!"... we reached the top and the guy there thought it was hilarious, as did i, and reached out and embraced her and led her down the slope. Next chairlift was even better. This time a 4 person. We get to the top and Leigh wipes me out completely, leaving me in a twisted heap in the middle of the exit slope, as she hurtles at breakneck speed straight into a group of snowboarding dudes... Truly hysterical.
Leighs grand finale was on the Poma, which admittedly was up a really steep slope and quite scary. She got about 5 metres to the top and let go of the Poma and collapsed in a heap where two attendants had to race down, grab her & drag her across the snow, out of the way of the people behind her.
It was such a great day, the sun was shining & the people were uber friendly.
We went out for dinner later that night, to what was considered the groovy part of town. Groovy, we found out, meant a row of dingy bars with red plastic chairs outside. We managed to find a nice restaurant where we dined like kings for next to nothing. We finished the night off in a bar with a live band, which is where we befriended a young Chilean man call Michael. For purposes of authenticity, we will now refer to him as Jose.

Jose met with us the following day and in our hungover state played translator, tour guide & general Lifestyle Co-ordinator and to him we are forever grateful. He managed to book us on a first class overnight bus down to Puerto Montt. Now, Aus/Kiwi bus companies really have something to learn here. These are no poxy Intercity / Greyhound buses. These buses had full reclining chairs, providing snacks and booze, blankets, pillows,etc. it was FAB!

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Photos

Valle Nevado
hot mate, hot.

Jose
poor bloke.

First class, baby!
Loving life.