Sending it in Chile

Posted on August 1st, 2007 by Travis.
Categories: Recent Posts, From the Guides, videos.

By Travis “Taco” Toelkes

Good day to all the lovers of snow out there!! This last week was an amazing one. It all started with a day of total debauchery in Santiago with my two new buddies, Aaron and matt. After picking matt up from the airport we hit up the cultural section of the tour including the subway (pretty wild experience for 3 boys from Montana and Wyoming!!), the plaza de armas (kind of like central park in new York), Bella vista (a pretty posh, eclectic, artsy barrio of Santiago), the mercado central (where you can find anything that has to do with fish, meat, veggies and fruit) and the paseo de ahumadas (an open air mall that stretches for about 10 blks). Then it was time to hit up the cafe con piernas (coffee with legs). This is a unique Chilean experience. It is a cafe where the ladies are dressed, shall we say, a bit on the provocative side???? But, man…the coffee is great!!! After that it was piscosour time. Pisco is the national liquor, made from a special type of grape. It kind of reminds me of guaro, the Costa Rican national drink, pretty nasty alone, but, mix it with some sweet and sour margarita mix and wowzers…look out! After a few you are ready to take on the world…or maybe just more of Santiago. With a six-pack of escudo (the local brew) in hand we took the funicular (a sort of tram) to the top of Cerro San Cristobal and took in the evening view of Santiago. It is pretty amazing to look over 7 million people and then gaze up to the Andes looming over the entire city…especially when you are buzzed up and chatting with the carabineros (police)!! Back in Providencia, the barrio we live in, we ate a feast of churrascos (a sandwich full of steak, avocado, cheese, mayo and tomatoes), fries, and of course, more escudos. Mix in some tequila, red bull vodkas, a couple of clubs, some taxi rides in search of fun and low and behold it was 6 in the morn! After 2 hours of sleep and with a serious hangover we loaded up and headed north to an area called Arpa. Here lies the only cat ski operation in Chile and on this day it was buried in a foot of fresh powder! Though it was a touch cloudy, the views were amazing and you could almost see the entire peak of Aconcagua (tallest peak in s. america). Not to mention, the skiing was phenomenal. We did two cat assisted runs and then me, Gomez and our friend, Francisco toured 2 hrs out to one of the most amazing runs of my life. Maybe it was the oh-my-god-I-might-die feeling I had the entire tour along the ridge (reminded me of a headwaters traverse with even more consequences and three times as long), maybe it was the 2000ft decent through virgin pow, or maybe it was the loss of the hangover…. whatever it was, the run was unreal. Next stop was Termas de Chillan and its 2 meters of new snow. Yes, that is over 6 ft of new snow!!!! For 2 days we raced around the mountain boundaries hitting every cliff, cornice, chute and open face we could find (see photo below). We went to an area called the dedos (fingers) via one of the more exposed boot packs I have ever done. But there, waiting for me, was such a rewarding couloir. I was so giddy to get an opportunity to ride a line like this. Upon the drop in I was giggling to myself, riding not only the fluffy powder but also the wave of adrenaline coursing through my veins! However, to my total dismay, half way down the run, the nose of my board decided it would be fun to see exactly how deep the snow was and with gravity leading the way my face submerged, I did a full front flip, landed on my board and kept on going. Noooooo…. a fall on a line like this…. oh but I am still going. A bit shaken by the fall, I made my way down the remaining critical section of the run only to do one more depth charge flip at the bottom in the run out. Maybe not the ideal descent, but I lived to tell the story and ride another day!! On the third day we donned skins and split boards and took off on an all day tour of the neighboring Pirigallo and Hermoso valleys plus an area called agua calientes. This tour was one for the books. The views were mind blowing, the runs were untouched and we covered close to 7500ft of vert. after taking in volcanoes, thermal pools, and acres of pristine powder we toured to the ridge between the Pirigallo and Hermoso valleys for one last run back to Termas de Chillan…I think we counted well over 70 turns each on the descent!!! Can you say leg burn??? The next morning we made our way south to a volcano called Lonquimay. The drive took us through podunk little villages and araucaria forests. Araucaria trees, also called monkey-puzzle trees, look like something out of a dr. Seuss book. Spiky trunks that bolt straight up to the sky topped with a broccoli looking foliage, all you need is some green eggs and ham and the scene is complete! Now, I have been on many a volcano, but never with the intention of riding down it! After a bartering session with the ticket attendant (three for the price of one) we rode up the lift, the one and only lift, to begin our tour up Lonquimay. With sustained, and I joke you not, 70 mph winds we made it to the summit via skinning and boot packing. We sat trying to decide the next move: which face to descend??? But after a few minutes of trying to scale the crumbly volcanic rock and being pelted by the raging winds the choice was obvious: back the way we came. Gripped with fear, cold and an intense desire to survive, I somehow managed to get my split board put back together and we rode down the chalky, carvey snow all the way back down to the parking lot. Though the beer was warm, it never tasted so good, and as we sat in the sun relishing our victory we formulated out next move. A few warm beers and 9 hours later we were back in Santiago, hunkering down for a few hours of sleep before heading up to Portillo. None of us had ever been to Portillo, but the rumors were good and plenty and we were excited to see what the hype was all about. However, little did we know just driving to Portillo is an adventure. The road leading up to the resort is also one of the major arteries across the Chile/Argentina border and it is chalk full of semis carrying goods between the two countries. Combine trains of 10 to 20 semis with 29 hairpin turns, 6000ft of vertical gain, and hundreds of impatient skiers weaving their way through it all, and you have the recipe for a tense drive. We saw passes that would make a NASCAR driver blush! Three semis, a blind corner…no worries, go for it!! Somewhere around turn 20, you realize that, yes that is a chair lift going over the road and yes, the ski run does go over the road! What a drive! Arriving white knuckled at the parking lot, you are welcomed with an amazing view of a perfect V shaped valley dropping into the frozen lake, Laguna del Inca. We started on the north facing side of the valley and hit 4 different couloirs all accessible by the 5-person pommel lift called roca jack. Once the sun hit the south facing side of the valley we headed over for a quick boot pack up to the lake run. This is so amazing. You hike for maybe 15 minutes and then you are dropping classic S turn chutes all the way down to the lake and then riding the lake all the way back to the base area! Where else can you do that??? To finish off our epic day we stopped by the mid mountain bar, tio bob’s, for 10,000 ft cerveza. Taking in the views of the mountains and the crisp, clear flavor of an escudo you can truly appreciate the spirit of the Andes. And so our week came to an end…and what a week it was. We were whipped. Cat skiing, volcanoes, and 2 resorts later and I am ready for a vacation…oh yeah, this is vacation!! Life is good. Work starts in a few days. Time to do some laundry and get my stuff together before the clients arrive. Who knows what waits on the next mission? Until later…Travis

ps. check out the videos of us sending it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ugmUz4O_Qc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQaqM5WEGkI


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky0uZl3bd5c

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Paragliding Ski Videos

Posted on April 8th, 2007 by gomez.
Categories: Recent Posts, videos, The Ski Diaries.

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