Add or Update Press Release (Login reqired)

Tuesday, 10 April 2001

By Cameron Grant

Ingredients………

• 2 ageing snowboard hacks with no sponsors
• 1 wee sized girlfriend new to riding (snowboards)
• 1 Crap Spanish phrase book
• 1 Small Hyundi with too much luggage
• A handful of punk-arse Euro-Trash hard booters.
• 17 Bad bad empinada's
• 5 Active Volcanoes
• 8 Ski Resorts
• A smattering of 16yo Chilean School girls
• Oh and COPIUS amounts of fresh white snow...

Preparation………….

So, you have been riding the Australian resorts over the Southern Hemisphere's winter for so many years now that you have a name for every wombat at Perisher, you have been to NZ so many times customs have you on suspicions of sheep smuggling, where else is there in the Southern Hemisphere to get the fix?

Take the ingredients from above, blend over a few weeks and you have a recipe for one of the most interesting and unforgettable snowboard trips you are likely to experience.

Chile is an amazing country. It stretches from the tropics to the Antarctic, covering over 4000km (2500 miles). Yet, at its widest point, it measures only 180 km (111 miles). The Atacama Desert in the north marks its border with Peru while the immense Andes mountain range mark its borders to the east with Bolivia and Argentina. From many of the Pacific beaches, the Andean peaks are almost always visible (except when obscured by the horrendous Santiagan smog) and it's not impossible to surf and snowboard on the same day.

The infamous Pinochet coup in 1973 took Chile off the tourist map for many years. However in the 90's with renewed political stability the vast environmental diversity of the country began to attract the tourists again. Some of these tourist dollars have been spent on numerous world class ski resorts in the country. And why not because with the formidable Mountain range of the Andes spanning the entire length of the country it provides peaks that are a snowsliders wet dream.

If just the thought of snow is not enough to tempt you to fly backwards in time 14hrs then think of the surf available on the Pacific Coast, or the vertical granite peaks of Torres del Paine (Towers of Pain) in Patagonia or the ancient Indian ruins in the worlds driest desert, the Atacama. Chile is so diverse that the promise of a bad snow day is not always such a bad thing.

The main ingredient of our recipe however is snow and believe me there is plenty of that. Chile is one of the most developed countries in South America and there are plenty of mountains with snow but you should not expect to find the detachable quads or resorts comparable in size to your average European resort. Instead you will find a great mix of resorts ranging from the single surface-lift club fields to large internationally renowned resorts like Valle Nevado or famous boutique ones such as Portillo.

Method…………

Self-funded is how most of us travel and it is refreshing to find that unlike Argentina snowboarding in Chile can still be done on a budget. Our trip began without the luxury of the Hyundai (believe me after experiencing just about all other forms of transport in Chile, yes! a Hyundai is luxury) we discovered that transport is easy and very cheap.

But transport won't be your first hurdle. Arriving in Santiago without a word of Spanish and no guidebook was scary at first but just became funny after a short while. Playing charades about where to find the toilet is amusing no matter what the language. Luckily asking for beer didn't prove to be as difficult.

Santiago is a great place to start the boarding as you can stay in a cheap downtown hotel, catch the subway in the morning to a ski shop that does shuttle buses up to the nearby resorts and you can be riding by 9am. The subway is clean, efficient, reliable and safe. Even though you WILL be the target of pickpockets you are still safe, as a gringo you stand out and will attract the attentions of those that want your wallet, just keep your hands on your valuables and watch those standing close to you. In the first few days in Santiago we had 4 attempts against us. They will usually just laugh and walk off when they realise that you are aware of them.

We rode the subway for the first few days laughing at our magnetism, while the locals on their way to work laughed at us in our snowboard gear. The ski shop that does the shuttle charges $10(US$) for a return trip up the mountain. You have the choice of 3 resorts, La Parva, El Colorado and Valle Nevado .

Our first destination was El Colorado, one of the two large resorts sitting over 3500m above Santiago. Only 45km from downtown you would think it would be hugely popular every day of the week especially after 20cm of fresh. We found this not to be the case. If you have ever been unfortunate enough to be an instructor giving lessons on the morning of a fresh dump while you see your mates off in the distance chewing all the pow then you'll understand the stupidity of promising your girlfriend her first ever snowboard lesson when there is nearly a foot of fresh waiting. But when there is not another soul even on the beginner runs and the only people on any of the lifts are the two Americans and two Venezualans that were on your bus, you start to mellow and realise the snow ain't going anywhere. It is almost an eerie feeling to be all-alone on a Mountain that has a large village full of modern high-rise apartment blocks not to dissimilar to Avoriaz in the French Alps. Come here during the two weeks of the school holidays however and your experience will be very different.

Connected by a few cat tracks to El Colorado is the smaller and more local hangout La Parva. So deserted was this place on the day we visited the small group of schoolkids up for a days excursion had to huddle under a stair well for lunch as all the café's were closed. Thus, with so few people the lift network is never crowded during the week, this resort is frequented by weekend warriors from Santiago. With 3 chairs and 10 surface lifts it has a lift network that accesses the most fun terrain that can be found on this side of the Andes. The quad chair is the most popular lift, providing access to the groomed beginner and intermediate runs, however it's the Triple and the higher Pomas that access the best terrain. Much of the terrain is formed by the wind, creating huge naturally formed walls and gullies running down the fall-line of most runs. The biggest downside of this is that up the top where many of the best steeps and chutes can be found is often devoid of snow as it is picked up and dropped further down the slope. The faces above the highest lifted point offer potential for short hikes into some narrow steeps provided the snow is there.  However, make sure there is actually a base before you head out. Numerous base grinds to our decks attest to the fact that this area may look sweet but with the wind continually removing snow, looks can be deceiving.

After a few days battling the smog and bustle of Santiago we were itchy to head south down the Trans Americana onboard the bingo playing 'TurBuses' we had begun to hear so much about. Relieving the boredom of a 12hr journey and desperate for one of the coffee mugs on offer we began to challenge the locals in their ability to count in Spanish, only to have the prize wrenched from under our noses by the old lady in row 7, who judging by her sniffling was no doubt on something performance enhancing. Feeling like losers after our epic battle, both with the bingo and the 1000km journey we stepped into the rural township of Orsono.

Famous for its volcanoes and farming it was the friendly locals dancing in the park that we came upon first. The approach of an English speaker drew our attention back to the fact we were here to check out Casablanca - the volcano. Looking for some winter activity down South away from the gringo infested Pucon we had come in search of Casablanca for its small resort, Antillanca.
Thankful for some local knowledge we  decided to base ourselves in Orsorno and tackle the 98km journey early the next morning. Naively thinking 98km is a simple day trip and wouldn't be difficult we baulked at the offer of a one-way $60(US$) cab ride and attempted the local buses. Let me rephrase that - we boarded the local 'chicken' buses. Sure 80c is a bargain but sandwiched between a sack of cabbages and a little girl's puppy, vomiting from being fed blue candy, you begin to believe there is sense in the wealth of Europe. Wishful dreaming of heated trains and vernaculars was quickly abandoned at the site unfolding along the road ahead. Stretching out in front of us was the awesome sight of Volcanoes Puyehue and Calbuco and as we drew closer the unbelievable green of lake Puyehue. Ok so a bit of dog vomit was a small inconvenience for such splendour. Now to hope the snowboarding was somewhere near as impressive.  Unfortunately this wasn't the case, high winds kept the 4 lifts at the Antillanca resort closed for most of the day, we did however get access via one of the t-bars to a small hike and some fun wind blown gullies. The best terrain here is found from hikes and saving the $22(US$) lift ticket for an upgrade in transport proved to be the winning decision as waving $10 around the car park soon found some eager locals to save us from more vomiting puppies.

The snowboarding in the South of Chile is nearly all on Volcanoes of altitude not much more than Antillanca's 1500m so they are unfortunately vulnerable to rain. Hearing the news that the only skiable surface in Pucon was volcanic ash we made the decision to head back to the height and safety of the Andes, after all not much rain is going to be falling at 3500m.
Back up to Santiago and this time to pick up the luxurious Hyundai as well as an extra passenger, Justin Drerup from BoardtheWorld.com. Having previously witnessed the chaos of Santiago traffic and the evil, evil yellow buses we quickly designated Justin city driver. First left turn out of the car park and buses were enemy number 1!!! Trams in Melbourne?? Phhhh piece of piss compared to these yellow monsters, we saw more than one side swipe a car and just keep driving.
We tightened our sphincters and chorused "We gotta get outta this place…………." until we were immersed in the crazy scenery of gorges and cactus's that signal the lower reaches of the Andes. On bend 49 we passed the turn off to El Colorado and continued onto the most modern resort in Chile - Valle Nevado. The surprisingly warm temperature of 14deg C was not exactly conducive to great snow so it was a day of scoping out the size of the place and wishing more than once we hit it with fresh. This place appeared to have it all, endless possibilities for backcountry pleasure, a well maintained snowboard park and perhaps most impressive a lengthy boardercross course.

After crossing one yellow bus too many in Santiago we made the 6 hour journey South again but this time to Termas Chillan . Its no coincidence that those guys that get paid to ride a snowboard also have a nose for tracking down the goods in far away places and Termas Chillan is fast becoming the summer stomping ground for those corporate riders from such illustrious teams as Salomon and Burton. We arrived into the resort to see bomb-holes at the foot of 40foot rocks quietly thinking to ourselves "damn those locals must be rippers". On investigation however we discovered those same bomb-holes to be created by nonetheless than Danial Franck et al. World class terrain with world class riders is what we like to see and in the week we were at this place the riders just kept on coming, as soon as the Salomon team had destroyed their 30ft quarter pipes the Burton team arrived to build their own on the next cornice down the slope. They needn't worry about getting similar photo's because Termas Chillan is all about variety, you will find some of the best snowboarding terrain anywhere on the planet at this Mountain. What our recipe really needed was 5km runs littered with dozens of cornices ranging in height from 10 to 40ft, Termas Chillan provided these ingredients and some. Combine this terrain with constant snowfall over night and you have the recipe of success. Our intended 4 days stay turned into 8 and still the snow continued to fall. Even the young Chilean schoolgirls joined in with mother nature and begged us to stay, how else could you interpret "You! You take me to your room now!!!" Interesting instructions when you are standing in line at the buffet table, but hey these crazy Chilean chicas eh? Unfortunately with commitments up Nth in Portillo we had to leave the demanding young girls and powder to a group of EuroTrash hardbooters whose beer we had been drinking all week.

Driving North along the Americana for two days, eating nothing but bad empanada's (like Pasties) only became scary when the correlation between the number of dead dogs on the side of the road was drawn with the number of huts selling empanada's. Knowing we wouldn't be eating empanada's in Portillo the Hyundai began to reach speeds it was not designed for.

Portillo, located just before the Chilean customs post on the Trans-Andean Highway to Argentina is only a 3-empanada drive from Santiago.
This area is to the North of Santiago is where you come to see BIG mountains, just near Portillo stands a monster - Aconcagua (the southern hemisphere's highest mountain). As well as the scenery Portillo is the place to go for the boutique snow experience. With far superior facilities and hospitality than any other Chilean resort you quickly forget that the mountain is not really suited to snowboarders.
Taking in the astounding views when we got there we didn't know whether to go explore the impossibly steep looking runs or the enticing outdoor pool, complete with one of the best views you'll ever have while half naked.
Although the sun had taken its toll on the snow (you get a lot of sun at Portillo) we chose to board, after all the pool along with the beers could wait (until at least midday)!
The majority (70%) of the mountain is intermediate groomers however the 20% of steeps are a inspiring if you are a fan of gnarly chutes. Its even more inspiring if you like weird arse t-bar lifts unique to Portillo and aptly named 'Slingshot ' lifts. Designed in the 60's to permit access to the high avalanche chutes they really have to seen to be believed. Riding a 5 person side-by-side button lift (Poma) at warp speed up 50deg slopes makes a nutcracker look fun.

The clientele of Portillo are not what you would exactly term 'adventurous', most prefer to be on the slopes late morning put in a few runs and head in for the huge buffet lunch in the dining room. Ensuring the 15cm of snow that fell over night would be ours wasn't going to be difficult so we took advantage of the opportunity to have another beer knowing we would not have to be rushed in the morning to beat the other guests. A guest is what you are at Portillo because the snow is really on part of the attraction of this place. With an indoor basketball court, games room not forgetting our favourite - the swimming pool - Portillo has a very comfortable 'club' atmosphere. A few of the clienteles' fashions will probably scare you but its all part of the experience.

3 days of more swimming than snowboarding and we were sufficiently relaxed enough to tackle those yellow monsters of Santiago again. It was time to leave this amazing scenery, found in a country filled with diversity both in nature and peoples. Our recipe for something different to the overcrowded mounds of snow in Australia was well and truly baked.