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Andean Itinerary:
On August 25th I will be flying into Santiago, Chile, to spend a month skiing around the central Andes. Our
first week we plan to spend some time in Santiago for some last-minute planning before crossing the Andes to Mendoza, Argentina.
From Mendoza we will head to Vallecitos, a small ski area that is ringed by 16,000-17,000ft peaks such as Rincon and La Plata.
We hope to do some big ski descents here.
For the next week, we will head south from Vallecitos and Mendoza to Las
Leñas. We hope to catch the Santa Rosa, a mythic, once-a-year storm that is supposed to arrive during the first week of September.
Many ski friends from around the world will be there with the same hopes. After our week in LL, its back to Chile.
The
remainder of our trip will be dedicated to a region of mountains around San Jose de Maipo. From the end of the road at Baños
Morales, we will be attempting to ski the highest mountains of our trip. Volcán San Jose lies at 19,212ft, and Marmolejo,
the southern-most 20,000 foot mountain in the world, reaches about 20,039ft.
And last but not least, after our ski
plans have been completed, we hope have have enough time to head to the beach in Viña del Mar and Reñaca for some much needed
relaxation.
I return from Chile on October 3rd, which should leave me just enough time to get ready for our winter.
See you in the Wasatch!
Saludos!
dREW tABKE
Drew Tabke's South America Adventure
parts I & 2
Stop one, Valle Nevado, Chile:
I arrived in Santiago, Chile on August 25th, and met
my good friend Davide de Masi at a hostel in the city. Beautiful views in the neighborhood called Bellavista:
The Andes as seen from our hostel s upstairs patio:
We had planned on heading straight to Argentina, but being
so close to the Valle Nevado, El Colorado, and La Parva interconnected ski areas forced us into one day of skiing. It was
a good call. We had a great day of minor touring to access untouched snow in the backcountry. We bought a Valle
Nevado lift ticket, but skied through all three resorts as we toured around the surrounding terrain. For example, this face
is closer to La Parva, but we accessed it from a VN surface tow:
Davide, after skiing the first pow of our trip:
Typical views were nothing but typical. Unknown peaks to
the south:
We finished the day with a long, untracked run down backcountry
most easily accessed from El Colorados lifts, that we, however, reached with a long traverse from VNs high lift. This run
deposited us on the road well below the VN base area, but we had arranged with our bus driver to be picked up here, and
we boarded the tourist-filled bus covered in snow and wearing big grins:
The third member of our group, Ryan Carter, met us that
night in Santiago, and we soon embarked on a long bus ride over the Andes to Mendoza, Argentina, access point for Vallecitos
ski area and the Cordon del Plata region of the Andes.
Stop two, Vallecitos, Argentina:
We rented a car immediately upon arriving in Mendoza, and
the next morning, we piled our gear in a drove the 90 minutes up to Vallecitos. We spent the next couple of days getting familiar
with the area and doing a little aclimatizing, pushing up to nearly 13,000 feet on a couple of tours. The lifts currently
only take you a few hundred feet above the base area, and we only really bought the tickets to support what seems to be a
unique but struggling ski area. Lifts go much higher into the valley, but have not been running lately due to historically
low snowfall. Tragic, as it is some of the most beautiful terrain I have ever seen. Davide drags his skis along the ground,
riding what is currently the areas highest reaching chairlift; and old wooden single chair:
Davide skiing a couloir during our second day. The uncovered
moraines in the valley have lift access, but not this year:
On one of our return trips to Mendoza to get supplies, we
took these pictures of the Cordon de Plata. This is Rincon, it reaches nearly 18,000 feet, and is only a day hike above Vallecitos:
And this is a mountain whose name we do not even know. Based
on accessibility from Vallecitos, and the amount of snow that seemed present on the face, we decided to attempt to climb and
ski it:
Ryan on the looooong approach:
We got a late start due to a falty alarm clock, and it turned
out to be a serious problem. Ryan turned around after a few hours due to his stomach infection (that he picked up
in either Bolivia before he met us or at a Chinese restaurant in Santiago) flaring up. Dave and I had finally reached the
face and were climbing it with ice axe and crampons as the sun went down. We were miles from help, just pushing past 15,000
feet, and with at least 2,000 feet of climbing remaining above us. We had to make the call to turn around. I had regrets,
but in hindsight it was the right call. The view from our high point:
Davide enjoying the otherworldly views on the decent:
And skiing some low-snow, high altitude ice:
All in all it was a great day. It was the highest Davide
had ever been, and the highest both of us had skied from. We did not reach our goal, but we both left feeling great nonetheless.
The next day, we were to catch a 17 hour long ride on a bus to Bariloche, gateway to Patagonia. A huge storm was supposed
to be arriving there any minute and we were going to skip Las Leñas on our pilgrimage south in order to chase the powder.
Part II
Week 3, Bariloche, Argentina:
From Mendoza, Argentina, we had originally planned to head to Las
Leñas, the mecca of freeskiing in the Andes. But due to a low snow year and no snow in the forecast, we decided to skip it
all together and take a long bus south to Bariloche, Argentina. No doubt about it, we were storm chasing. The forecasts and
the satellites were giving us goosebumps imagining skiing deep snow in the northern reaches of Patagonia.
17 hours on a bus dropped us of in snow and howling winds
in town. We were so excited! But the next day we did not ski. Howling winds (up to 150mph) at the ski area, Cerro Catedral,
kept the mountain shut down all day. The next day, we went up under the promise of lowered winds to find this report erroneous.
We attempted to go on a short tour in bounds under a closed chair lift. What we found was about four feet of freshly fallen
snow. A dream scenario had the temperatures not skyrocketed at dawn, turning the falling snow into rain and the four feet
of snow into thick, inskiable mashed potatoes. It was a torturous ascent and descent. Passing some bamboo on the way up:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030202.jpg
We stayed in town for another day or two, constantly checking the
weather, hoping for a change and looking for other options. I came down with a bad cold, and on the only other day that I
came up to the mountain due to lifting clouds and a break in the wind, most of the moutain remained closed. The one run I
took was fun, but skiing all day in the rain was not what the doctor ordered so I returned to town on the local bus.
With no sign of change in the weather we had to pull the plug. The
trip north would commence the next day, and it would land us, we decided, in Termas de Chillan, Chile. On our way out of town,
the clouds lifted momentarilly giving us what was one of our clearest views of the whole week.:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030206.jpg
Week 4, Termas de Chillan, Chile:
The low times of the previous week were quickly forgotten once we
got to our new place. Not only was the ski area impressive, the backcountry potential as well as the building excitement around
town for September 18, Chiliean independence day, created an all out ski and party atmosphere. Just what we needed.
Davide getting some late day corn skiing on some backcountry/sidecountry
above the base area:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030328.jpg
We had rented a small cabin for the week on this road:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030345.jpg
It had some pretty decent views of the volcanoe we would spend a few
different days skiing on:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030349.jpg
Volcán Nevado is a short tour away from the top of the ski resort.
We skied on several sides of it, sometimes returning to the ski area, and sometimes skiing all the way back to town, making
for a 6,000 foot decent of unknown (but really long) length:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030311.jpg
Approaching a bowl of powder snow:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1363/1449627610_1f88a26add_b.jpg
My friend Ryan shredding the bowl of powder snow:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1165/1448746439_2d6a333fdb_b.jpg
My turn!
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1121/1449616188_fee69bc1c6_b.jpg
A couple days later Davide and I decided an overnight trip was in
order. Here is our route, the pink dot on the peak marks our campsite:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030312.jpg
Sunset from the top was all time great. Davide taking in the views:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030407.jpg
Looking back towards the volcanoes:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030395.jpg
The next morning, despite poor visibility, we headed down towards
a big scary gaping couloir. The upper snowfield was all powder and a great way to start the day:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030452.jpg
We located the couloir we were after. Very steep and narrow entrance.
I suggested Davide go first:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030455.jpg
It never really got much easier, either. Steep, long, and dark the
whole way. Davide, part way down:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030463.jpg
It was an amazing line. Looking back up from where we came:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030479.jpg
As if getting an all-time greatest sunset and an amazing ski descent
was not enough, it started to snow. And snow some more. Finally, after a month in South America, a powder day! Davide loves
powder snow:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030509.jpg
And hey, so do I:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030520.jpg
Some interesting but generally safe avalanche conditions:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030526.jpg
Finally, some soft snow to jump into. Davide:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030527.jpg
And what better than Smith goggles and Austral beer after a hard day
on the slopes:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030480.jpg
And just like that, we were out of time. Davide and I hightailed it
north, telling ourselves we would come back to that place. Davide had two days left, so we rented a car, and drove to the
roads end south of Valparaiso to find a lovely beach, with some perfect bouldering:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030565.jpg
And enjoyed the sunset in Viña del Mar:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h164/dmtabke/P1030574.jpg
Davide took off and I am still in Viña, hanging out with friends from
my 2005 season here. I find it hard to believe it has been snowing in Salt Lake City this week, but I guess that is the idea
behind this endless winter idea. Maybe I will not put my skis away afterall.
Cheers from Chile,
Drew Tabke
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