One nice thing about being in Chile while still visiting people in the US is that I get two winters per year. I guess the dream is to have an eternal winter, but two per year isn’t bad.

While I was traveling, storms dumped a meter and a half of snow in the Andes above Santiago. I returned back to Santiago to news that several of the ski resorts would be opening this weekend and a friend was thinking about going up to enjoy the fresh snow. Two more friends from Concepción were visiting Santiago this weekend, so the four of us decided to make a day trip up to Valle Nevado.

We got a pre-dawn start and were on a bus across town along with a crowd of sleepy santiaguinos. After a bit of time arranging lift tickets and a ride up to the mountain, we were on our way up to, and through the windy section of road leading to the ski resorts. We arrived at 10:30 and started skiing.

The snow conditions were pretty good. It took me a while to get my form back – I felt unfit and sluggish – but I eventually recovered it.

Image for Valle Nevado View
Image for Graeme and Woody
Image for Me at Valle Nevado

After skiing for a couple hours we met for lunch at the mid-mountain facilities. The temperature was around 0C and there was a little bit of sun, so we took advantage of the opportunity to eat our lunch outside. We timed the meal perfectly; as we finished clouds rolled in, the wind picked up, and snow started flying. This made for very flat lighting and challenging skiing, but the new snow accumulation was welcome (you can never have too much fresh snow!).

The storm broke an hour or two later and we were graced with the combination of fresh snow and good lighting. My form finally came together on the last few runs, making a great start to the season.

We capped off the day with a pisco sour in the lodge before heading back to Santiago.