A la Nieve

One of the things I knew I had to do while here in Chile is go skiing.  It's actually surprising that it took me until the end of the season to do it, given the fact that the Andes are staring me in the face every day, their snow-capped peaks taunting me and giving me the itch for fresh powder. Unfortunately, last Tuesday when I ventured up to Valle Nevado, there was no fresh powder to be had, but the experience of skiing in the Andes was nonetheless an unforgetable one.

Quite honestly, the snow was kind of crappy--they hadn't had a good snow fall in a couple weeks, and the spring-like sunshine was melting what they did have quickly. A good portion of the slopes were closed and there were more than a couple brown patches, where the muddy earth was starting to peak through the thin snow cover. But I could see how the skiing would be awesome with a foot or so of fresh snow. The set-up was unlike anything I had ever seen before. There weren't really trails per-se; it was more like a free for all, with skiers and snowboarders taking their pick of a path down the face of the mountain.

We had quite a laugh with the handle lifts that they used in place of chair lifts for some slopes, with my snowboarder friend getting jolted and dragged up by his arms the first couple of tries...I don't think they are made with snowboarders in mind. And just like their lower-maintenance lifts, Valle Nevado, though apparently one of the most developed ski resorts, was pretty bare-bones as far as infrastructure goes. I found this a pleasant break from the commercialized atmospheres in places like Colorado, with their mountain-top villages and ski-in-ski-out chalets dotting the slopes. We had packed a sandwich lunch and a couple cervezas and enjoyed it under the warm early spring sun on the deck of the lodge (and, no one bothered us about "picnicking" like they undoubtedly would have in the states). And I guess it's been a while since I've done a full day of skiing, because after our ride back to Santiago, down the hair-raising switchback road, I was absolutely exhausted...and fell asleep earlier than I have in I can't remember how long...8:45!