It’s June and ski season in the Southern Hemisphere has officially begun. From our balcony, we can gaze out and see the nearest ski resorts in the distance. This weekend, we decided it was time to see them up close. Early on Saturday, we packed up the Jeep, picked up some friends and took the winding mountain road to the El Colorado ski center.
Given it’s proximity to the Andes, there are several different options within easy driving distance from Santiago. The most famous and highest rated in the area is Portillo, which is located near the Argentine border, about a 2 hour drive from the city with no traffic. Since we were only going for a day trip, and this was our first venture, we decided to head to an area know as Tres Valles (Three Valleys), which is home to several ski centers including La Parva, Farellones, El Colorado and Valle Nevado. These resorts can all be reached by the same road and are less than 1.5 hours from our apartment, making them great options for a day trip to the slopes.
We had originally set our sights on the Valle Nevado ski center, which is a bit further along the road, but at a check point on the way up we were told that only cars with chains were being allowed on the road to Valle Nevado due to road conditions. Fortunately, it was easy to divert our route toward El Colorado, and we reached the small ski village by 9am.
Upon arrival, we grabbed a cup of coffee and a small breakfast at the Juan Valdez cafe, in the main ski lodge. As we enjoyed our breakfast, we looked back toward the city and marveled at the views. It always amazes me how much your perspective can change by driving just an hour in the mountains. From our perch, we could see the city clearly, especially in the morning before the smog began to accumulate in the valley.
After breakfast, we headed down to check out the prices for day skiing and equipment rental. Our friends are getting ready to head off for 2.5 months of backpacking, and Matt and I have ski experience that is limited to the hills of Ohio and Michigan, so we decided to take it easy on our legs and our budgets with a half day pass, starting at 1:30PM.
Prices for day skiing at the main ticket office are as follows (in CLP):
All weekends are at the high (alta) rate, so we paid 30,000 CLP (about 45 USD) for a half day pass beginning at 1:30. A full day would have been about 70 USD. You are also required to pay an additional 5,000 CLP for a skipass, which can then be recharged an unlimited amount of times (“You can come back and use it when you’re 60 if you want”). The rates available if you purchase or recharge your skipass online are discounted compared to the rates that you will get at the ticket office, so if you know ahead of time that you will be visiting, it’s worth buying online both to get the discount and to skip the line.
Also worth noting, if you want to buy the half day pass, you need to wait until just before 1:30 to purchase it. We tried purchasing the pass earlier in the day, but were told that the discount only applies if you purchase the pass itself during the afternoon hours.
We paid an additional 20,000 CLP (approx. 30 USD) for equipment rental. There is a large rental area within the main lodge that was quite crowded, but we walked just up the road to another rental shop, and were able to walk right in and get our equipment with no wait.
After eating a hearty lunch at the lodge restaurant (they offer a cafeteria style, all inclusive lunch for 11,000 CLP), we were ready to hit the slopes!
As I mentioned, while I had skied before, my experience has been limited to ski centers in Ohio and Michigan, which are far cry from skiing in the world’s second largest mountain range. I was a bit nervous, but mostly excited to make my first run down a real mountain.
All in all, I think I struggled more on the tow lifts than I did coming down the mountain. Having only ever ridden on chair lifts, I had no idea what I was doing as I maneuvered my way in front the approaching t-bar with our friend Selim. Having skied many times in Europe, he was familiar with this type of lift, and reminded me as we waited for the bar to reach us, “Just let it grab you…don’t sit down.”
So, naturally, as the bar came up behind me, I did the complete opposite and immediately sat down. This pulled the bar toward the ground, knocked Selim off to one side, and dragged my left leg few feet before leaving me on the ground on the other side. Things were off to a good start.
Fortunately, attempt #2 was successful, and from there we were on our way. We warmed up with a few trips down the beginner slope, and then worked our way further over onto some more advanced runs. I took a few spills, but overall had a blast.
The slopes closed down for the day at 5pm. We returned our equipment and headed back toward Santiago, catching a beautiful sunset as we descended into the valley. Things were going smoothly when, halfway home, we hit dead stopped traffic. After being stuck for about an hour, a car coming the other direction stopped and reported that there had been a cyclist hit by a car a ways up the road, and that the entire highway had been shut down temporarily.
This was a good reminder that, in South America, it’s best to always plan for some sort of unexpected delay when traveling. Even in Chile, which has more advanced infrastructure, we often need to change plans on the fly. Sometimes its a road closing due to an accident, other times subway service is suspended due to flooding or protests, and still other times, you arrive to a park, restaurant or shop only to find it closed during its posted opening hours.
Even with the delay, we were back home by 9PM, exhausted but satisfied with our first ski adventure of the season. Having world class ski slopes an easy (ish) drive away is definitely exciting and something we hope to take advantage of throughout the coming months.
