Skiing in heaven - Sunday, Aug 17

[Photos above: me pausing enroute for photo, group shot minus Sandy and Shelley who were filming, view for final run of the "summer season"]

What an amazing way to end our trip! After over 24 hours of continuous snow, the day dawned bright and clear. All the better to view the winter wonderland the mountain had become. The staff at El Colorado groomed many swaths down the mountain as they could really use the coverage the heavy snowfall provided. The grooming was a little rough. Casey explained it usually is after a big dump as there are many air pockets in the snow. Watching the cats yesterday evening attempt the task was something as the snow was higher than their tracks. There was plenty of snow off-piste that wasn't groomed but it was super heavy. Most of us did not have the strength left in our legs after yesterday to give it a go. Casey, however, made it look easy as he floated through it.

A lot of photos were taken as we wanted to capture the beauty of the place with the fresh layer of snow. We started skiing at 9:00 today rather than 9:30 and carried through to lunch without taking a break. After one last fondue it was time to head back to the hotel to shower and finish packing to head to Santiago. Our one autobus gave us a little scare as it didn't show up until an hour after it was due. It then got stuck turning around through the snow as soon as we got in. It took us only the first few switchbacks before we had to transfer into an older mini-bus for the rest of the journey. I noted that there are 38 marked switchbacks on the mountain yet there are easily a half dozen before the marked switchbacks and that many again at the bottom. The top switchbacks were slushy for our return trip and the mini-bus had chains on its tires that he had to stop and remove once we got below the snow. Luckily he took the turns at a much more moderate speed than the small cars whizzing past us.

The mountain looked quite different on the way down than it had a week previously. The snow line extended much further down. In fact, we even saw cacti covered in snow. We also noted more horses grazing on the side of the mountain. They did not look comfortable. Even with the late bus, we made it to the airport in plenty of time and were able to get to duty-free before boarding.

I am now an adamant proponent of melatonin as I again took a couple before the flight. I stayed awake for dinner on the plane and then fell asleep until breakfast. Even with an uneasy, fitfull sleep, being asleep during most of it certainly makes an 11 hour flight shorter! It was a weird coincidence that Casey and I were seated together given that I didn't book as part of the group and it was a huge plane. It worked out well though as I could get up when he did and stretch occasionally through the flight.

When I got off the plane in Toronto it felt like I had traveled somewhere tropical. The hot cloying weather made me yearn for the crisp cool air we had left behind. There was a lot of hugging at the airport as the group said their good-byes with most of us driving to our homes in southern Ontario and Ginny and Casey flying on to Edmonton and Calgary respectively.

All in all, the trip to Chile was a great experience. I am glad I got to see another part of the world. Though further than Europe, the travel was actually easier than getting to most ski destinations in Europe. The people on the trip were completely first rate. Sandy and Casey did a fantastic job helping us improve our skiing and showing us a good time. What a fantastic trip!

POW POW!!! - Saturday, Aug 15

[Photos above: our overnight snowfall, making snow angels]

Wow! What a day! Woke up to at least a couple feet of fresh powder with a bucket load still coming down. The mountain looked completely different today - a veritable winter wonderland. I was really glad the last two days weren't too intense so I had some energy for the deep, deep snow.

Sandy started us off with some slower skiing, leading into turns with a wedge, the Jeep of the Alps. We then went on an extended adventure as we couldn't see where we were on the mountain due to the snow that was puking down. (Sorry, couldn't think of a more descriptive word than puking.) At one point Sandy went the wrong way and started down a gulley where we had noticed big rocks the day before. He realized his error in time to redirect the rest of us the right way. For him to get out he had to take off his skis and climb up a cliff. At the top part of it there was no rock, only snow, and Sandy was concerned it may give way. To help Greg got on his stomach and helped pull him up. Excitement!

As the morning progressed we all got more comfortable and competent with skiing the powder. As if to challenge us, it kept snowing hard through the day making each run fresh tracks and each run deeper than the last. I learned the hard way never to take your goggles off on a humid day like today. They fogged up so badly I felt like I was skiing underwater. I had one wipeout where I landed on my face. I spit out a mouthful of snow before clearing my snowfilled goggles. Luckily any falls felt like landing on a pile of pillows. By afternoon we did a run where the snow was mid-thigh. We had to pretty much straight run it. I felt like a human snowplow! What an unbelievable day!!!

We are now doing apres at the one bar at the base of the mountain so I best get back to my group. We still ski tomorrow morning before heading back. It is going to be incredible as they are calling for sun with all this wicked, wicked snow. What a fantastic way to end the trip!

P.S., Josh, eat your heart out!

Skiing Day 5 - Friday, Aug 14

[Photo above: clockwise from bottom left - Rory, Steve, Shelley, Casey, and Sandy playing euchre]

Trying to get wireless access in this hotel sucks. I guess I'll have to go back to the bar with my computer tomorrow to update my blog and add photos.It is incredibly stormy here tonight. The wind is howling so hard that anything not solidly secured is flying across the mountain. We are lucky that our room is on the opposite side of the direction of the wind as the other condos have windows shaking and breezes coming through them.It was the windiest day I've ever skiied. Because of the intense wind no chairlifts were running. Even the t-bars were running really slowly. One time I came over a ridge and the wind I hit was so strong it almost stopped me dead in my tracks.

We had a mid-morning break where I tried milo for the first time. It is a type of hot chocolate that is popular in the southern hemisphere including Australia. It was very good. At lunch six of us shared a delicious cheese fondue. By that point the lifts were all closed so we had no choice but to call it a day. Pam, Ginny, and I checked out the two small hillside shops and then walked back to the hotel.The afternoon and evening's entertainment once again centred around the one deck of cards I had thought to bring. I finally learned how to play euchre. I wish I had brought my dominos! Hopefully the weather improves for tomorrow. Good night.

Skiing Day 4 - Thursday, Aug 13

[Photo above: our hotel, the Monte Blanco]

Yay! Internet access! Posting all my blogs today. I think the week is catching up on me as I am feeling quite fatigued, not to mention a little sore. The sad thing is that I'm convinced that it is more from the t-bars than skiing! The winds were howling this morning. The chairlifts were not open so we rode the t-bars to the top and did a few runs before even the t-bars were closed due to the high winds. We had quite an adventure making our way through the 100 km/hr winds with 160 km/hr with gusts back to the main chalet. After an extended coffee break we made the call to call it a day and headed back to the hotel. Of course once we had changed into regular clothes, the winds died down and the lifts re-opened. Pam and I decided to still call it a day. I thought I'd have a better rest of the week if I rested my sore muscles today. TTYS.

Skiing Day 3 - Wednesday, Aug 12

[Photos above: mountain view during coffee break. Lunch time. Mmmm....crepes....]

Very different weather today. Overcast and chilly. Still warm by Canadian winter standards but not like the summer weather we've been having. The frozen over slushy snow from yesterday made for some challenging runs. Conditions were better on the far side of the mountain which is serviced by, you guessed it, t-bars. The wind is howling now so it will be interesting to see what it will be like tomorrow.

We skiied with Casey again today. There were only three of us with him today so we each got tons of individual attention. My short radius turns were back to being as good as they were last year. :) My knee has not been an issue. :) :) :)

The gang is now playing euchre with a deck of cards I brought. I am actually going to hit the sack soon as I'm wiped after another full day. Buenos noches.

Skiing Day 2 - Tuesday, Aug 11

[Photos above: 1) The view from my room. Note Santiago down in the valley. 2) Apres ski

Another beautiful sunny day! I'm already sporting a better tan from these two days than the rest of summer. Wore just shell layers today as it was really warm.

We broke up into 2 groups for the morning to do some ski improvement. Casey led our group of four. The theme of the lesson was using only the movement necessary to accomplish the task - a great theme for day 2. It was very effective. My short radius turns were fun and snappy under this guidance. It felt awesome particularly under the beating sun on hero snow.
I shared lunch with Pam today. Lunch was again on a deck in as little layers as we could manage. In the afternoon the entire group reunited and did some fast carving runs. My legs (EVEN MY KNEE!!!) are holding up beautifully! I am taking a couple Advil every morning to manage the swelling in my knee and it's working well.

My skis are not faring as well. I hit a rock while following Casey down a run. I managed to keep my balance but tore a strip out of one of my bases. We'll have to fix it before we can before I head out tomorrow.

Everyone has gone to sleep already. I think a few were partying too hard earlier in the week and are using today to catch up. It seems there may be wireless in a common room downstairs. I'll have to check it out tomorrow after skiing. Good night.

Skiing Day 1 - Monday, Aug 10

[Photos above: the group of 11 and the switchbacks on the way to Valle Nevado]

What a beautiful day! The sun was shining. The sky was bright blue. I got more sun skiing today than I have the rest of our "summer" combined. It was super warm. I was wearing only a shell with one top and had my zips wide open and was toqueless. I had my gloves off for most lifts. Tomorrow I'm going to try my shell pants, soft shell jacket, spring gloves, and sunglasses. The condo is visible from most of the ski area but involves tons of stairs so is not an incredibly easy place to get back to to drop off layers.

All 11 skiied together today. Everyone is at least a Level 2 instructor so all ski well. The terrain is really wide open, much like glacier skiing. Like glacier skiing, we did have a few t-bar rides but luckily here they were interspersed with chairlift rides. Feeling really natural to be skiing.

Dinner was good tonight. Food on the hill for lunch was quite expensive but huge portions so I'm going to try to share with someone tomorrow. Time for bed now. We are meeting for breakfast at 8:00. Buenos noches.

Arrival at El Colorado - August 9

A very interesting drive today. The 20 switchbacks required 30-some odd turns to get us to our mountain top destination. The road is one way with traffic going up in the morning and down in the afternoon. The road was very narrow with no shoulders yet three little cars managed to snake their way by our little van. Most of the way the mountain side was very arid with yellowed grass and cacti. It wasn't until we got near the top that we saw snow.

It is very warm. I walked around wearing only a long sleaved t-shirt and jeans. The sun is bright and you can see for miles. Our hotel is perched at the top of a ridge. You have to walk up three sets of stairs before you can even begin walking up to the third floor that I'm on. The rooms are actually little suites with two bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, a living room and kitchenette. They are very basic and a little less than clean. There are three people per suite and I'm lucky enough to have the single room with Queen sized bed in mine. I have a big closet with tons of shelves and a window with an incredible view of the mountainscape with Santiago lit up below. There was a beautiful sunset view tonight. My two roommates are Ginnie from Edmonton and Shelley from Toronto. I know them, and for that matter everyone else on the trip, from Zermatt.

What we can see of the ski area actually reminds me of Zermatt. We are above the tree line with wide open runs and lots of suface lifts. We'll see what I think of it tomorrow. There is nothing else really here other than the skiing.

Everyone has already gone to sleep and I will be joining them shortly. Good night!

Santiago - Aug 8

Sorry I haven't written sooner. It's been a whirlwind 24 hours. Our flight left late as there was a mechanical issue with the emergency floor lights. We almost missed it as we went to a quieter area to wait as the gate was extremely busy and noisy. I guess the reason the area was quiet was because you couldn't hear announcements. Oops!

The flight was really good. I took a couple of melatonin pills to make me sleepy and managed an hour sleep right around take-off. I then woke up for a decent pasta dinner and watched "The Boat that Rocked" which was pretty good. Afterwards I fell back to sleep for four hours. Fantastic! What a difference some sleep makes. The flight seemed shorter than flying to Vancouver.

Our hotel, the Park Plaza, was really nice. Very personal service. In fact, everyone in Chile is extremely nice. The people are a mix of Spanish-looking and indigineous. Everyone has dark hair and dark eyes. Chile has about 16 million people, 30-40% of which live in Santiago. So with a population of aroind 5 million, Santiago is around the same size as the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

After checking in to the hotel we took the metro (subway) to the old downtown. The metro, like the whole city really, is super clean. It was also fast, smooth, and cheap. There was a lot going on in the old city - tons of people everywhere, impromptu parades. There were some beautiful buildings, particularly the Cathedral Metropolitana in Plaza de Armas, the original town square. There are palm trees throughout the city so compared to our winters, or even this year's summer, the weather was fantastic. I wore only a t-shirt and jeans most of the day, occasionally slipping on a hoodie in the shade. We had lunch at an outdoor patio. Menus are only in Spanish but I recognize enough foods to get by. In fact I ended up being our little group's guide and translator, remembering more Spanish than I expected.

On our way back to the metro station we wound our way throught the Barrio Paris-Londres - cobblestone streets and more great buildings. On the other end of the metro we stopped at a gelateria for gelattos. Prices for everything are really good here although everything sounds expensive due to all of the zeros in the currency. For example my gellato was 1,000 pecos which is $2.22 Canadian.

Back at the hotel I had an hour nap and the got ready to go out. Then two other members of our ski group, Brenda and Greg, met Rory, Steve, and I for drinks at our hotel. Our hotel had given us each a coupon for a complimentary pisco sour. Yummy! Very similar to a lime margarita but with icing sugar and a raw egg white thrown into the mix. Does that qualify as an energy drink?

For dinner we walked six blocks to Bar Liguaria, a restaurant I had read about in my guide book. It was FANTASTIC! It had a really fun and vibrant atmosphere. The service was stellar. Food was tasty and really well-priced. With our bread they brought a home-made salsa and garlic butter. Delish! Everyone was very happy with my selection.

I got home early enough to get a good eight hours sleep. Nice to be starting a trip well rested! A buffet breakfast was included at the hotel. The fruit was incredible! Hard to believe it is winter here given the freshness and variety of fruit. There were two fruit I had never even seen before. One kiwi-coloured fruit looked like a cross between a dragon fruit and a kiwi. Another fruit's colour and flavour was a cross between a papaya and mango with the texture of a melon. Yum!

I'm now at the airport picking up the rest of the group. We are about to leave for the mountains. I didn't bother paying for wireless in Santiago but am hoping I'll get it at our next destination so I can post future write-ups and photos on my blog. Either way I'll write more soon!