I've spent my whole life living near the mountains. I lived in the same house at the base of the mountains in Sandy, Utah for 18 years, then lived in Denver for 2 for college and now I'm here in Chile. Some of my favorite memories have been in the mountains around the states, Canada and Costa Rica and now adding Chile to that list. I think it's the shrill peace and beauty that encompasses mountains of any kind. They're the closest to God I'll ever physically be without flying.
Today was incredible! A group of 20 of us gringos headed to Portillo on the Argentina/Chile boarder at 5:30am with a company called Ski Portillo Viña . After a couple of hours of travel in the back of a van we were nearly there until......the pass was closed :( In Chile there isn't much urge for time or hurriedness and schedules aren't followed too strictly. That being said we hung out in a line of cars for 90 minutes waiting to go the last 20km to Portillo. Finally or driver just decided to pass the line of cars and start his ascent toward the resort. We still have no idea how he got past the people guarding the pass, but they let us go. They probably said something like "the pass is really dangerous and it's still icy so use at your own risk." That's exactly what we did and we made it up the 31 switchbacks and arrived a the resort. There are no guard rails on this pass, signs that show cars falling off cliffs, and ice all over. We all got fitted for our gear and started to shred. Everyone had an incredible time and at no point in time did it seem real that we were actually skiing in the Andes. I loved the snow, friends and the beauty. It was a perfect bluebird day with not a cloud in sight and the sun glistening on the lake at the base of the resort.
That was the best $90USD I've spent in awhile for a lift ticket, rentals and transportation.
"The mountains were his masters. They rimmed in life. They were the cup of reality, beyond growth, beyond struggle and death. They were his absolute unity in the midst of eternal change."-Thomas Wolfe
Today was incredible! A group of 20 of us gringos headed to Portillo on the Argentina/Chile boarder at 5:30am with a company called Ski Portillo Viña . After a couple of hours of travel in the back of a van we were nearly there until......the pass was closed :( In Chile there isn't much urge for time or hurriedness and schedules aren't followed too strictly. That being said we hung out in a line of cars for 90 minutes waiting to go the last 20km to Portillo. Finally or driver just decided to pass the line of cars and start his ascent toward the resort. We still have no idea how he got past the people guarding the pass, but they let us go. They probably said something like "the pass is really dangerous and it's still icy so use at your own risk." That's exactly what we did and we made it up the 31 switchbacks and arrived a the resort. There are no guard rails on this pass, signs that show cars falling off cliffs, and ice all over. We all got fitted for our gear and started to shred. Everyone had an incredible time and at no point in time did it seem real that we were actually skiing in the Andes. I loved the snow, friends and the beauty. It was a perfect bluebird day with not a cloud in sight and the sun glistening on the lake at the base of the resort.
That was the best $90USD I've spent in awhile for a lift ticket, rentals and transportation.
"The mountains were his masters. They rimmed in life. They were the cup of reality, beyond growth, beyond struggle and death. They were his absolute unity in the midst of eternal change."-Thomas Wolfe
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| lake at the base |
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