An Andes Winter: Parte Uno

I've finally hit my month mark here in Chile and it's been a pretty slow one. For my 15 days in July, except for the 3 days of travel, they were days of sitting around waiting. Waiting for snow to fall as everyone here has been telling me, "Just wait for August and you will see!"



So we waited for the snow to fall, patiently. With the conditions we saw opportunities to climb the volcanoes in the area without any concern over the snowpack as it was basically concrete on a hot summer day.

Antuco and Sierra Velluda in the distance.

It was a little icy in July and required crampons...fun!

The summit of Volcan Viejo wasn't ride-able in July.

Eating lunch just below Volcan Nuevo

We summited Volcan Chillan Viejo ("Old Volcano" at 3122m) and had other John Muir days mixed in of "poking around the forest." It was fun to see the area while what I would now know being at it's worst, and accomplishing to say that I have climbed to the top of a volcano.

The terrain in the backcountry feels like you are out really far away from civilzation. In truth though, you are. Where in Utah a typical hike takes maybe an hour and a half to 2 hours from the road, conversely here, you can plan on having 5 hour treks to reach the summits. The access takes more cardio here forcing you to work a little harder going up on top of rolling hills and down into valleys to go back up another rolling hill to reach your destination.

Mark Beach is the little speck center frame.

Long, flat approaches lead to photoshoots out of boredom.

The Andies are, pretty big. (Photo by George Hargis)

The distances here when staring at the Volcans are deceptively long. You might look at it and think, that'll take an hour and a half to get to. When in reality, you check your watch and it's been 3 and you feel like you haven't gotten anywhere.

The sun stays out near the summits nearly all day, unless the wind is howling with cloud coverage. I rarely wear a facemask back in Utah but here, it can be necessary to wear to avoid wind damage to your face.

The options are limitless to what can be ridden making it possible to never see another person. There is tons of variety to the terrain here too; chutes, big open bowls, drops - whatever strikes your fancy unless it's tree riding. The tree riding is nearly nonexistant until you get down near lower elevations. I'm not sure exactly why it's the case, but my theory is because of the high winds that can commonly reach up to 50mph with 60mph gusts.

The 1st of August called for a small storm at night with storms on the 2nd and 3rd throughout the day. Then another storm hit on August 4th, making the snow totals reaching a foot plus of snow. I couldn't believe it but I guess the locals and regulars here at Las Trancas were right. The storms finally arrived!

I don't have a ruler so my Goal Zero Switch 8 was a marker.

So I hiked up solo to the resort, Nevados de Chillan, as my friends had employee passes and had a powder day. I wouldn't call it deep, because of the winds during the storm at night  pushing everything around, but the snow was soft like Utah, wind was dead (rare occasion), and to boot it was a bluebird day. It was hard to complain after having such a dry spell in July, and it being August when I should be baking in 100 degree heat in Utah. Slashing turns and the realization that it's the beginning of August is something that I still can't comprehend, including that I can't even comprehend that I am so far away from home right now in South America. Unfortunately, it didn't last long to have subsequent powder day because of the winds pushing snow around and the sun baking it. The after storm snow started as soft powder to a spring-like mush as 4:30pm hit.

Snow ain't the best yet, but you won't hear me complain about it in August.

Nevados de Chillan, the resort here (click for trail map), resembles the backcountry that is beyond where the chairlifts can take you, a playful powder place: rollers, cornice drops with perfect landings, no crowds, creating memorable pow lines throughout the day.

View of Nevados de Chillan from mid-mountain.

I don't know a better way to describe the terrain here other than as a barren wintery desert. The landscape has very limited trees, with huge open bowls like riding on a glacier in Alaska. You can carve huge, wide turns taking advantage of the new snow and feeling like you have the place to yourself.

View from Volcan Viejo

Cornices develop because of the strong winds, which creates these perfect drops to play on. 30 foot cornices to 10 footers are common. They are stable and add more to this already playful place making me, personally, let out a "wahoo!" everytime.

Mark Beach boosting over mini-mini-cornice to an endless, untouched powder field. Not a bad view, don't you think?

The crowds don't exist here and if you arrive early in the morning you will have the place to yourself. Because of the Chilean culture being, not so much lazy but, where timeliness isn't a huge priority. So getting to the resort early feels like a backcountry experience in itself.

So close, yet so far. (Nevados de Chillan)

A few days after the storm, we decided on another objective, the Nevados de Chillan peak. Getting to Nevados de Chillan, not to be confused with the resort name but a peak up past the resort, was a slog like everything else here. Taking us about 3 hours from the last chairlift we got a couple laps around the backside of the visible terrain from Las Trancas. The snow was wind-blown making it feel like it was freshly fallen. I'll take that any day as the avalanche conditions were still stable. Everything here is an adventure and the backcountry terrain resembles that perfectly. Unfortunately, we didn't summit the 3500m plus peak but we will get it another day.

Photo by: George Hargis

August 11th through the 14th has been some of the best snowboarding I have done in my life. We got hit with yet another big storm making the 11th worth it to buy a lift pass at Nevados de Chillan. It's hard to do so when the pass prices are still around $70 American. It was worth it though being able to hit this entire, winter amusement park with friends. We even had the chance to drop a clean first line right off of one of the chairs. The snow was perfect, Utah-soft and plentiful too, making that day one of the best I've had all Summer season until around 1:30 when it started to get warm near the base making the snow a little crunchy. We decided to hike up as far as we could get by 4:30pm and drop. It was worth the hike as we put another clean, untouched line of the soft powder we encountered in the beginning of the day.

Splitboards should not be on chairs! Laziness on a pow day.

Oh that's right, THIS is why I paid for a pass.

On the 12th we met up with some friends and hiked Valle Hermosa, the backside (and lookers right) of the resort. It was incredible, and this is where you really feel alone. Tom, Mark, and I got to the top of one of the peaks to scope out a line right on this big fin. We had to climb the backside of the fin to drop the frontside making it more of a splitboard mountaineering mission than anticipated. We had to strap our boards to our backs and climb up this rock-ice 25 feet high. It was a little sketchy as the rock was chossy, aka weakly bonded, and the drop off the left if you slipped was a good 250 feet down a rock field.

Even with the high wind during the night before, we were shocked, the snow held up perfectly. We dug a snow pit to check conditions and after getting an ECT test of 28 (a propogation test) we felt pretty confident that everything would hold on that slope. Dropping those first lines onto that fin was a quick shot but was one of the more memorable runs I've had.

It's not snowboarding until you climb a icy rock talus with your board on your back.

The rock we had to climb from another view. (Photo by Mark Beach)

mmmm that's good first line. Mark Beach riding the fin. (Photo by George Hargis)

Ellen getting her powder fix.

George taking the path most desired. So fresh and so clean all day long. (Photo by Mark Beach)

On the 13th our crew headed to the hot springs up on the mountain. There are a network of rivers, called Valle de Aguas Calientes, that run off the volcano with steaming hot water, some of it too hot to sit in. We toured in about 2 hours to drop a pre-spring-like line and hung out in the hot springs 2,500 ft above the ski resort for about 2 hours. The water on my bare skin was a rejuvination, as I hadn't showered in, well, I'm not exactly sure. That's when you know it's been awhile. The hike back out took another 2 hours and a quick drop into Valle Hermosa cutting through quick 20-30 yard chutes and open snow fields.

Wait...we have to skin 2 hours out of here. A realization that came much later.

Here's a very rough video from my GoPro that I took from August 12th.

Exploring outside the resort has been the most fulfilling experiences to date. Hiking up to the tops of Volcans my eyes seem to wander around staring at the incredible scenery that are the Andes. It never ceases to take my breath away the way the mountains resemble an ocean of craggy peaks and deep valleys. When we first climbed to the top of Volcan Viejo we all just stared out silently into the distance and reality hit knowing that there would be serious commitment to hitting this terrain since we can't afford a helicopter to fly into these zones.

The Andes have been an incredible experience for me so far, and yet I still have another month left here. The Andes are vast, unexplored, and exponentially wider than your eyes can fathom. I can't believe I have had the opportunity to be here and I look forward to what the rest of this trip has in store!

Pray for snow!

Mark, George, Ellen, Tom, and myself before dropping to end the day. A great day to spend with a great crew!

Other photos worth noting:

Chairs are down due to 50mph winds, guess we're hiking.

After storm mid-mountain restaurant.

Home with the alpen glow (pink) above the sun setting. Beautiful place to live, even for 6 people for that tiny cabin.