Something I am looking forward to

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Something I am looking forward to

May 16, 2009 by André

Valle Nevado – Skiing in Chile

I am scared about the smog in Santiago… yes (!) But as Liz mentioned there is a possibility to escape every weekend. The sea side is very near and has very clear and fresh air and today I investigated the ski resorts. I am originally from the Tyrolean region which is known to be one of the best places to ski in the world. I used to live within a 1 to 2 hour distance to resorts like Ischgl, St. Anton, Serfaus and Kitzbuehel so you can imagine I was not expecting much from Skiing in Santiago. However with the winter approaching very fast I wanted to do some research about the skiing options. Valle Nevado is situated 40 km from where we live in Santiago and from what I saw from the website it looks like a great place!!! It is said to be the best place to ski in South America. Have a look at the trail map below. The highest point for skiing is about 3,470 meters. The Heli skiing option on 4520 meters will make my Austrian friends really jealous. See below a trail map and a random picture I found on Flickr of Valle Nevado

Foto by: Leon Calquin

Dear Winter, now I am looking forward to you and I am no longer scared

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Posted in Chile, expat, skiing | 3 Comments

3 Responses

on May 20, 2009 at 5:33 pm | Reply Olivier Travers

Valle Nevado is nice, definitely recommended over El Colorado. You might find it a bit small but it’s quite alright for a weekend.
- on May 21, 2009 at 7:58 am | Reply André
  
  Thanks for the info. If you decide to go one day – let me know in advance, perhaps we can go together.
on May 21, 2009 at 9:54 am | Reply Olivier Travers

Sure I’ll ping if/when we go. We might not this year though because we’re buying a house and the renovation work is going to require a lot of our money and attention.

A few more tips:

- on some days you can get a discount with your cell phone. I seem to remember Entel is partnered with Valle Nevado, but it might actually be Movistar. You’ll have to text a specific number, there’s info about it in the resorts and probably on their websites as well.

- Bring your own food, the selection up in the resorts is limited and relatively expensive for its low quality.

- Hydrate well, it’s easy to get a headache at these altitudes. I’m a fan of Camelbak packs (or clones).

- Portillo I’m told is pretty nice but it’s further away, and it’s more likely the road might be closed because of snow.