Ski!

Two things tonight. First, I met with about half of my group yesterday to get a better idea for what kind of trips we want to take this semester and when we want to take them. Santiago has been great, but we're all a little antsy to get up and travel to other surrounding areas. I'm doing my best to balance trips as a group (we're 16 people from ND, so trips as a whole group will be hard) and trips by myself. One of my main goals for this semester is to take some weekend trips completely solo. I really believe you can learn a lot by travelling by yourself and I like being independent, with no one else to report to. I also want to take trips that involve serious travelling by bus or plane without short-changing myself on all the amazing places to see near Santiago. And as always, cost is an EXTREMELY important consideration. An additional variable is that I need to consider where I will be visiting with my family in December and January when they come to Chile. I really don't want to double-up on visiting any places (unless someplace really happens to be that cool), but want to have plenty of amazing places to visit with my family. By the sounds of it, I shouldn't be worrying because there is just SO MUCH to see in Chile from a natural perspective. That being said, if any of you have visited Chile/South America (or for some other reason are well informed on such things) and have recommendations for travel, they would be greatly appreciated.

But moving on. Today was one of the best days I've had here in Chile. I went skiing with my sister Cami at El Colorado. No, not that Colorado in the US, but one of the premier ski resorts outside of Santiago. After waking up at 6:00, we made our way to the shuttle company to catch our transportation into the Andes. It was an eery morning. Santiago was covered in one of the thickest fogs I've ever seen and at such an early hour on a Sunday morning, it is dead. And I mean dead. It made me think of scenes I imagined while reading the post-apocalyptic novel "The Road" if any of you have read it (I haven't seen the movie, so I don't know how it compares to that). Very few cars, dark, foggy, and quiet. We were at first worried because we didn't know if the fog would affect our skiing. Turns out we shouldn't have worried. The hour van ride East of the city into the mountains was worthy of an entire day itself. We started to climb and just never stopped. The road consisted of travelling maybe a quarter mile in one direction, taking a sharp turn uphill and continuing the drill. We must have made about 70-100 switchbacks. Even better, as we climbed, the weather just kept getting better. The fog of Santiago receded and the sun rose over the mountains. Eventually we pulled into the ski area, in full daylight, as clear as can be. It was a brisk morning, cold by Chilean standards, but nothing I'd call cold for skiing weather. After picking up our rental gear and throwing our bags in a locker, we hit the slopes.

So early in the morning the slopes were pretty empty. I split my morning between skiing with Cami and exploring on the far side of the mountain. The hills I found were completely mind-blowing! El Colorado is completely above the tree line, which makes skiing quite different than what I'm used to. Each slope is not separated by trees, but instead by an area of ungroomed snow, designated for free-skiing. Although these were marked "Expert," I didn't take this into much consideration. As there are really no pre-designated paths, if you're daring enough, you are free to trail-blaze your way around all day. These slopes were probably the steepest I've ever found, covered the roughest terrain, and were littered with huge natural rock formations. It was exhilarating, but I've also never felt so scared for my life while skiing. At one point I took one of the lifts to the highest point on the mountain, a whopping 3,333 m, or 10,936 ft. I never really knew where I was during these runs on this side of the mountain, but that didn't matter. I found a new slope for every descent, and it always lead me somewhere new and exciting. Chairlift rides and surface "T-bar" lifts (similar to a tow rope) were always enjoyable as well as I found myself riding up with random South Americans who were thrilled that I was visiting Chile.

One more memorable aspect of this skiing was the wind. Especially at the top, the wind was incredible. It could at times control the direction you were moving. Unfortunately, it often blew sharp icy crystals which were utterly unavoidable and stung like crazy. The best you could do was to stop, shield your face, and wait for it to pass, but even this just diminished the pain but never really protected you fully. One time, the wind was blowing uphill so strongly that it actually stopped me dead in my tracks. And I was going downhill! Granted it wasn't the steepest of slopes at this point, but this still amazed me. Oh and of course, the views were breathtaking in every direction you looked. As is usually the case, the pictures above just don't do it justice. Furthermore, I didn't risk bringing my camera to the more challenging backside of the mountain for fear that I would fall and crush it. I wish I had some pictures to share of this side, which was much more natural, less busy, and more naturally awe-inspiring. This was easily the best skiing of my life and worthy of a week-long vacation in and of itself. After lunch, Cami and I continued on the main side of the mountain until our bus headed back down into Santiago. The skiing was everything I dreamed it could be and then some. Buck Hill, Afton Alps, and Highland Hills just won't be the same afterwards