Ski Chile 2024 sputter sputter

[garyfromterrace]

Ha. Skied with Silas a bit last week. Solid human being.

Truth! First time I skied on Rainier I met him. Then he gives me a Rainier beer. It was love at first sight.

[Casey E]

Got a call a few days ago, for a couple seats to heliski Laguna del Teno, near Curico.

Variable snow conditions, from windpack to crusty to butter to powder. Awesome terrain.

Andean foothills on the flight in from near Lontue



Hard to choose



Laguna del Teno and Volcán Planchón (an active chain)





First run on the right there, down the canaleta











Got 5 runs in







Our guide, the indefatigable Rafael Tapia









My youngest, enjoying the scenery



A few more views











The crew

[m2711c]

Nice day for it!


fact.

[Casey E]

Well the sputter has kicked in



I may be wrong, but this is about as close the 3 Valleys are going to get to a freshen up, at least until the military get their day, Sept 19, "Día de las Glorias del Ejército"



With not much snow falling at the bottom in over a month, things have taken on a brownish hue



Which hasn´t impeded my grandkids from honking the snowpark



That said, we can still ski to within 40 muddy meters of our apartment



And the upper groomers are hard but remarkably resilient if well maintained. The bottom is skiable once it warms up, around 11-12am.

[Casey E]

The attention is now moving south to the volcanos, and some recent webcams reveal newly snowed areas as we go south:



















Cloudy further south than that

[Casey E]

Mooke films with a clip from their coming movie, Volcan Osorno

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_gng...RlODBiNWFlZA==

and Heli-Touring Camp día 2

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_wEN...RlODBiNWFlZA==

[Casey E]

You know when the webcams go offline, that what you would see is not appealing, as in the case of La Parva and El Colorado, which are both switched off now. All their cams are around 2,700m, while VN is 3,000m, and is online. Portillo is always on. Chillan and Corralco are mostly online, Antillanca is variable.

[Casey E]

Not looking good for precipitation this month. This chart shows the anomalies of precipitation this winter



And the influence of the intensity of the South Pacific High (no not that one) on precipitation over the last few years



Note that 2023 and 2024 were the first years to have above normal rainfall, since 2009 (with an odd exception in 2016 when the tail end of El Niño brought rain in the summer).

So this is the meagre Sept forecast:

[Casey E]

A Laguna del Teno and Volcan Planchon-Peteroa angle, similar to the webcam



Detail of the zone between the two major cones



To the east some nice lines on Cerro San Pedro, near the border, 40km beeline from Las Leñas



Need a lot of snow, low, but wild terrain






https://www.instagram.com/p/C_daxV4J..._web_copy_link

[Casey E]

NOAA sez “The continuation of negative subsurface temperatures and enhanced low-level easterly wind anomalies supports the formation of a weak La Niña. A weaker La Niña implies that it would be less likely to result in conventional winter impacts, though predictable signals could still influence the forecast guidance (e.g., CPC's seasonal outlooks). In summary, La Niña is favored to emerge in September-November (71% chance) and is expected to persist through January-March 2025 [Fig. 7].”

Weak now is it? So it goes in this difficult-to-predict field of thought.

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/produc...ensodisc.shtml

[Casey E]

While it used to be common to find semi-feral dogs on mountain excursions, now pup sightings are limited mainly to the Husky breed, especially in the Araucania where sledding to the border is a thing.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/3c8...ibextid=WC7FNe

[Casey E]

Downhillers view of “el descenso” in La Parva, average over 100km/hr

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_x-a..._web_copy_link

[Casey E]

This is encouraging for the south



Looks like the 18th will have reasonable weather, but the Armed Forces will be breaking out the ponchos for the 19th.

[Casey E]

So for the real thing national day cuisine experience (any day this week will do, but the 18th is the best), check out “Las Pipas de Einstein”, in Santiago, where cheap bulk wine (“pipeño”) and many other delights can be had. Today at 10am there is a 4 block line up outside, according to the tv

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xRXsm9hwxfRJ...s.preview.copy









Careful with those yellow & black cabs, they love ripping off foreigners.

[Casey E]

Once the hangover is over, consider heading south

[Casey E]

Portillo says “the lifts stop spinning on Sept. 22 but we are already counting down until next year… 2025 season starts June 21. “

[Casey E]

In case anyone missed it, the armed forces parade went well

Take a hit bro


I
Then we’ll hike up the skirts!



Some of the 8,000 efectivos





The jets and other planes could be heard above the clouds



Even the pups had their place

[Casey E]

Powder Quest just said

“Closing dates for most major ski resorts in South America.

It’s been a big season in the Andes with early openings, record breaking storms and another big system dropping deep snow as we speak.

Regardless, it’s that time of year where skier demand slows, many locals start thinking about the beach, hiking, mountain biking and making out in the green grass of the city parks.

Here are the official closing dates for most ski destinations in Chile and Argentina:

Chillan September 22
Portillo September 22
Las Lenas September 30
Cerro Bayo September 30
Cerro Catedral September 30
La Parva October 8
Chapelco October 13
Valle Nevado October 20
Corralco November TBA”

There is life left in the season, it is currently snowing from Curico south

[skier666]

I wish I could embed these but here are some instagram links to my best of the best skiing from end of August...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_zfo...on_share_sheet

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_4RB...on_share_sheet

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_9w6...on_share_sheet

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAEFa...on_share_sheet

...it was good

[byates1]

^sickness

[Norseman]

holy fkn shit dude. that third vid especially is bokners

[Mike Pow]

I wish I could embed these but here are some instagram links to my best of the best skiing from end of August...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_zfo...on_share_sheet

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_4RB...on_share_sheet

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_9w6...on_share_sheet

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAEFa...on_share_sheet

...it was good

Fabulous

Any non-POV?

[garyfromterrace]

holy fkn shit dude. that third vid especially is bokners

Agree! Nice work!

[Casey E]

Great vids, thanks 666, looks like you got the last of it in the central zone.

There is one last blast coming for September, with cold temps, now I just have to figure where to go.

[Casey E]

El Colorado, kinda down in the dumps, is the first of the 3 Valleys to close

“¡Ven a disfrutar los últimos días de esta gran temporada! [emoji3555][emoji2511][emoji473][emoji3587] Estaremos abiertos de forma continua hasta el domingo 22 de Septiembre. [emoji3511] Luego abriremos para hacer un gran cierre el sábado 28 y domingo 29 de Septiembre. [emoji472] *Estaremos cerrados desde el lunes 23 hasta el viernes 27 de septiembre. [emoji2511] “

Avalanches of discounts was another sign of the limbo they are living. No news on the purchase by MCP, but I believe between the due diligence, regulatory oversight, and board discord, there is a low chance of getting one owner of the 3 Valleys.