Ski Chile 2025

[mcski]

I want my baby back

[Casey E]

OK, Tapatalk works for now, so more stoke is due. Maule got the most out of that last front, as attested to by a couple new webcams en la zona.





These placid scenes belie a violent past.

A close up of a portion of the V Planchon Peteroa stretch of activity



A bit further south along the divide, east of V Descabezado Grande, the remote Calabozo complex



And the winner for most precipitation to date, V Villarrica

[Casey E]

The short/medium term weather outlook is basically blah, as in neutral, or la Nada. The south am SST anomalies show the tail end of the 2023/4 el Niño which may have brought last years May/June storms, slipping into la Niña until hovering around neutral lately.



So the forecast for June-Sept is decidedly neutral



Which means close to “normal”, or unpredictable. A dry fall, according to the Chileans. More later…

[Casey E]

So the forecast is not just affected by el Niño cycles. We also have the Madden-Julian Oscillation, or MJO

https://www.climate.gov/news-feature...why-do-we-care

And the Southern Anular Mode, or SAM

https://www.worldclimateservice.com/...ular-mode-sam/

The Aussies track them both well, and the Chileans include their charts, concluding a general dry trend.




and projects below average rainfall for MJJ



Down on the ground, rainfall to date is normal in Santiago, Curico (Maule), and Temuco (Araucania). And it is currently nuking in Portillo



They were wrong last year, and may be again this year.

[Casey E]

Laguna del Maule last Saturday, courtesy of Slava









Not bad for this time of year

[robbo mcs]

You mentioned Australian monitoring of Southern Hemisphere parameters. You may find the following sites from our Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) useful,

https://reg.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/...&period=weekly

https://reg.bom.gov.au/climate/ocean.../?index=nino34

If you go into all the sub pages there is a wealth of data on all the various indexes, with graphs, data, moving averages, color maps etc I am in Australia. Part of the reason I love your updates is you post really good info on what the Chileans are thinking about the Southern Hemisphere trends. Also, your pics and updates are just generally awesome as well

[Casey E]

These scenes today do not denote a lack of precipitation

Valle Nevado with El Cono and sta Teresa upper left



V Chillán





V Antuco




Corralco



Take that Meteo.cl!

[Casey E]

And don’t forget..

[Casey E]

Driving around Santiago oriente provides nice views of

El Plomo



El Cono and El Colorado on the right, with the Manantiales area of La Parva on the left

[Shredhead]

Has anyone stayed at the Inca lodge at Portillo? How was it and more importantly, how's the food in the cafeteria?

[m2711c]

I only had lunch there. The food was good. But the place was way crowded. Get there early. Tio Bob’s had better food and views.

[Shredhead]

Apparently, if you stay in the Inca. All your meals are in the cafeteria.
I'm thinking of treating my best ski buddy and the price difference is significant.

[jummo]

Eating in the dining room is vastly superior to the cafeteria. Both in ambience and food quality. Not to mention service.
In my experience, the best way to Portillo, is to stay in the Chalets. This requires four people and planning ahead. You get a kitchen and living area, a view of the lake, two bedrooms and bathrooms. We stop in Los Andes, and stock up on supplies on the way up.
The Chalets are less expensive than the hotel, offer more space and privacy, and include eating in the dining room. Staying in the Octagon is also a reasonable option. I would not recommend the Inca for adults, it is fairly rugged.

If all you are after is skiing, a bed at night, and basic sustenance, the Inca may suffice. Portillo has so much more to offer.

[Casey E]

Yeah, “not for adults” is about right. I remember getting woken up by drunks coming home after the disco, rowdy bathrooms, puddles, etc. Better if you are 4 buddies, and get a private room at least. Chalets sound better.

[Casey E]

Hey, this almost slipped under the radar from Corralco : "¡Sé el primero del día! Esquía incluso antes de la apertura del centro de ski y sé el primero en disfrutar del powder (detalles serán enviados vía
correo electrónico)". That, for seasons pass holders. I can just imagine the rowdy bunch of day skiers watching the local crew rip the slope before "opening".



Still few day ticket prices published yet, but a general idea is US$50 low to US$80 high season. Probably Valle Nevado is the most expensive. Slightly cheaper in the south.

La Parva/Valle Nevado seasons pass prices are now:



The dollar is at 940 pesos. This includes Les 3 Vallées 10 tickets, and passes to MCP resorts in the US of A. And vice versa. https://www.thepowerpass.ski/

[Casey E]

Colorado looking good



Too bad there is zippo on the horizon.

[Shredhead]

If all you are after is skiing, a bed at night, and basic sustenance, the Inca may suffice. Portillo has so much more to offer.

Thanks.

What's your opinion on Ski Arpa?

[jummo]

We skied at Arpa as a day trip from Portillo. It was a long ways with the last portion on very rough roads and slow going. The facilities are built to survive avalanches.
The terrain and scenery are incredible. We only got four runs which made for a long day and not much skiing. If you were staying locally and caught good snow with visibility, it would be amazing. Unfortunately, the Sponars only seem so interested in operating. They aren't open very much and don't seem to want to grow the business.
I would ski there again but would not build a trip to Chile around Ski Arpa.

[Shredhead]

Thank you for your insight!

[Casey E]

While a walk from the base is still necessary, 3 Valleys south faces 3,000m + are skiable

Las Tortolas chair and Cerro La Parva , courtesy of Slava



Valle Olímpico and Cono Este

[Casey E]

Got the place almost to himself



Now that the temps are finally dropping, word is La Parva and their new snow cannons will be furiously making snow to connect the base and the 3.100 area.

VN doesn’t have that problem, with the base 200 meters higher, and more southern exposure. They have concentrated resources on lift maintenance, preventing the frequent breakdowns of prior years.

News is “MCP está renovando infraestructura. En La Parva están modernizando los andariveles Alpha, Águilas y Fabres; y sumarán un nuevo bistró francés. También ampliaron su tienda oficial y el rental de la base.”

“En Valle Nevado, en tanto, los upgrades se enfocarán en los andariveles Andes Express, Mirador y la góndola principal. Además, remodelarán los hoteles Valle Nevado y Puerta del Sol, mejorarán la zona para principiantes, y sumarán food trucks en la cima y nuevos espacios para arriendo de equipos.”

https://dfmas.df.cl/df-mas/coffee-br...-parva-y-valle

Word is MCP has shares in, but not control, of Andacor, while they wind their way thru the regulatory process to buy El Colorado outright.

Their ticket prices, including a randonee 2 ride ticket



“non-ski” activities, and an inclusive discount

[Casey E]

On the La Parva/VN deal, Freeskier says

Power Pass: 10 days of skiing between Valle Nevado and La Parva, plus up to 15% off Valle Nevado hotel packages.
Ikon Pass: Up to seven ski days and 10% off lodging at Valle Nevado.
Mountain Collective: Up to 3 days of skiing and 15% off rack rate hotel stays at Valle Nevado.

[Viva]

My Purgatory employee pass gets me unlimited free days at both. Yay!

Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk

[skier666]

August 15th...staying in VN for heliski and groomers at the resorts. Nice to have something to look forward to!

[Casey E]

Indy pass adds Corralco

https://www.indyskipass.com/our-reso...ountain-resort