Skiing in the Andes - La Parva

Julia and I got the offer of a lifetime over the weekend, a good friend of mine, and an avid skier, invited us out to the mountains to go skiing.

We started off at 9:30 am from Santiago, expecting heavy traffic on the one-way road to the ski slopes.  The 1.5 hour drive took us about 3 hours as we climbed slowly up the mountain side.  Interestingly, the direction of the road changes during the day -- in the morning you can climb to the top and after 1 pm you're allowed to take the road back down to the foot of the mountain.  At the base of the mountain there is a police checkpoint where the carabineros (police officers) check to make sure you have either snow chains or 4 wheel-drive.

At approximately 10,000 feet the ski slop was beautiful, and daunting.  Julia and I spent a few hours on the "beginner" slope and Tomás and Paulina spent most of the day on their own, making their way to the top of the mountain (about 11,500 feet).  After a picnic lunch of leftover pizza and clementine oranges Julia and I hopped on the ski lift ("telesilla") for the 1.4 kilometer ride up the hill.  From there we had the pleasure of skiing back down, a fairly long descent with spectacular views.

The sun started to sink low, the clouds began to rise up the mountain, and the temperature dropped significantly when the slopes closed at 5 pm.  The four spent a while drinking hot wine and coffee in the restaurant and watched the sun set above the clouds off in the distance.

A traffic jam ("taco") on the way to the top.

Forty curves on the way to the mountain top.

Snow on a cactus.

Paulina, Tomás and Julia; getting ready.

Anticipation building.

All ready to go.

Beautiful view from the "beginner" slope.

Me on my second run downhill.

The "telesilla" -- 1.4 kilometers long.

La bandera Chilena and the clouds below.

The sun sets and the cold rolls in.