13th August - Last day skiing, time for a scenic picnic!
The guys had enjoyed their skin the day before and they wanted to do more. Unfortunately the temps had risen steadily during the previous day, so the chance of finding good powder, was diminishing. If there was going to be cold snow, it would be up higher, past the lifts. So I put forward the idea that we head up high between the Volcan Nevados de Chillan and Volcan Neuvo where there is a high plateau with amazing views of the higher Andes and Argentina. That would make a great place to eat lunch and then have a really long ski down and if we got lucky we could find some nice snow on the way down. I thought that would be a memorable way to finish the trip and they were up for it.
So we took the Otto lift up and then headed over to the Mirador chair. We took that up and then skied off straight ahead to an open area where we could transition into uphill mode. There was another group doing the same thing (a group led by Ian McIntosh). For this skin, I wanted to try a new way up. In previous years, you had to push much further to the left to avoid the exclusion zone surrounding the Volcan Nuevo but since volcanic activity was way down this year, the exclusion zone had been removed. That meant we could stay on the easier terrain closer to the volcano and not have to push left where the terrain gets more complex.
I was interested to see how much of a time saver that would be, especially as there was a well-used snowcat track that we could use. I felt it would be more direct and sure enough, apart from when we got close to our plateau, it was much easier going without the complexities of skinning through major volcanic terrain. We had a couple of spots where we had to do a little downhill and then go up a short, steep face, but all in all, it was pretty efficient. We shadowed the other group for a while but eventually they pushed further to the right and we lost sight of them.
There were quite a few snowmobilers off to our left, but they were pretty far away. They did test some steep faces and nothing was moving, so that was good intel. After 2 hours, we came over a small knoll and then the higher Andes came into view. What a sight it is! The wind was picking up behind us, so I found a rocky spot and built up a snow hole/windbreak so we could have somewhere more sheltered to enjoy lunch and our amazing view. It was a stunning view and an excellent lunch spot. We took our time and savored every minute of it.
Eventually it came time to leave and then our big ski down. We had 15km's plus of downhill ahead of us. At the top, in the sunnier aspects, we found some nice corn and enjoyed some mellow turns. You need to be constantly pushing to the left so any opportunity to go downhill, you still need to keep pushing left otherwise you will end up skinning at the bottom. The are no major landmarks for quite some time until you hit this massive gully that naturally funnels left. As long as you hit that and keep going left you will make it just fine. With a group of all skiers, it's definitely easier. On skis there are always going to be some sidesteps and some pushing and on skis, it's relatively easy but on a snowboard, you will be working a lot harder. That was not a problem this day though.....
With the lack of snow compared to previous years, then you can't get over all of the ridgelines as freely as you normally would as they were quite rocky, but there were a few obvious spots where you could make it through. As we got lower, we found some nice steeper faces and they were quite shaded, so we actually had some nice powder in places. We enjoyed a few nice pitches like that. FInally I could see another prominent landmark, a big mesa-like area with cliffs. Again, we just had to keep pushing left.
After an hour or so, we finally saw the top of the Refugio Chair and that was our exit point out of the Tres Marias area and back into the resort. Then we had a nice long groomer back down to the bottom of the Tata area before we could take the chair back up to the Tio Willy area. Finally we could take the poma back to the hotel. It had been a big day but I think the group was pretty happy with the amazing views and then a decent ski down. They worked hard but I think great memories were made. We had a few après beers to celebrate the end of a great trip and then after dinner, it was time to wrap it up as I was leaving the group the next day; they would be on their way back to Santiago and I would be on my way to Concepcion to pick up my next group. Here's some images of a great day!
Start of the up! Using the snowcat tracks for an easier line.
Shane, enjoying the views. That's the Volcan Neuvo (new volcano) behind, last summer it was very active and we had a huge vent when we were enjoying the view. This year, I didn't see any activity. I kind of missed it....
The other volcano, Volcan Nevados de Chillan, there's some big lines over there but there is a glacier with crevasses, so I don't head too far that way. I've skied the smaller, (parasitic) cone to the right of the picture before.
A little downhill traverse with the skins on and in tour mode, adds to the challenge!
And there it was, after 2 hours, we reached our vantage point of the higher Andes.
Lunch spot with a view. One of the most amazing views I have had. I think the 2-hour skin is very worthwhile for a view like this!
Enjoying our sheltered spot for lunch.
Time to start heading out.
We had to skin up a little before we could start heading down again.
Your new social media profile shot, Su!
Downhill time and a long way to go. There were many steeper pitches followed by mellow runouts where you needed to keep your speed up or you'd end up pushing.
In some spots, you had to do a little sidestepping, there was no avoiding it.
One of the last pitches, the snow in the shaded aspect was still pretty cold and skiing nicely. In the sun it was corn, so you had a little bit of everything, but thankfully, nothing was frozen up solid so it was a decent run down.
You can really see the old, volcanic lava flows that form the terrain in this zone.
We were treated to an amazing sunset for our last night. Here is the start.....
Getting better.....
And totally amazing. What a beautiful way to finish off the first group. Cheers team!
- Matt
