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New! Anyone want to ski Chile this summer

Tricia

The Velvet Hammer
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I am sorry that you can't leave the UK. I hear things are terrible in UK, FR, and GER. Would love to have someone join me.
You could hit @Dan Egan for one of his trips.
There is also @Mattadvproject
 

Wilhelmson

Making fresh tracks
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Doesn't look like Chile is accepting tourists at this time and there is a 9 pm curfew. Sort of dumb to ban a vaccinated person from travel.
 

Wilhelmson

Making fresh tracks
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No-where's really got travel rules and vaccine certificates sorted out yet

Not to start another covid thread here - as far as i can tell people can travel to the US if their home country allows international leisure travel. I am probably wrong though. I got a vaccination card but i guess it could be easily forged although who in their right mind would pay for a trip and lie to border patrol.? Bad idea. Maybe the same people that fake quarantined before skiing.
 

Mattadvproject

Love that powder!
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Granby, CO

Thanks for the mention Tricia, it is greatly appreciated. I can give my thoughts on Chile and what the current situation is. I'm hoping to run a couple of sessions in Nevados de Chillan in August/September (https://www.theadventureproject.net/chile-overview) but I don't think anyone can tell you at the moment if there will be skiing for foreigners in Chile this summer. Things were looking good; the international borders were open and foreigners had been allowed in. Then in March, a huge uptick in infections and hospitalizations hit...... I wrote a summary to my clients posted in our Chile Facebook group. I'll save some time and copy and paste it here. I think it covers most things.

"Hopefully most of you were aware that Chile had re-opened their international borders (with restrictions) to foreign travelers back on November 23rd. Condition of entry were further updated on January 7th. By this stage you had to have negative PCR tests taken no more than 72 hours before departure and then undertake a few other formalities to enter Chile.

Nevados de Chillan was able to open up again for their summer season and the chairlifts were spinning for mountain biking. There were restrictions of course, as well as reduced capacity for the local hotels and restaurants. At least they were open as opposed to the non-event of their 2020 winter when the resort stayed closed for the whole season. Things were looking a lot more positive finally.
Unfortunately COVID cases start to rise sharply again in March and worryingly hospitals started to reach occupancy. 80% of Chile had to go into lockdown for almost a month, including the Pinto region where Nevados de Chillan is located. The international borders were closed again for 1 month, on April 5th.

This was somewhat of a surprise as Chile had been doing really well with their COVID vaccination program. They moved early to secure their doses (mostly Pfizer and Sinovax Coronavax from China, both 2-shot regimes) and had one of the highest vaccination rates (per 100 people) in the world. Over 40% of all people had received at least 1 does of the vaccine by April.
So what went wrong? Why have infection rates increased again? Well, testing has shown that the Sinovax vaccine has not performed well at all, compared to the Pfizer vaccine. With only 1 dose, the Sinovax vaccine only has a 16% efficacy rate at preventing infection and a 36% success rate at keeping people out of hospital. The infection rate has greatly increased in younger people (below 60) who have lessened the use of masks, social distancing etc with news of the impending vaccination programs. The spread of the more contagious Brazilian variant has added to the increase in infection rates and hospitalizations as well. I think this article describes in more detail what has been happening - https://www.reuters.com/.../chiles-covid-19-vaccine.../.

The good news is that the infection rate has started to come down in the last few days. Today it was announced (thank you for the update Francisco) that the Pinto region where Nevados de Chillan is located, will come out of lockdown on Monday, as will other regions where the infection rates are lower (haven't heard about Santiago yet). The international border was closed on April 5th for one month and is scheduled to re-open on May 5th.
So, overall, good news. The Chilean government is prioritizing people who took the Sinovax vaccine to get their second dose (the Pfizer vaccine has proven to be 80% effective against the virus after only 1 shot) and secure a more diverse range of vaccines. The government is aiming to have 80% of the population (19.5m people total population) fully vaccinated by June, thus allegedly achieving herd immunity. That would be great news for our programs starting in August."

Since I wrote this report on the 22nd April, then a few things have happened. Firstly, the Pinto region came out of lockdown (Pinto is the region that Nevados de Chillan is located in). My partner's hotel has re-opened and so have local restaurants etc. That's good news. The Chilean border closed on April 5th and that is supposed to be for one month. Re-opening would therefore be on the 5th May. Chile's infection rate is thankfully in decline. It has been announced that the EU is re-opening for US travelers who are fully vaccinated. That seems to be a trend that I personally hope to see continue. The Republic of Georgia and Iceland are two noteable countries (notable for me at least) that had already re-opened their borders to fully-vaccinated travelers are while ago (there are several others but they aren't ski destinations). I see this as a trend that will grow and when they have figured out some kind of official "vaccine passport" (whatever you want to call it); I hope Chile can jump aboard this program too, sooner rather than later. I have until August before I'm due to head off, so there's time......

That's my 2.5 cents. Hope to be skiing in Chile in 3.5 months time. Fingers crossed......

- Matt
 

Decreed_It

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Right lol, I do agree Chile may be a 50/50 gamble this year. But I still want to go.. Badly..
Swung by to get beta on Chile and, not what I was hoping for exactly, here in we get what we need. Buddy and I just picked up Ikon base and wanted to get away for a summer week.

Looks like the call is to watch and wait. I can of course buy a room and plane ticket now, they're glad to take our money. So, @Master-Blaster IF this thing can happen 2 dudes from Charlotte might be down for some Southern Hemisphere.
 
Last edited:

locknload

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I think traveling outside the country is going to be a challenge this summer. With that in mind anyone up for skiing Mt Hood :) We know that is a safe bet!
I'm up for Mt. Hood....Chile will have to be another year....lets some of us meetup up there!
 

Mattadvproject

Love that powder!
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Swung by to get beta on Chile and, not what I was hoping for exactly, here in we get what we need. Buddy and I just picked up Ikon base and wanted to get away for a summer week.

Looks like the call is to watch and wait. I can of course buy a room and plane ticket now, they're glad to take our money. So, @Master-Blaster IF this thing can happen 2 dudes from Charlotte might be down for some Southern Hemisphere.

Agreed, wait and see what happens, there's still plenty of time and it's an evolving situation. There's a strong chance Chile will be accessible to you. If you find cheap airfares, then I'd be hesitant to book unless you have a generous cancellation/exchange policy, same with the accommodation.....
 

coskigirl

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I'm so sad for the Chilean ski resorts having to miss last year. It was an epic year for snowfall and even locals just had to sit and watch. One of my best friends got out of Santiago early and went to their condo in El Colorado to wait things out (they were there more than 5 months.) Her pictures of the snow and deserted slopes were so sad but stunning.I hope they get to have a season this year.
 

jimtransition

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Latest news from Chile is that the border closure has been extended until at least June :( but, the case numbers are falling, lockdown in Santiago is easing up, and they are at 35% fully vaccinated. So still anyones guess what the season will bring.
 

Decreed_It

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Agreed, wait and see what happens, there's still plenty of time and it's an evolving situation. There's a strong chance Chile will be accessible to you. If you find cheap airfares, then I'd be hesitant to book unless you have a generous cancellation/exchange policy, same with the accommodation.....
thanks Matt! Your website has fantastic info, looks amazing down there! Our plan was to absolutely book refundable/no change fee airfare, it's about 1300 round trip on Delta right now! For us South Easterners we're in peak season Colorado cost territory, nuts! On the other hand the hotels at Valle Nevado look pretty "full" - not too many peak season options showing up online (1st 2 weeks of August). No clue about their policies so we're def holding off, for now. Here's hoping!
 

Mattadvproject

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thanks Matt! Your website has fantastic info, looks amazing down there! Our plan was to absolutely book refundable/no change fee airfare, it's about 1300 round trip on Delta right now! For us South Easterners we're in peak season Colorado cost territory, nuts! On the other hand the hotels at Valle Nevado look pretty "full" - not too many peak season options showing up online (1st 2 weeks of August). No clue about their policies so we're def holding off, for now. Here's hoping!

Thanks @Decreed_It , I appreciate that, thanks for checking out the website and the kind words. I like to have as much info on the website so people can really get a feel for the trip and know what to expect. Nevados de Chillan is a pretty special place, the people are friendly, it's somewhat quiet and they have great snow and terrain. Your ability to get fresh tracks there is pretty easy, that's what keeps me (hopefully) going back every year since 2016. I'd be surprised if they had all their beds sold already for August (normally July is the really busy time) as most hotels I know aren't selling rooms yet until they know they are definitely going to be open for business during ski season. I started a new thread for Chile skiing, where I'll be posting most of my updates. You can find it here at https://www.skitalk.com/threads/2021-chile-trip-report.23469/. I'm still hopeful that by August, we'll be able to head down there, especially if you are fully-vaccinated. All the best!
- Matt
 
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TS
Master-Blaster

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Thanks for the mention Tricia, it is greatly appreciated. I can give my thoughts on Chile and what the current situation is. I'm hoping to run a couple of sessions in Nevados de Chillan in August/September (https://www.theadventureproject.net/chile-overview) but I don't think anyone can tell you at the moment if there will be skiing for foreigners in Chile this summer. Things were looking good; the international borders were open and foreigners had been allowed in. Then in March, a huge uptick in infections and hospitalizations hit...... I wrote a summary to my clients posted in our Chile Facebook group. I'll save some time and copy and paste it here. I think it covers most things.

"Hopefully most of you were aware that Chile had re-opened their international borders (with restrictions) to foreign travelers back on November 23rd. Condition of entry were further updated on January 7th. By this stage you had to have negative PCR tests taken no more than 72 hours before departure and then undertake a few other formalities to enter Chile.

Nevados de Chillan was able to open up again for their summer season and the chairlifts were spinning for mountain biking. There were restrictions of course, as well as reduced capacity for the local hotels and restaurants. At least they were open as opposed to the non-event of their 2020 winter when the resort stayed closed for the whole season. Things were looking a lot more positive finally.
Unfortunately COVID cases start to rise sharply again in March and worryingly hospitals started to reach occupancy. 80% of Chile had to go into lockdown for almost a month, including the Pinto region where Nevados de Chillan is located. The international borders were closed again for 1 month, on April 5th.

This was somewhat of a surprise as Chile had been doing really well with their COVID vaccination program. They moved early to secure their doses (mostly Pfizer and Sinovax Coronavax from China, both 2-shot regimes) and had one of the highest vaccination rates (per 100 people) in the world. Over 40% of all people had received at least 1 does of the vaccine by April.
So what went wrong? Why have infection rates increased again? Well, testing has shown that the Sinovax vaccine has not performed well at all, compared to the Pfizer vaccine. With only 1 dose, the Sinovax vaccine only has a 16% efficacy rate at preventing infection and a 36% success rate at keeping people out of hospital. The infection rate has greatly increased in younger people (below 60) who have lessened the use of masks, social distancing etc with news of the impending vaccination programs. The spread of the more contagious Brazilian variant has added to the increase in infection rates and hospitalizations as well. I think this article describes in more detail what has been happening - https://www.reuters.com/.../chiles-covid-19-vaccine.../.

The good news is that the infection rate has started to come down in the last few days. Today it was announced (thank you for the update Francisco) that the Pinto region where Nevados de Chillan is located, will come out of lockdown on Monday, as will other regions where the infection rates are lower (haven't heard about Santiago yet). The international border was closed on April 5th for one month and is scheduled to re-open on May 5th.
So, overall, good news. The Chilean government is prioritizing people who took the Sinovax vaccine to get their second dose (the Pfizer vaccine has proven to be 80% effective against the virus after only 1 shot) and secure a more diverse range of vaccines. The government is aiming to have 80% of the population (19.5m people total population) fully vaccinated by June, thus allegedly achieving herd immunity. That would be great news for our programs starting in August."

Since I wrote this report on the 22nd April, then a few things have happened. Firstly, the Pinto region came out of lockdown (Pinto is the region that Nevados de Chillan is located in). My partner's hotel has re-opened and so have local restaurants etc. That's good news. The Chilean border closed on April 5th and that is supposed to be for one month. Re-opening would therefore be on the 5th May. Chile's infection rate is thankfully in decline. It has been announced that the EU is re-opening for US travelers who are fully vaccinated. That seems to be a trend that I personally hope to see continue. The Republic of Georgia and Iceland are two noteable countries (notable for me at least) that had already re-opened their borders to fully-vaccinated travelers are while ago (there are several others but they aren't ski destinations). I see this as a trend that will grow and when they have figured out some kind of official "vaccine passport" (whatever you want to call it); I hope Chile can jump aboard this program too, sooner rather than later. I have until August before I'm due to head off, so there's time......

That's my 2.5 cents. Hope to be skiing in Chile in 3.5 months time. Fingers crossed......

- Matt
Me too I am going
 
Thread Starter
TS
Master-Blaster

Master-Blaster

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Swung by to get beta on Chile and, not what I was hoping for exactly, here in we get what we need. Buddy and I just picked up Ikon base and wanted to get away for a summer week.

Looks like the call is to watch and wait. I can of course buy a room and plane ticket now, they're glad to take our money. So, @Master-Blaster IF this thing can happen 2 dudes from Charlotte might be down for some Southern Hemisphere.

I am down. The icon pass just makes it too difficult to pass up.
 

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