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| Chile, along with its neighbour Argentina, is the premier Southern Hemisphere backcountry playground. It has a wide variety of terrain, good access, high quality if erratic snowfall, and plenty of unexplored areas. The touring can be broken up into the alpine of the Andes in the area centered around Santiago and Portillo, with its champagne powder and big mountain feel, and the various volcanoes further south, starting with Termas de Chillan and continuing to Patagonia. The volcanoes generally receive more snow, but it is wetter, and the weather is a lot worse during the winter. However, there is a little bit of tree skiing on them, and come spring the huge descents on the unique terrain that is only found on volcanoes make the southern area of Chile our favourite. Of course, there is also plenty of skiing in Patagonia, although we have not yet had the chance to explore it. |
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Andes: Due to the desert like dryness of the air, every flake of snow that falls in the area is champagne powder. It is uncanny how warm it can be in the evening and the next morning the slopes are blanketed in top quality snow. Sadly, the dumps can be all too rare – the snowfall here is highly erratic and some seasons can see snowpacks over 3m and some (like Simon’s first in Chile) of 50 cm. You cannot even rely on a good snow pack at the start of spring – be flexible and prepared for poor snow conditions and, if such is the case, head south where there is always snow.
South: The snow is a lot more consistent here, but except at Termas de Chillan, don’t expect powder. Huge dumps of heavy snow all winter long are the norm, much like the coastal north west of America, which leads to big bases. It is not unusual at Pucon to have over a 5m base. Termas de Chillan gets the best of both worlds, often receiving perfectly passable powder during winter, but also getting plenty of the wet stuff to build the base for a long season of spring touring. |
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Andes: The Andes is dominated by long stretches of high pressure, bringing day after day of bluebird skies. The storms don’t linger, but dump their white gold and move on. Thus with enough snow the weather conditions are ideal for touring in alpine terrain. Temperatures are often on the warm side, especially during the day with all that sun and the relatively high latitude.
South: The weather in the South in the winter can be, and often is, atrocious. Snow, wind, low cloud etc etc. Except for Termas de Chillan, which is in between the Andes and the true volcano area, we don’t much recommend the south for touring until mid August/September onwards, when the weather starts to break. Temperatures are generally mild, even in the winter. |
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Andes: Anconcagua is visible from this part of the Andes, so we could say that skiing is up to 6900m but really the general touring is done in the range from 2500-4000m. These mountains are rocky and treeless, with lots of intermediate alpine terrain with good access. Some steeps and some exposure can be had too.
South: In general the terrain is typically volcanic – gully’s and bowls abound, with plenty of cornice and wind lips also. Long descents, such as at Pucon, with 1600m of natural halfpipes, cliffs, views of lakes and other volcanoes in the distance and smoke right behind you (it’s a live one!), are available. We love it here because there is so much variety and so many options once on top of the volcanoes – 360 degrees of untracked fun. There is a little bit of tree skiing but in general the touring is alpine here also. |
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Andes: Santiago is the ideal base for the Andes, with the mountains between 1 ½ and 2 ½ hours away. It is a great city and has everything a ski tourer needs.
South: Again Santiago is a good jumping off point, where buses and trains can take you to most points daily at reasonable cost. Its 4 hours to Termas de Chillan and 6 or more to points further south. With a few people a rental car makes sense to get around to some of the more remote spots that are not serviced by buses. Or if heading to Pucon and points further south, fly to Temuco and get a car or local bus from there. |
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