Hey Y’all – I’m back from South America!
Here’s an update from the last posting….
Had some storms roll through in Farellones and shredded La Parva and El Colorado Pow Pow in the sun! Great times with my new friends exploring and finding secret windlips, chutes and drops!
Finally ran into Jeremy, Tarek, Connie, and Lucas from Funner Films the last night in town. Enjoyed some Piscolas and a preview of the new movie – “Sentimental Values” insane!
Then it was on to the Bar where a Chilean AC/DC cover band Rocked us All Night Long!!!! The next day was a Chilean Holiday and there was a massive influx of people which made it difficult to get down the hill. An hour drive turned into 4 late into the night on our way back down to Santiago.
In Santiago we hopped a bus to Las Andes, a small town near Portillo. We lined up a taxi to take us and when it showed up – sure enough a small sedan. The 4 of us (2 Kiwis and 2 Americans) piled gear into this small car and headed up the road. We hit a road-block and sat for a couple hours – typical Chilean travel!
It was all worth it when we made it up there – PORTILLO Rocks! Amazing mountains with super steep runs. The best was the surface lifts with 4-5 pomas attached. Crazy lift – but it got ya right up in the chutes with tons of access to gnarly lines. One run even takes you over the main highway between Argentina and Chile with tons of trucks stopped for Customs.
Amazing place that Portillo – right in the heart of the Andes. It is hard to get to and most stay in the massive yellow expensive hotel on the hill. The views were worth the trip alone and the shredding was the topping on the cake!
From Las Andes the next day my Kiwi friends and I took a bus over the Andes past Portillo and on to Mendoza, Argentina. Cool town that is producing some amazing wine and has tons of outdoor adventure. Argentina has an amazing vibe and I was relieved to be able to speak some english again with the locals. We caught the 1am bus overnight to LAS LENAS with front row seats to an eerie highway through Argentina.
Las Lenas is a true resort with tons of lines. Kinda like the Whistler of South America – expensive, but worth it. Had alot of fun exploring and wishing for the pow the week before to truly use the terrain. Amazing views from the top!
Hopped back on the bus to Mendoza after a couple days shredding. Connected to the bus to Santiago and found my friends from Farellones to hang with a couple hours before the flight out.
Rocked the 159 Banana and 172 Skunkape for the whole trip. The Ape held me up in the deep snow and the banana was awesome in the steep and technical terrain!
It was tough to leave for sure, but I had a great trip with a taste of winter to bring home to the Seattle Summer!
Check the link for some photos added to Flickr!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11278836@N05/
Kyle
—NWRep—