I spent my first morning in Santiago with the United Airline
Baggage Services. Apparently, my suitcase decided 5 hours was not enough time
to enjoy the Houston airport and skipped the flight. Since there is only one
flight per day to Chile, it looked like I was going to have to do a little
shopping.
We fought off our desire to sleep and after a quick shower
we caught a ride with a friendly Uber driver to a Barrio Bellavista. This
neighborhood seemed a little sleepy but after a strolling around a little we
realized that it must come alive at night since it seemed every other
establishment was a nightclub.
After lunch we walked to the center of town to look for a
few items to hold me over until my suitcase arrived. Our jet lag was quickly
catching up to us so we just tried to kill time until it was acceptable to eat
dinner. Just before dinner we found a
park with some spectacular sculptures. After just a few minutes we realized
that this park was a favorite with young couples. There were couples snuggled
up every few feet. It was borderline uncomfortable for Colleen, Dan and I but
we ventured on and took in the entire park.
Finally, we decided it time to eat and found ourselves at a
nice wine bar that served several Chilean and Argentinian wines by the glass.
We stretched out our dinner so that by the time we finished the restaurant it
was finally an acceptable hour to eat dinner in Santiago.
Day two was the start of our tour and thankfully the return
of my suitcase. We returned to the airport and met our guides Vicente and
Claudio. It took us a little while to get to Farallones but we still managed to
have a group meeting before heading to Valle Colorado for our first day on the
slopes.
One thing I’m not loving about the ski resorts in Chile is
the extensive use of T-Bars and Poma Lifts. These are not snowboard-friendly
methods to the top of the mountain. On day one, in the battle between Lucinda
and the T-Bars, it was T-Bars 4, Lucinda 3. Perhaps I will catch up by the end
of the trip but I’d prefer to retire from the T-Bars altogether.
After a couple hours on the slopes we took a break for an
avalanche safety course in the unlikely event of an avalanche. Just before we
all froze on top of the mountain, we finished the class and snowboarded back
down to our lodge for the first half of our tour.
We enjoyed a spectacular sunset, followed by a steak dinner
and then a well deserved night of sleep.
Day two, we headed to Ski La Parva. At this resort we made
our first climb of the trip. About halfway up, I had a newfound respect for the
people I see climbing Granite Chief at Squaw. I also discovered that they were
crazier than I thought. By the time we made it to the top, my legs felt like
jello and my lungs were burning. It took about 40 minutes to get up and about 1
minute to snowboard down. The snow was great, in fact the best we found all
day, but I would have preferred a shorter climb and longer ski.
After a couple more runs on piste, we broke for lunch where
we were introduced to a Chilean specialty – Chorrillanas. This was a giant
plate of French fries topped with chicken, steak, chorizo, hotdogs, grilled
onions and three fried eggs. I’m not sure I’m ready to eat this dish again
anytime soon, but after the long morning of snowboarding, it hit the spot.
After lunch, I began my battle with the Poma Lift. Poma Lift
4, Lucinda 1. Eventually Vincente took pity on me and took us to a chair lift. From
there, we took a long ride all the way back to the village and called it a day.
It was a good thing too, because, we still have several days of snowboarding still
to come.
2 comments:
The sunset looks awesome!
I think that dish in English is called the kitchen sink!
What is t bar and poma lift?
Glad you are having fun!
I see carrots. Did you actually eat carrots?
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