Snow Day in the Andes

The road trips abound around Chile, and this weekend we took advantage of being so close to the Andes mountain range and skipped up to see the snow-capped mountains (and play a little).

The snow-capped mountains near Santiago.

We actually tried to have a snow day about a month ago, but the conditions worsened on our way up the mountain, and we had to turn around and come down.

Our first attempt to visit the snow was to go to Los Farellones, which is the hub for the majority of the very-near ski resorts, including Colorado, Valle Nevado and Portillo.

Wow!

Let me tell you, this trip is not for the faint of heart. The road up the mountain contained no less than 30 turn-on-a-dime switchbacks, along essentially a one-lane road. It was paved, but little other luxury has been spared. The edge of the road most of the time marked the edge of a cliff, and at one point, we had to stop and wait for some wayward cattle (although they likely thought we were wayward tourists) to mosey on out of the road and let us pass.

They don't make snow in Chile, which means that when the snow has been skied or it hasn't snowed enough, there isn't much skiing to be done. So, we headed up the mountain the day after a big snow. Unfortunately, the snow began to fall again while we were nearly to the top of the mountain, and this produced near white-out conditions. Not the best, but our trusty driver (Patrick) stayed calm and got us down safely, as I nearly hyperventilated in the back.

Getting ready to take a sled ride!

Our second attempt was much more pleasant. A number of factors improved this trip. 1.) We hopped a ride with a semi-local who had traveled up the mountain before. 2.) The weather was spectacular. 3.) We tried a different mountain that wasn't as steep of a climb.

Life is good.

This time we traveled up the mountain by Cajon del Maipo, which houses the Lagunillas ski resort. While the resort has been closed the whole season, we just rode up until the snow was thick enough to build a snowman, hopped out and started playing. We rented a sled on the way up the mountain and enjoyed a nice picnic.

Trippie made sure we packed a carrot for the snowman's nose.

The happy family, with Chilly (aptly named by Trip).

It was one of those days that I thought, "Now this is worth it. This is what living in South America can be... an amazing adventure." Glorious.