Blizzard in the Andes

Now when I think back, I do have to admit that the signs of chaos were in the air already from the beginning. Early morning on Saturday the alarm clock rang. Día de la Nieve, the Day of Snow, organised by the organisation ChileInside had arrived. Lukas had been looking forward to it the whole week. Though in Santiago it should've been called the Day of Rain as it had been raining since the last night.

I went to shower but no hot water was coming. Okay, no shower then. On the way out I had to return back about three times: the gloves, the scarf, the camera... As if I hadn't gone skiing before, forgetting everything like that! Anyhow, aware of the risk that the roads up the mountain might be closed we still continued to the school where we met the others. There were many German students, an English guy, two Finnish girls (one was even from Kajaani - how rare), and a couple of locals to name a few cotravellers. The minibus for 15 people arrived.

All the busses which drive up to the ski resorts have to pass some kind of border control, where each car and and its driver are checked by the Carabineros (the uniformed Chilean national police force). That's where the problems appeared again. Our driver didn't have his documents with him and we weren't allowed to drive further until we got another bus and a new driver. The bus was double the size and we cheered when we were able to proceed.

As it was raining in Santiago meant it was snowing in the mountains. Driving up required to pass 40 curves which would eventually bring us to ski resort called El Colorado. However, even though the driver mounted the chains on the back tyres, we got stuck at the 25th curve and to get up again the bus had to reverse several times. The big bus was not able to get a grip to the ground and the driver was too lazy to mount the chains on the front tyres. Sliding up and down the street was scary!

Curva 25.

Finally we managed to get going again but it wasn't the last curve where we got stuck. Finally, three hours and forty curves later the goal was finally getting closer. Did I mention that this ski resort is only 40 km from Santiago? Despite the looooooooong waiting, the bus's steamy air was filled with excitement and anticipation! Mr. Weatherman and Mother Nature had decided not to make going up easy for us, though. The bus was spooling again so we decided to walk the last bit up. Everyone just too eager to go skiing - powder snow was calling!



Can you see the determination?




When we finally had the gear on and on the lift going up the slope, it was 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It kept snowing the whole time, non-stop. The first piste was almost flat and with that amount of fresh snow sliding down was not easy as it was knee-deep. Apparently in Chile it is not allowed to clear the snow off of the slopes if the lifts are open.

Lukas snowboarding.

When we eventually reached the restaurant it was a big celebration! At last a dry and warm place that served food.

We survived!

Looking at the map of the area we realised we had selected the beginners' slope, the kiddy piste.

And now lunch!

That was it for me. No more skiing! One slope was enough for me. Lukas still went snowboarding two more rounds and met the rest of the group afterwards at the restaurant. Everyone was happy, when the bus came finally to pick us up. It was an expensive day and weatherwise definitely not worth it, but a hell of an experience! From now on, only summer stuff for Johanna.

Tired but happy group of ChileInsiders.