Counterintuitively, September in Miami makes you crave snow, ice and skiing. The pressure cooker wet heat makes everyone edgy. You long for a cold breeze, sharp winter sun, and the feelings of speed. Sitting on the Venetian causeway stuck in traffic and sweating on my motorcycle I need a break.
Fortunately, if you travel South enough, you arrive at winter in the southern hemisphere.
We landed at 7:30 on a September morning in Santiago Chile after an eight hour redeye. Even though I hadn’t slept much crammed into the middle seat I felt excited. Across the plane I saw Oliver, my compatriot on the expedition, jolt awake as the plane hit the ground. On the jet way were confronted with a wave of cold air blowing across our faces. Mountains were visible vaguely on the horizon through the fog.
Oliver is my neighbor and over the years hanging out at the building and going to the gym we talked skiing. Growing up on the French border with Switzerland he knew his ways around the slopes. He’s also a keen Latin American traveler and when I suggested the idea of skiing south of the border he jumped on it.
Snow, however, was proving elusive. Chile was having something of a dry spell and there was no point going if half the hill was closed. Then fate intervened in our favor. Three weeks out the snow began to fall, and it kept falling. In the end the mountains were covered with almost 18 feet in a once in a decade storm. Our taxi driver told us no one had seen such rain in the lowlands, and it had caused rivers to overflow their banks.
We chose to go to Valle Nevado. The resort was purpose built by the French in 1988 and is a series of three hotels and a few condos precariously perched atop a sharp Andean peak. While only an hour and half from Santiago it feels a world away. Valle Nevado looks like something from a futuristic sci-fi novel on one hand, and a warrior fortress from Lord of the Rings on the other.
Driving to Valle Nevado the landscape turned into untouched white marshmallow pillows of fresh powder, glistening in the bright sunshine. The road wound back and forth and I did everything in my power to limit the considerable motion sickness.
We were tired from the flight but also couldn’t wait to hit the slopes. Dropping our bags at the AirBnb, by noon we were on untouched spring snow. Oliver flowed down on his snowboard and I matched the rhythm on my skiss. It felt liberating to be back on skis, exactly the feeling I’d been craving in Miami.
Even though there had been no new snow for a couple days after the storm the mountain was filled with fresh lines. Like greedy kids discovering a sack of candy we dove in, bouncing from untouched slope to the next.
These are the sort of conditions where Valle Nevado really shines. It lacks groomers but there’s an abundance of side country. It’s not as adventurous as going fully off piste, but with a little imagination and rope ducking you can find some of the best terrain anywhere. By the end of that first day we were hooked on South American skiing.
The mountain wasn’t that big, and by the end of the second day we’d skied most of it. Being small is a blessing and a curse. More terrain would have been nice, but the small size made it possible to really learn the area. It also took the pressure off, allowing us to enjoy long mountain lunches, coffees, and strong cocktails.
Overall the experience was amazing but there were some drawbacks.
In an act of petty bureaucracy Valle Nevado doesn’t share a lift system with its two neighboring ski areas. We accidentally ended up at an El Colorado lift, which looks to be part of Valle Nevado. We had to walk back up the hill to our resort. These ski areas are already practically connected, why not have a way to buy tickets to both? Even if you wanted to double up on lift tickets it isn’t possible unless you go to the base of each resort. We didn’t have a car so this was not possible.
Speaking about lifts, they are seriously old school. Most of the mountain can only be accessed by rope tows and slow two person chairs. Despite the vast scale of the Andes the runs weren’t all that long so a lot of time was spent in transit. Fortunately we never encountered any lines so this didn’t prove to be too much of a problem.
The resort didn’t have dining options up to the standards you expect from a world class destination. The fancy restaurant, Forchette, kept telling us they were fully booked even though it was full of empty tables. Fortunately we brought some provisions to our AirBnb, otherwise I’m not sure what we would have done.
The views, to be honest, are the main reason to go. The Andes are massive, going forever into the sky, filing the vista for as far as the eye can see. Glaciers cascade through valleys and sharp rock peaks jut out. Even the view from our airbnb was spectacular. The condo complex hung off a cliff, I wanted to drop off the balcony and go skiing.
One lift was truly special, that was the Tres Puntas rope tow. This isn’t an American Rope tow. It gives your ass a powerful yank that lifts your skis almost clean off the slope. The treacherous steep ride takes almost ten minutes. The top is one of the best places to enjoy the views. When you’ve had enough of the views, it’s time to hit the slopes. Only two groomers trace off the side of the rope tow but the off-piste really stands out. Between rock walls are powder filled chutes. Follow the cat track around and you get to expanses of unmolested powder fields.
Valle Nevado might not be the best resort in the world, but It’s perfect for us Floridians. The summer is our off season so why not take advantage of it? The flight was longer than going to Colorado, but at around five hundred dollars it wasn’t that expensive. The vibes are latin so Miamians will feel right at home. In shorts, this is an excellent adventure for the South Florida Skier looking for something different.