Puppy

Valle Nevado

Valle Nevado invited me up for some snowboarding over the weekend.
Great pre spring snow, good powder on Tres Puntas, and some wind borne powder during the day to carry away the heat.

Lovely day... sun, friends, and a great day of riding

Portillo Packed Powder

Continuing from the last entry, Portillo Ski was kind enough to invite the surfingchile.blogspot.com up for a weekend on the slopes,
while staying in the Inca Lodge.

First things first
the Snow

Packed powder, beautiful long runs, almost no one else there, let alone crowds.
Clear blue skies, good fast Poma lifts, and tows on the very steep and challenging runs that Portillo is famous for.

The Inca Lagoon was completely covered in snow, normally you can always see at least some of the water, and it's big, it's beautiful, and you can see it from just about anywhere, except the Juncalillo runs that go below the level of the hotel.

Both days were fantastic, cutting through the packed powder, unlike anything.

Apres ski was the heated outdoor pool, dinner, then hot tub, drinks and live music in the bar, partying it up in the disco.

Definitely a fantastic trip, and a top recommend for skiing in June, July, August, and September

Portillo Ski Season 2008

This last weekend I was invited by Portillo for a weekend of snowboarding.

I had never experienced the Portillo hotel experience and I must say, very different from the day trip.

Service is great, everyone on the staff ends up recognizing the guests, and its a rare trait these days. On the lifts, you just let them know you're with the hotel and you feel a little extra special treatment even here. For instance, they'll only need to see you ski pass once, and they'll remember for the length of your stay.

We left a grey and cloudy Santiago to arrive to the perfect blue skies of the Portillo area. There had been a very heavy snowfall the previous Friday and the powder was packed, and very nice.

In the next installment, more on the snow, runs, and pool!

Puertecillo Pacifika Surf Lodge Pictures

Contacto http://www.ecolodgepuertecillo.cl/ecolodge.html

Puertecillo 2008 New Years

Record Wave Surfed

Esto salio en Discovery,
el 5 de enero se surfeo la ola mas grande hasta el momento.


Jan. 9, 2008 -- On Jan. 5 surfers raced out to a remote storm-tossed reef 105 miles off the coast of Southern California and caught what may be the largest surf ever ridden.

Preliminary estimates put the biggest of Saturday's waves ridden at Cortes Bank at anywhere from 75 to 85 feet tall. The gargantuan surf was powered by the strong winter storm that passed through California the night before and a second storm approaching fast in its wake.

"This will probably set the new record," said Robert Brown, the surfing photographer who captured images of the historic rides. Easily said, perhaps, but it was no easy task to get to the waves or to ride them, Brown told Discovery News.

Because the storm swells which caused the giant surf on Saturday were only ride-able for a few hours between the storms, Brown -- also the captain of a customized catamaran powerboat -- had to jump into action fast when the big wave surfers Mike Parsons, Brad Gerlach, Greg Long and Grant Baker came calling.

"It rained and blew like hell the night before," said Brown.

The team left Dana Point Harbor, south of Los Angeles, at 7:30 a.m. After hours of sickeningly rough seas, they reached Cortes Bank at about 12:30 p.m. What they saw there was a marvel of chaotic, watery savagery.

Still, the two pairs of big wave surfers hit the water and soon were tangling with the biggest waves of their lives. The two-man teams took turns towing each other into the steep, fast rolling hills of water with personal water crafts until darkness approached at about 5 p.m. They made it back to port by 10:30 p.m., just as the next winter storm came ashore.

"It was the ultimate threading of the needle," said Brown of the narrow window.

The team lucked out in more ways than the weather timing, however. There was never any guarantee that the waves would be ride-able at Cortes Bank on Saturday. Strong storm winds had created choppy, horrific conditions that had not yet abated when the team set out in the morning.

Puertecillo Pacifika Surf Lodge

El Lodge, de dia y de noche