The capitol Santiago is a very interesting and exciting place to visit in short periods of time.  I needed to get back to the snow and mountains. The only problem was that everyone in my contact circle of snow loving friends had all the same thing to say... RAIN! and bad weather was the word from everyone.. north to south, CHILE to ARGENTINA.  This was not good news.  I had been stuck on the snow report sites for days watching the weather patterns change from good, bad to worse.  It didn't matter though.  I knew it was still too early in the season for spring to fully take hold and I was sure that it would snap back into winter soon.  The big question though was which place would I have the best chance of scoring good snow and which place would keep me the most sane while maybe having to wait out a good 4 to 5 days of bad weather... I bought the first ticket I could get to Chillan and headed south.  Las Trancas here I come.

I rolled my bags into the Bus Terminal downtown right away. It was too late to take the train so the bus it was.  If your going to roll on the bus, Chile has a great bus system.  Affordable and really comfortable if you get the semi or full cama buses.  This means that the seats are spacious and recline into beds for the long travel.  Sometimes if your lucky you'll get a movie.  Note to future bus riders... always roll with headphones.

Arrived in town to some bad weather.... it would be lodge life at MI LODGE for the next while... Raining pretty hard right now.

Ping Pong...When it's bad weather this game can become the centre of one's universe. MI LODGE, CHILE

MI LODGE is set up for bad weather...It has the area's only indoor skate ramp...  This one can chalk up as "Random pro skier sighting"  Candide Thovex showed up one night really late to stay at the lodge.  Turns out he can shred the skate.  MI LODGE, CHILE

The ramp got used pretty heavily during the bad weather... This is Simon Favier.  He was a pro snowboarder in France before making to switch to filming.  He's filming the new ski movie for Candide Thovex. It's called Candide Kamera.  I saw some of the footage and it looks pretty awesome..  MI LODGE, CHILE

Clearing up finally... now it's time to go up to the mountain and see what came down... snow... rain... or???

Get used to this view if you don't have a truck/car in this area.  Hitchhiking is really common from Las Trancas up to the resort.  Snow line is looking pretty low still. Termas de Chillan (Nevados de Chillan resort) CHILE

A full reset on the volcano... A good choice to come back here.  The craters above are approx 3200 metres so elevation is a key factor to why this place gets consistent snow fall.  Nevados de Chillan resort, CHILE

The Chilean flag looks like the one from Texas... or vice versa.. depends who you ask.  Nevados de Chillan, CHILE

You could call this two things... Spring powder in Chile... or Riding awesome snow in September for us North Americans. Termas de Chillan aka Nevados de Chillan, CHILE

That big snow lip below is just asking for another slash on it. Nevados de Chillan, CHILE

Plenty of off-piste (out of bounds) snow to be ridden at this area.  There is no patrol in these areas though and riding out of bounds with out the proper knowledge and backcountry gear (beacon, probe, shovel, partners,brain) is not advised. Termas de Chillan aka Nevados de Chillan resort, CHILE

People had been waiting for the bad weather to clear for almost five days.  Needless to say.... the place was full tilt powder madness. Nevados de Chillan, CHILE

End of the day and there is still plenty of fresh all over the place.  Nevados de Chillan, CHILE

Chile has some really diverse wildlife.  This is a Carpintero Negro (woodpecker).  Termas de Chillan, CHILE

The view from my deck at MI LODGE.... pretty sweet terrain, really close by.  Nevados de Chillan, CHILE

Well I guess I made the right choice and the mountains are filled with snow again.  The forecast looks like a mix of sun and clouds for the next few days.  I'm going to take advantage of this since my season is winding down here in South America.  Cat skiing, hiking the volcano craters and surrounding valleys as well as a little recon mission to a nearby area with the snowmobile. This is the plan at least.  Stay tuned....

INFO

Flights to CHILE: Lan Airlines. www.lan.com

Resort: Nevados de Chillan, www.nevadosdechillan.com

Lodging near the resort: MI LODGE, www.misnowchile.com

Backcountry gear for riding terrain like this: DAKINE, www.dakine.com

Questions??? www.chasingwintermedia.com