Las Lenas.....

[DMC]

Was definately cool.... I went in late August. It snow 2 of the 7 nights I was there. No time change so I didn't experience any jetlag really...

As far as being like Tucks - The bowls are nice but not that steep... There's rock bands that you can leap off of in the bowls - kinda like people leaping off the Headwall at Tucks.. The little chutes and faces that you hike to are what I enjoyed there...
There's some nice stuff inbounds .. They have a sweet cornice run that was right outside the hotel I stayed at - We we're dropping(big) cornice while people watched from the hotel rooms....

There's a chute there called Tia Marte'(I think) - it's comparable to Left Gully. Starts With a wierd windblown wide section, gets narrower and actually "dog legs".. When I was there a guy hit rocks near the end of the chute and busted his face open. He left a blood smear down the big face that the bowl opens into.. It stayed there until it snowed.

Big thing to remember - Don't order hamburger there.. 1st one I ordered was horse and the 2nd one I ordered was goat... In Argentina you eat steak. The beef is incredible...

Other than that.. Everyone I met was friendly for the most part.. Anyone I met walking to a chutes were really cool... The whole brotherhood thing.
I enjoyed hooking up with people from all around the world. Spent an afternoon skiing bumps(I skied back then) with a French guy and an Italian guy..

A good time - I really need to get back there once I start making cash again..

[Skilasnow]

DMC, did you ski the bowls off to the right of the little poma lift at the summit, like Mercurio, Paraiso? Or the chutes on the front face, like Eduardos (above Caris), Telemako (above vulcano)? None of these are on the "trail map", but they are accessable by lift. and range from 30- 45 degrees. And then there is the stuff between Marte and the front face, tips and tales chutes like Errare Humanum est (To Err Is Human) or Sin Salida (No Exit) - I've never skied there! :skierpetrified:

And what is wrong with horse and goat? But the steaks are the way to go, I eat hardly anything else. mmmmm b-e-e-f

[Skilasnow]

And I just found these little inticing pages (http://www.geocities.com/sobeleo/mtn1/index.html)

[Mumster]

Hey :seqway: :skilas:

Excellent photos. And, they look so enticing.
But, Las Lenas is a long way to travel. How do we know you aren't :disinfo: ?

[DMC]

It's far to travel - yes...
BUT - enough booze will put you to sleep for the 12 hours.. And it's only an hour time difference..

And Las - I don't quite remember the trail names.. But I remember there were quite a few chutes accessable from the lift that takes you to the top. It's a bit flat mesa - if I remember correctly.

[elwood]

I caught a glimpse of the photos before the bandwidth cap kicked in... It looked pretty friggin' cool. I am going to start saving my pennies, because I want to go!!!

[DRPHIDDLEPHOS]

IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE A PESONAL LOAN TO FINANCE THE TRIP, I'M SURE WE COULD WORK SOMTHING OUT! 10.5% UP TO 36 MO 11% OVER THAT LIMIT OF 10,000 ON PERSONAL LOANS :heliski: HERE WE COME!

[Skilasnow]

DMC:
It's far to travel - yes...
BUT - enough booze will put you to sleep for the 12 hours.. And it's only an hour time difference..</strong>

or valium...

<strong>And Las - I don't quite remember the trail names.. But I remember there were quite a few chutes accessable from the lift that takes you to the top. It's a bit flat mesa - if I remember correctly. Yeah, off that mesa are the bowls of mercurio , paraiso, and one or two others (the names aren't on the trail map). It is also the way to Valle Hermosa (Beautiful Valley). I would love to take an overnight over there someday, apparently there is a shelter in the valley that you can camp in, but it is either a 6000 vert climb back up or a 20 mile hike (or randonee) around, doable in a day, but I hear that once you are over there you don't want to just turn around and come back out - hence the name.
I've also heard of people paying to get picked up by a sniowmobile...

[BladeGirl]

After seeing SkiLasLenas' name I checked out several web sites about the place and it did indeed look very enticing.

Six years ago I went to Chile to ski Valle Nevado in September, after two years of researching and planning. Went with my hubby and two other friends. Its only a 90 minute drive from Saniago, but that was on a route with 60 hairy switchbacks. We kept seeing signs on route "necessita cadenas". I was looking through our little spanish-english dictionary and discovered that cadenas=chains. We didn't have chains, but fortunately there were chain renters along the road. They take a deposit which you get back when you return the chains. Of the 60 switchbacks, only 20 were below the snow line.

All skiing there is above tree line, though they actually groom all of the "trails". You can take a trail if you want groomed stuff, or just go off any possible way you can. Our first day there the mountain was totally fogged in. :clouds: We didn't know there were "trails" as we couldn't see the markers spaced every 50 feet, so we ended up off trail in variable conditions and my hubby broke his leg! :skierscared: The bindings on the rental skis were set too high and did not release (bring your own skis or know your Din settings!) I can tell you that the medical care in Chile was excellent and the surgeon very skilled.

Perhaps some day we'll try South American skiing again, in Argentina or southern Chile. But it may be a while.

[notjustanotherboarder]

This September will be my third trip down there in three years. All the places that I’m going this year are new to me: Villarrica, Antillanca, Catedral, Robles, Chapelco. I’m going with PowerQuest tours. Anyone have any interesting info on things not to miss?