Portillo

Yesterday was absolutely amazing. Some things you can't just express in words. Check out my photos on facebook to see what I'm talking about.

I woke up dark and early at 4:10, and was ready to go by 4:35. Rodrigo told me he would drive me, and boy is Chile a different world when everyone is still asleep. We were able to take the main road and hit only greens (and also drive as fast as he wanted). We met up at the Teatro Municipal where our van driver picked us up. He was super nice, and even brought juice, coffee, and muffins for us to eat. The drive was about three and a half hours or so, and we were all super tired. To get to the actual mountain, you have to drive around switchback after switchback. When we got close to the main lodge, we went through two different tunnels that acutally go under the longest trail on the mountain.

We kept driving for a while and I looked behind me and realized we had passed the main entrance. The driver then stopped and started to turn around as my friend Grant hopped out and went pee. I then looked up at the sign above the road in front of us and realized it said "Welcome to Chile". We were in Argentina! I knew the border was super close, but I didn't think we'd actual get to cross it. Grant can now say he's peed on Argentina. Although we didn't actually cross through all of the security that was probably just around the corner, we did cross the official border of Chile and Argentina. Neat.

The actual lodge is situated right next to a lake, with the two main mountains on either side of the lake. Completely surrounding the ski area is just mountain after mountain, each one just as huge and amazing as the next. I think the view itself was worth the price of getting here. The lodge also has an outdoor heated pool and hut tub right next to the lake for guests staying at the resort to use (though two of my friends did bring swimming suits and hopped in before the end of the day). Every lift I went up, I was absolutely in awe of the huge mountains surrounding me. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience that unfortunately not many people get to experience.

Once we got to the lodge, we rented our equipment, got our tickets, and all headed for the super long trail. Unfortunately, things didn't start out too well for us. It was way warmer than we were expecting (around 50 degrees), and the air was thin and made breathing difficult since we were at around 10,000 feet. The start of the first trail was also very flat, so it made things difficult for the four snowboarders. There was also a girl skiing for the first time, and all of the other skiiers ended up leaving her behind, which ended up causing a miserable time with her. (She couldn't go anywhere and after waiting around for about an hour, ski patrol finally came and put her on a stretcher to help her get down) It was even worse since we had told the workers that she needed help after waiting for twenty minutes or so with her, and yet it took them forever to finally come help. I personally had a difficult time just standing up since I had my backpack on and I was super tired out after finally getting to the main hill. Once I got down, I found my friend David who was suffering from altitude sickness and just rested with him for about forty-five minutes until the others came down the hill.

After eating my lunch, shedding some layers, and getting rid of my backpack, I was ready to try again on the other hill. This is when my day really started to get good. I went up with another friend, but she wanted to take a different trail so we parted ways. I then proceeded to hit the slopes by myself for the next two and a half hours, continuously getting more and more comfortable with my skills. I never have been able to carve very well, but there was one hill where I just went for it and found myself doing extremely well. I probably went down that hill about 10 times throughout the day, each time with a huge grin on my face as I carved back and forth through the snow. I think it made things a lot easier since the snow was powdery rather than the icey snow I'm used to at Mt. Spokane. I only fell a few times during the day, and had an absolutely awesome time checking out the amazing views, listening to my music, and just enjoying being by myself.

At around 4, we all started to check our equipment back in so we could be ready to go by 4:30. The van ride back seemed to take a lot longer, and almost everyone slept for most of the trip. When we finally did arrive back to Viña, the driver was super nice and asked if we wanted him to take us to our houses. I live further away than anyone else so I knew I'd be last, but luckily it was right near his house so I didn't feel bad about making him drive so far.

Once I walked in the door, the first thing my family did was point out my sunburnt face (I did use sunscreen, but unfortunately it wasn't strong enough) and laugh about it. The UV rays are a lot stronger at 10,000 feet, especially when the snow is there to reflect it. When my sister Gabriela walked in, "Hey look at Matthew's burnt face" was the first thing they said. It was funny that they thought it was so funny. I then went to my room and changed out of my wet clothes so I could go eat. I ended up just wearing two pairs of jeans (thank goodness for skinny jeans), and I was fine the entire day. My butt got wet, but I never was cold and the snow was very dry so if I did fall or anything, I could brush it off and it'd be dry within minutes. The gloves weren't waterproof though, so that was a little uncomfortable by the end of the end. Overall, given the fact that I personally had no equipment at all, I was able to stay extremely dry and warm; it was great.

After eating and talking with my family for a bit, I headed to my room and went to sleep. It was an absolutely awesome day, and although the mountain itself wasn't all that great for the number of trails and such, it was definitely worth it to be able to say I've skiied in the Andes Mountains in my lifetime (plus the view was absolutely spectacular).

I've got less than two weeks here, it's weird to think about. My dad just brought me breakfast to my room, I guess they do this every Sunday so I should go now so I can eat. Chao mis amigos. Hope you're enjoying getting burned from the sun as much as I am from the snow.