Helly Hansen

Hello there again. A lot of things have happened since last time I had the time to sit down and share with you. Both good things and not so good things. First, our trip over to Argentina was postponed for almost five days due to a heavy snow storm in the northern part of the Andes, leaving between 50-70cm of fresh pow in Portillo, El Colorado and Ski Arpa. This meant that the border-pass closed. At a later point we found out that some of the cars and trucks wanting to pass the border had waited for nearly 4 days... So we made the smart decision to hang around Santiago and the surrounding resorts while the border remained closed. Our group has also increased by one person. A known Canadian photographer, Jordan Manley flew down from Whistler, BC, to hang out with us for the remainder of our trip. He has been accepted by everyone and has been a very positive addition. You can see some of his pictures on your right, but also check out his website: www.jordanmanley.com. During the storm, we had two days playing the waiting game in Santiago. The snow had to settle and the clouds had to disappear. Thank God our hotel had free movie rentals and malls and coffee-shops were close by. As soon as the weather cleared we wanted to make a move to get to the Argentine border. On the way, we hoped for another day of skiing. We packed all our bags, rented a big van with a cool driver, Patricio. He has been driving his van for almost 40 years all around Chile and knows a alot about all the places we visited and tought us about Chilliean culture and customs. Our first stop was the coastal town of Valparaiso, a two hour drive from Santiago. Valparaiso is a vital port and apparently one of South America's most distinctive cities. The city was named a Unesco World Heritage site in 2003 and has experienced increased tourism since then. Walking up and down the "Cerros" and through the labyrint-like roads we got a priceless impression of the "real" Chile. Leaving Valparaiso, heading for Los Andes where we would spend the night again, we drove along the coast for quite a while, stopping at a popular beach-town called Vina del Mar to witness the sunset from the rocky shoreline. In Los Andes, during dinner, Jordan ran into his older brother serendipitously. They hadn't seen each other for three months and suddenly they stood face to face in a random restaurant in South America. Funny! Ski Arpa is the resort without any lifts. After an hour and a half from Los Andes on a gnarly, nasty and winding dirty road with I don't know how many switchbacks, we thankfully got there in one piece. Waiting for us was Patrick - our guide for the day, and a snow cat. Ski Arpa is all about catching a ride with the cat and skiing no less than a thousand vertical meters every run with the famous Aconcagua (the highest mountain in the world outside the Himalayas reaching almost 7000 meters) in the background. Ski Arpa was established by the 70-something year old Austrian Toni Sponar, who's dream was to build his own ski resort after falling in love with Los Andes. The resort is only two stone huts - a kiosk and toilets. Initially Ski Arpa had a skilift, but after it was swept away by an avalanche, snow cats became the solution and the survival of Ski Arpa. After 30 years in the making, Ski Arpa is the only cat-ski based resort in South America. After such a beautiful and amazing day in Arpa, we had to rush back to Los Andes to reach our transfer through the Chilean/Argenitne border. The driver had waited for us for two hours, so no need to say in what mood he was, and the drive to the border was about 45 min, and the border closed an our after we reached Los Andes. Bags were thrown in the van and so were we - sweaty and still in our ski clothes. This story and our trip to Cajun Grande will be more detailed for you to read in my next update. Thank you to www.southamericaski.com for all the local assistance! Hope you all still enjoy summer! We're off to Bariloche! - Pedro Matos, Didrik and Karine Falck Pedersen, and their awesome trip-mates!