WELCOME TO CHILE!

Dramamine, earplugs, three seats to stretch out across and an eye mask makes for an incredible 9 hour, red-eye flight! There's no better way to fly. I passed out about an hour after take off and woke up to this...Good morning Andes!! I believe this peak was Mt. Aconcagua - the tallest peak in the Andes mountain range. I was more than thrilled to finally arrive! Chile is currently on my top 3 fav. countries! I hope this blog illustrates why..
(I have way too many great pictures to post in one blog so I made a slide show, you can check out all the pics by selecting "view all images.")

The first few days were spent in Santiago, (with the exception of my birthday which I posted above.) with my friend Ximena Dona and her family. When speaking of great people, I will always think back to this family and how hospitable and welcoming they were. For the time being, we were family and I will always consider Ximena my Chilean sister! The first day we arrived, we were treated to a home cooked meal complete with a birthday cake for me! What a surprise! They also invited us to their cousins 18th birthday where we met several relatives and ate more cow than I thought was edible. If Cory's face didn't approve I replied as her uncle came around with the bowl of meat "No carne, gracias!"
The next week we headed up to Farrellones (for detailed road conditions see the previous post) where we stayed at the cutest A-Frame hostel (aka Tribeca A-frame hostel for rockers!) It was owned by Bryan from New York and ran by the coolest couple from Tahoe, Jerimiah and Andrea. I have to admit, I was refreshing to speak and understand English for a few days. The hostel was so cosey and warm, we had so much fun up there! My only complaint was the failed hour and a half attempt to hitch hike. The Chileans up there would drive around us and pick up the locals...unbelievable! The next day it dumped about 5-6 inches and we skied powder all day! Thanks to the Brits who gave us a ride, we were able to enjoy a whole day of faceshots!

The last stop was Portillo. We caught a bus from Santiago to Mendoza, Argentina where we got off a few miles from the border in Portillo. This resort topped the charts! Its nestled between towering cliffs just aside a frozen lake and the view was absolutely breathtaking! We scored a bunk, two days skiing and four gourmet meals for $180. Try that in Park City...I don't think so! The snow wasn't as soft as Valle Nevado, but the terrain was steeper and we found some killer lines. My favorite was the rocket rope tow that shot us up the steepest mountain at mac-90! I laughed so hard I almost fell off several times. Ski Magazine was also doing a photo comp. that week so we were able to sneak a peak of the slide show and upcoming photos for February's edition. We also got to meet and hang out with the skiers and photographers who were a lot of fun. Ironically enough, Jason West was there shooting, Cory and my old boss's husband from Solitude. It was a fun weekend!

The last town we visited was Val Paraiso, a port town two hours north of Santiago. This town was very unique complete with graffiti art and smelled of fish. We found a decent restaurant where we were serenaded by a cute Chilean man in a white dining coat and had some killer Chilean Sea bass. I love this country! I highly recommend it and already can't wait to get back!