Valle Nevado

Today, I skied in the Andes. To say that I was pumped to have the chance to go would be an understatement. It was a Christmas morning type situation that resulted in me not getting nearly as much sleep as a should have for my early morning wake up. Cut to tonight, and I have the pictures and stories to show that it was all worth it.

I met a man from Peru, who just learned to ski today and was incredibly nice. He works in the hotel business and was in Santiago since last Friday, but is leaving soon. He has traveled all over the world when he can, and hopes to continue. He spent time in Hawaii, and spoke English well, and was giving me ideas to help improve my Spanish vocabulary. I met a couple from Brazil who was vacationing in Santiago. They were very friendly, but I had a hard time understanding their Spanish with a Portuguese accent! I also met a man from Phoenix, a pair of pilots from Canada, and a few other people in my ski group. I went through SkiTotal: they took care of everything! They were really easy to work with and even upgraded me to performance skis after we were talking casually about my background skiing.

The weather was beautiful! I couldn’t have asked for better: sunny (my cheeks and nose are quite pink), little to no wind, and clear. Near the end of the day, we had a snow shower, which topped off my experience. Pictures follow.

---

First, we’ll start with the drive up:

---

We said hi to some farm animals on the way:

---

Lots of curves in the road as we wound our way up the mountain, but we made it safe and sound!

---

Shout out to Burton at the base of the lift:

---

Estaba sola | I was alone so selfies it was:

I wore a casco | helmet when actually skiing, don’t worry Mom and Dad!

---

All in all, a fantastic day. Some pictures of the view to send you out: