Home > Trip Reports > Oct 1-10, 2019, Araucana, Bio-Bio (Chile)

Oct 1-10, 2019, Araucana, Bio-Bio (Chile)

9/30/19
South America
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Posted by kamtron on 10/15/19 9:01am

Joe and I passed an awesome last two weeks skiing volcanoes in Chile. What perfect pre-season timing for Washington.

I've become enamored with the ease and interface of the Cascade Climbers forum, so I'll just link to the full report & photos there:

https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/topic/103130-tr-araucan%C3%ADa-bio-bio-%C3%B1uble-chile-lonquimay-llaima-antuco-nevados-de-chill%C3%A1n-et-al-10012019/

If this piques your interest, and you aren't ready to plan a trip like this yourself, consider hiring Joe from Pro Guiding Service to take you down next year!

WOW! I want to go to Chile now!

I hate to see you posting on a different site instead of TAY, but I agree that the format on CC is pretty nice.

Looks like an awesome trip - Chile is on my bucket list now, for sure : )

Guys, don't lose faith in TAY - I'm feverishly building an upgraded experience for y'all, and hope you'll keep posting once that's up and running. Almost there.

Chile looks amazing! This site is a gem and in much need of an upgrade to revitalize the community here. We wait patiently till then :)

Got to spend the trip of a lifetime there in August perhaps 15 years ago.  I hear it's busier now but I'll never forget leaving the tiny ski area above the araucania trees and seeing no one for days.  Walking on ridges feeling what it's like to walk on this skinny land so high up in the sky with the angry southern reaches of the world's largest oceans hurling weather at each other over you reminds you how small we are.  Thinking "I'm from the ring of fire badass PNW" and looking around and losing count - maybe 25 volcanic cones visible from where you stand.  And deciding "let's ski here" and skiing long, high-speed, effortless arcs down, down, down, where the mind wanders because it's so mesmerizing and so free of resistance and sustained, meeting finally at the bottom and everyone being only able to eventually come up with the words, "so...sparkle-y."
Is the tiny "base area" yurt still there?  We'll never forget the locals running the snack yurt being so friendly despite the language barrier, letting us know they enjoyed watching us skin up and ski where no one ever went (amazing terrain, even what was in view of the yurt, apparently never got skied then).  The third morning we walked in, when they saw us, on cue, they hit play on their Bon Jovi CD.  Cracked these American dirtbag touristas up.  Viva Corralco!  Viva Volcan Lonquimay!

Looks like way too much fun for October! You should be sulking in the rainy darkness.

Thanks for improving our otherwise gloomy day!  Been down there climbing for a couple months at a time and now have a friend living in Chile.  A winter visit looks pretty cool - nice photos!

author=peteyboy link=topic=42186.msg165765#msg165765 date=1571292226]
Got to spend the trip of a lifetime there in August perhaps 15 years ago. I hear it's busier now but I'll never forget leaving the tiny ski area above the araucania trees and seeing no one for days. Walking on ridges feeling what it's like to walk on this skinny land so high up in the sky with the angry southern reaches of the world's largest oceans hurling weather at each other over you reminds you how small we are. Thinking "I'm from the ring of fire badass PNW" and looking around and losing count - maybe 25 volcanic cones visible from where you stand. And deciding "let's ski here" and skiing long, high-speed, effortless arcs down, down, down, where the mind wanders because it's so mesmerizing and so free of resistance and sustained, meeting finally at the bottom and everyone being only able to eventually come up with the words, "so...sparkle-y."
Is the tiny "base area" yurt still there?  We'll never forget the locals running the snack yurt being so friendly despite the language barrier, letting us know they enjoyed watching us skin up and ski where no one ever went (amazing terrain, even what was in view of the yurt, apparently never got skied then). The third morning we walked in, when they saw us, on cue, they hit play on their Bon Jovi CD. Cracked these American dirtbag touristas up. Viva Corralco! Viva Volcan Lonquimay!


That sounds incredible! I assume you mean at Corralco? There's a real lodge at the base now and some kind of hut thing, not a yurt, that seem to use for ski school. There is also a super fancy ($200 per night) hotel at the treeline. I also think that the uppermost lift is pretty new. It gets you within 1400' of the summit, which is a really quick boot with the trail in. Still, I found the ski area to be super fun. You can get a single ride for 10000 pesos (about $14), and they just gave us half-off on the powder day we bought full tickets.

If you head back, go check out the Los Arenales area run by the Mapuches-Pehuenches from Lonquimay. The lifts no longer function, so it's ski-touring paradise. Their food is very good.

So you guys just scored, basically?

Nice, Nice, Nice.

Way to get it Kam! Looks dreamy.

Nice! I planned to do some tours this July in Chile but the logistics didn't work out so I just hit Portillo. Beautiful, but not much snow at that time.

author=lernr link=topic=42186.msg165814#msg165814 date=1572022536]
Nice! I planned to do some tours this July in Chile but the logistics didn't work out so I just hit Portillo. Beautiful, but not much snow at that time.


I think Portillo never really had any snow this year. In any year, July is pretty darn early. August-September are probably more reliable, as much as anything in the Central Andes is reliable.

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2019-10-15 16:01:06