A week in the mountains. Our Chilean ski vacation at Corralco
Our family has been fortunate enough to enjoy a week of skiing in the mountains south of Concepción. My host Claudio largely arranged the whole trip: graciously making me aware of the sale of half price tickets, renting us one of his personal cars, arranging a cozy and warm place for us to stay...etc. Many thanks! Claudio's family was also taking their ski vacation at the same time and we were able to do a bunch of things together and make the whole trip much more rich.
We left Concepción on Friday afternoon, drove south on the PanAmerican highway to Victoria and turned east into the mountains. Along the road, we were impressed with nearly continuous views of snowy volcanoes...leaving us wondering, "Which one will we get to ski on?" After a brief stop for cash and groceries in Victoria, we headed up the Cautín River, gassing up under darkness in Curacautín and finally reaching our destination in Malalcahuello. We stayed at the Cabanas de la Villa, run by Hotel Nalcas and found the spot to be a cozy A-frame with two bedrooms, a small kitchen and bath located in town close to amenities like the panederia and minimercado.
On Sunday, we went touring east beyond Lonquimay village, within the rainshadow. Nice terraces on the upper Bio Bio River with icicles forming where groundwater continues to discharge. Also, plenty of rilling and mass movements in the weakly consolidated ashes that mantle much of the landscape.
Over the next few days we focused on touring the countryside and exploring the Corralco Ski Area sidecountry. This resort sits on Volcan Lonquimay, a young (Holocene!) eruptive center It was strange to ski on such a vast, treeless, smooth expanse of snow. Distances were hard to estimate and it was a thrill to lock heels down and crank on some edges. There were two chairlifts and one rascapato (butt-scratcher or Poma-lift) and a hand full of groomed runs. The rest of the terrain was a strange mix of glassy ice covered with mobile patches of drifting snow. Though these were less than ideal conditions, it was fun to find ways of connecting these powdery strips into descents. Our favorite stash was a canyon formed by a lahar on the far western side of the ski area. It required a significant traverse on steep ice and crossing a rock band but in offered a suite of cornice drops and powdery snow at the flat bottom. It was fun to drop in, ride a little soft snow and then ride back up the lip, kind of like a natural half pipe. Most of the dramatic photos come from this canyon. On the last day, we hiked up directly above the El Volcan lift to where the future Cumbre lift will go to take in the amazing view and ski on some sun-softened snow. We also got a great view around the corner to the young crater on the southeast edge of the main mountain. Cana and the kids hiked in true style carrying gear like real pros. Here are the photos and videos from the adventure...hope you enjoy it.
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On our last day in town we decided to brave the rain and walked up a great road toward a view of the Sierra Nevada. There were fantastic views of the forest and river upstream of the Malalcahuello Thermal Springs.
On our way home we took our sweet time, visiting waterfalls and seeing the coast range first hand. Dylan and Cana had fun thinking of strange ways to document their visit to Salto de La Princessa
View Concepción to Cautín River Basin to Concepción via coast in a larger map
We left Concepción on Friday afternoon, drove south on the PanAmerican highway to Victoria and turned east into the mountains. Along the road, we were impressed with nearly continuous views of snowy volcanoes...leaving us wondering, "Which one will we get to ski on?" After a brief stop for cash and groceries in Victoria, we headed up the Cautín River, gassing up under darkness in Curacautín and finally reaching our destination in Malalcahuello. We stayed at the Cabanas de la Villa, run by Hotel Nalcas and found the spot to be a cozy A-frame with two bedrooms, a small kitchen and bath located in town close to amenities like the panederia and minimercado.
(Volcan Lonquimay from Mono Andes' Flicker)
Malalcahuello yardscaping
Cautín River, Malalcahuello
Over the next few days we focused on touring the countryside and exploring the Corralco Ski Area sidecountry. This resort sits on Volcan Lonquimay, a young (Holocene!) eruptive center It was strange to ski on such a vast, treeless, smooth expanse of snow. Distances were hard to estimate and it was a thrill to lock heels down and crank on some edges. There were two chairlifts and one rascapato (butt-scratcher or Poma-lift) and a hand full of groomed runs. The rest of the terrain was a strange mix of glassy ice covered with mobile patches of drifting snow. Though these were less than ideal conditions, it was fun to find ways of connecting these powdery strips into descents. Our favorite stash was a canyon formed by a lahar on the far western side of the ski area. It required a significant traverse on steep ice and crossing a rock band but in offered a suite of cornice drops and powdery snow at the flat bottom. It was fun to drop in, ride a little soft snow and then ride back up the lip, kind of like a natural half pipe. Most of the dramatic photos come from this canyon. On the last day, we hiked up directly above the El Volcan lift to where the future Cumbre lift will go to take in the amazing view and ski on some sun-softened snow. We also got a great view around the corner to the young crater on the southeast edge of the main mountain. Cana and the kids hiked in true style carrying gear like real pros. Here are the photos and videos from the adventure...hope you enjoy it.
Wells traversing a bowl of ice.
Dylan advising Monica on route ahead.
Carla Meier
Cana drops in.
Cana again.
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Wells cutting corduroy.
(View pano below or use THIS link)
On our way home we took our sweet time, visiting waterfalls and seeing the coast range first hand. Dylan and Cana had fun thinking of strange ways to document their visit to Salto de La Princessa
