Sunday, August 10, 2008

Kevin's 1st Full Day on the slopes

Chile is a fantastic place!! The wine is phenomenal and it's cheap too! Oh yeah, the skiing isn't too shaby either. We are staying at Portillio, South America's oldest ski resort. Being the oldest ski resort in South America, the history is incredible. The resort is about 2 1/2 hours from Santiago Chile, and there is nothing else here except this small resort (about 400 guests). We are between Santiago and Mendoza, Argentina. The snow is fantastic, light, fast and fun!! We are expecting snow overnight as the barometer is falling :)

An added bonus this week......the Men's Canadian Ski Team arrived this afternoon. Their course is being set up tonight. For those of you who do not follow skiing, this current team is said to be better than the days of the "The Crazy Canucks." Last year, the men's team made it to the podium more than 12 times. I'm looking forward to meeting some of the team members and maybe get the odd autograph myself.

I don't think anyone could not marvel at the beautiful sceery. Portillio sits entirely above the treeline. We look at Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas. On some of the steepest advanced runs, the hills are so steep they require specialized lifts (a combination of a slingshot, 5 man poma lift)....I'm waiting for a little more powder to dampen the carnage my knees will likely take. The hotel looks out on a beautiful lake that is nestled between the mountains and provides great opportunities for pictures....sorry I forgot to take a picture as we were too busy eating/skiing. Here's a link to the view from where I'm sitting and typing this....
Posted by Picasa

1 comment:

Marilyn said...

Did you keep track of the wines and the wineries you liked best so we can all enjoy some of the red necture of the Gods next spring?