Snow in the summer? Enough for us to feel cold! At 10,000 feet and only 46 km away from Santiago is Valle Nevado, one of Santiago's main ski centers. We weren't skiing or climbing with ice cramps. Just a leisurely hike up and away from the ski center.
With only 3 days in Santiago, how would I show the best of living here to my friends? The Andes! But, what about the coast, and surfing in Chile?
No matter what, I knew we'd have a blast. Nevertheless, I was hoping to plan for an epic experience. Just a little history, when Emily and I lived together, we had a blast sipping coffee and eating scones. She'd tell me to make lists to plan my life, and I'd feed her booze-infused baked goods. She recruited Holly (who I had met once in Denver) for a 2-week SA adventure, starting in Santiago. I'm deeply thankful for their visit, their positive energy and sense of curiosity. Tranquila tequila!
Back to my dilemma - The Andes are awesome but I also wanted to take them to the Chilean coast, just 2 hours in the other direction.
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| see the ski center way below? |
Why not hike in the Andes and take a surf lesson in one day? I'm guessing there aren't too many places in the world where you can be at 9,900 feet hiking (or skiing in winter) and then cruise to the coast for an afternoon of surfing.
Around 8:30AM on a Sunday we headed east to the Cordillera with Pablo at the wheel. As we made our way up the mountain, a bike race was starting; they were biking from Santiago to the ski center. That's a climb from 1700 feet to 9900 feet - a change of 8200 feet!
One important fact: driving up to the ski centers is on one curvy, windy road that just goes up and up. We saw a gaucho, a few Andean condors and sparkly New Years trees.
Oh, the fresh, crisp mountain air makes my whole body and soul smile. Our energy was just perfect on the drive up and at the ski center. Pablo says I had a permanent smile on my face all day :) Those rough, ragged mountain peaks are so fierce, jutting into the sky but also a reminder of how flexible and forgiving our earth can be with their curves and waterfalls.
We hiked up for a while, always towards the big patch of white. After some resting and snacks we followed a cat-walk around a curve and - there it was! It caused sheer joy and lots of jumping. Our giddiness is what you'd expect for someone who is seeing snow for the first time and it was intoxicating. It was just our laughter and the big, blue sky.
Why did we have so much fun? We all dived into the day ready to laugh, to enjoy being together and to be fully be present. Just add onto that million-dollar views, a hike and.... an afternoon surfing!
How did we do all this in a day?
After a lovely lunch at the ski hotel, we headed down from the mountains back to Santiago. Because our sexy driver needed a 30-minute nap, we did a gear swap then headed west; by 5PM we were in our wetsuits. You may have already spotted our surf instructor eyeing over Holly (see photo above) - ah, latino love.
Our surf class was hilarious. 5 minute warm-up jumping on a trampoline and about 10 minutes learning to stand up on the tabla, set up on one of those wobbly exercise discs. Small detail: I had to translate the class from Spanish to English with words like acostado, medio de la tabla, flexionar los brazos..
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Since Pablo already knows how to surf, he left us with the strapping surf instructor, Alexi. Ten cuidado! He was flirting with all of us within 5 minutes. Good thing he isn't just a pretty face - we all surfed! He'd push us into the just-right baby wave, support the surfboard and tell us right when to stand. I may have done my victory dance on top of my surfboard. Ask Pablo and he'll tell you all about it.
I'd say we earned our fried empanadas and Chilean beers!
Thanks SO much for coming to visit, Emily & Holly! Come back for Tranquila Tequila 2!
