Portillo

A couple of weeks ago we had planned to take a weekend ski trip to a resort about an hour from the house.  Due to unfortunate circumstances we had to cancel at the last minute.  We were all a bit disappointed that we would not be skiing this winter as the ski season was coming to a close.  As I was unpacking the suitcases, I got to the one that I had put all of the outerwear in, and it hit me.  We don't have time to go skiing but we can still go to the snow.  A day trip was born.

We left yesterday morning with that suitcase, still packed, in the trunk of the car.  We were heading about 2 hours NE of Santiago to one of the oldest ski resorts in Chile - Portillo.  

The road to Portillo is pretty modern and well kept.  I was glad we were travelling at the end of the season because no matter how modern, or how well kept, this road, covered with ice, would have been treacherous.  

This was our view most of the way.  Trucks heading over the Andes and into Argentina are plentiful and slow and it is hard to pass on the winding roads.

And with road signs like these, it makes you think twice about doing anything other than following slowly behind the truck in front of you.  And this sign is on one of the flatter parts of the route.  Because about 10 km (6.3 miles) from the resort you hit these...

Better shown by my GPS...

And, in the midst of all of the weaving back an forth, this is all of a sudden in front of you, or above you, as it may be.  We stopped to take a picture of it because I almost couldn't believe it.  This ski lift (and the run it services) goes over about 5 or 6 of those hairpin turns and it goes straight up.  Right up over those rocks and the roads and all of those trucks chugging their way up the mountain.  Did I mention it goes almost vertical?  I think it would terrify me to be on that lift.  And these pictures don't even do justice to how steep and long this lift is.  Though the one of the pole support anchored at such an angle, when it should be straight up and down, does give you a bit of perspective.

And all of a sudden we were there.  Really, it is all of a sudden because there are no markings to their entrance.  And you don't want to miss it because your next turn around is the Argentinian border 3 miles away.  When you hit that you have a bit of explaining to do before they turn you back around.  Our friends had missed it on their last trip up so we knew to keep our eyes peeled and listen to Juanita (my GPS) when she said to turn down an unpaved, rocky road that looked like it was a turn around area.  She was right, as usual, and we had made it.  

This is it.  The whole shebang.  There is only one hotel, 2 smaller lodges and some ski lifts.  The maximum capacity at one time is 400 guests and each stays for the full week (there is no weekending here).  They are a full service/all-inclusive resort and with 450 employees on staff, they really do mean full service. Very, very different from what we as a family are used to in the U.S.  Here, there is no town, there are no TV's, there are no stores and if Portillo doesn't have it on hand, you can't get it.   But it does have powder for days (literally, for days you can still find powder after a snowfall because there are so few people skiing at a time), heli-skiing and some incredible back country terrain.  It was also here that the 200km speed record was first broken.  It is the destination of choice for most of the world's ski teams for summer training (their summer, not ours).  And it is usually ranked in the top 10 of ski resorts in the world by Ski Magazine and the Travel Channel.  As we didn't get to ski, I will take their word for it but from what I saw, it was spectacular.

The first thing the girls did was hit the snow patches in the parking lot.   Even before they would let me dig out the boots and mittens and hats.  Which was OK.  It was warm enough that we decided to have lunch in the restaurant first, see the Laguna del Inca, and then get bundled up for sledding.

Our lunch was delicious and I think we had about 20 of those 450 employees just for our table.  And the views were unrivaled.  The main dining room overlooks the laguna and on a day like yesterday, you could see ever ridge and swirl of snow covering the mountain peaks.  The water of the laguna was a unearthly blue. Stunning but it means we didn't get to see the legendary emerald...

The legend of the Laguna del Inca states that way back when the Inca's ruled Northern Chile there was a common man named Illa Yupanqui.  He met and fell in love with the Inca princess Kora-Ilé, the most beautiful in all the empire, a princess whose eyes shone like emeralds.  He won her heart and they were married on the shores of a lake high in the Andes.  Still dressed in their wedding clothes, the bride and groom were making their way down the mountain when Kora-Ilé slipped and fell into the void.  Illa rushed down to her but found her dead.  In his grief and despair, Illa decided that his bride deserved a singular tomb.  He wrapped her in white and buried her in what is now called Laguna del Inca.  When her body reached the bottom the clear water miraculously turned a rich emerald color, the exact color of the dead princesses eyes.  And to this day, you can still hear Illa's tortured cries for his dead wife.

The view from the sitting room inside the hotel. (shot through the glass)

The view from the patio.

With everyone's belly full and having explored the beauty of the lake we were ready to get suited up and do some sledding.  The girls were very quick about getting their suits and accessories on, but it was a bit more slow going getting to the hill.   Because of course we had to stop and play, throw, taste and mold each pile of snow we came to.

Oh, that is COOOOLLLD.

Finally, we hit the mountain.  Since there is no official sledding hill in Portillo, you kind of just have to pick a spot and go for it.  They told us we just had to stay away from the lift lines.  As you can see in the picture above, we headed away from the hotel and lake and up into the hills...to where the snow cats live when they are not working.  It was perfect.  The trail was groomed, the slope not too steep for the little ones, and we were in no danger of encountering cars.  The only thing that could have posed a problem is that we were on private property, but when the snow cat drivers came out, they waved, so we figured we were safe to keep sledding.

Since B had never been sledding in his life (he grew up in South America after all), and the girls had only been on the small snow hills out front of my parents house in Colorado, it was up to me to guide the sled and make sure everyone was safe and happy.  As I grew up sledding on hills that probably had no business being sled upon, I was well exquiped for the task.

After watching for 2 runs, B couldn't stand it.  He had to get in on the giggling fun.  So up he went, sled in hand...still hoping I wasn't crazy for saying that a sled didn't need brakes...

 We stopped to make snow angels...

And just look cute...

And then it was time for the girls to make a run without an adult.  They were so excited they couldn't stop laughing and screaming the whole way down...

After that run Stinkerbell called it quits for a bit and just wanted to play in the snow.  Not so for MadHatter.  She wanted to run one all by herself.  I was torn.  This is where my head says nothing will go wrong (like her going off the side and hitting the rocks) and my heart says, but it could.  My head usually wins, as it did this time.

I told her if she was big enough to sled by herself, she was big enough to get the sled up the hill by herself.

You coming, Mom?

So ready to go!

They decided that they wanted more of a challange.  They wanted to go up and sled down the "big" hill off to the side.  What the heck, if I could get them up it, I could get them down it.  It proved that the getting up it part was harder than it looked.  MadHatter didn't have snow boots on (just boots) and kept slipping.  I had snow boots but not a lot of traction...We tried anyway.  I only got her about half way (that was one sttteeeeep hill) and then let her go.  Think she loved it...

And then I did the only thing I could think of to do to get back down - I tucked.  I slid.  I felt like a kid.

And it looked like so much fun the girls wanted to try.  But I told them they would have to get up there by themselves.  And they did.  And then they slid down...

It was getting to late afternoon by this point and we had to head back.  But not without a stop to play in the snow by the hotel again.  And for me to get a picture or two...

 Those are some happy faces of some happy little girls.

 Of course, we had to have a picture of the infamous Margot.  She is the hotel's dog.  And she is beyond sweet and kind and HUGE.  Everyone falls in love with this lazy ball of fur and Stinkerbell was no exception...but I think Margot fell just a bit in love with her too.

 It was time to head back.  We had 194 km to go, numerous hairpin turns and two very tired, but happy, little girls.  Saturday's don't get any better than this!

 

And a few iPhone snapshots for Instagram...