Portillo Ski Center and the Andes: Week 13 / Day 85 / April 5
Santiago, Chile: Back to the mountains again. We knew we wanted to head back into the Andes, but were not sure where. We considered going back up where we did yesterday and driving further towards the lakes and glaciers. However, Linda saw reviews online of the roads that indicated that may be a bad idea (long stretches of narrow road that allowed only one car at a time; traffic from the other direction may require backing up for almost a mile). Later investigation on Google Maps street view proved those fears to be false, but we made our decision.
Another area that got mentioned as a possible place to visit in the Andes is the Portillo Ski Center. After I got a look at the map for the drive there, I immediately said, “That’s where we are going!”
Once I saw that the road looked like both a small intestine and a large intestine, I knew where I wanted to go.
The drive out of Santiago took us straight north to the town of Los Andes. The road on the way was very reminiscent of driving through the inland valleys of Souther California. Along the way, the road was dotted occasionally with small memorials.
After we passed through Los Andes, the road began to follow a narrow canyon. The drive was still pretty straightforward although rather narrow in spots (only one car at a time in either direction due to the narrow road).
If you look carefully at the first picture above, you can see the road in the distance passing next to a narrow cut where the river had gouged an especially deep gorge.
Eventually, we made our way to the switchback that took us high into the mountains.
In total, there are thirty curves that are conveniently numbered.
As we made our way through the second set of curves, we began to notice ski lifts running alongside and above the road. It turns out that some of the ski runs are opposite to what I am used to. The main ski lodge / center sits at the top of the run, the skiers ski down to the bottom, and then take the ski lift back up to the lodge.
At the top, we went inside the lodge for a snack and some relaxation. Although the lodge restaurant was open, we appeared to be the only customers.
Walking around the lodge, we saw multiple posters and pictures from various national ski teams (USA, Canada, Austria,…) thanking the resort for their hospitality and training facilities. Apparently, come June – August, this is quite the ski locale.
After lunch we headed down towards the lake for a better view of the mountains.
As we walked along, we saw small flocks of parakeets amongst the rocks.
Walking around the end of the lake and up the side, we came across a group of hikers setting up camp for the night.
Our initial plan had been to stay at the ski lodge until dark, as a look at a light pollution map (www.lightpollutionmap.info – a very useful resource for finding dark skies to see the stars) showed that the lake we were at (right side of picture) was pretty much devoid of artificial light.
However, as we were sitting lakeside (and Linda was using FaceTime to show her mom the lake – technology is amazing!), I looked at Google Maps and saw that there was a dirt road leading higher into the Andes. Off the main road leading to the border with Argentina, there is a side road that goes right up to the border where there is Cristo de Redentor de los Andes. While not as large as the one in Rio de Janiero, it still looked neat and like a fun drive. So, off we went.
The road up to the border and the statue was basically a wide track carved out of gravel / rock by a wide plow making switchbacks up the mountainside. To say that I enjoyed the ride more than Linda would be a serious understatement.
Our trip to the top was eventually rewarded, as we reached the border with Argentina.
Somewhere amongst the neighboring peaks was Mt. Aconcagua. At 22,837 feet, it is the highest peak in the Western and Southern Hemispheres. I guess that is just a fancy way of saying that it is the highest peak on three quarters of the earth. Of course, considering that three quarters of the earth is water, I think my backyard also qualifies for this honor. The difference being that this three quarters also includes a lot of the land bits. The only taller peaks are in Asia, basically.
The wind was quite cold up at the top, so, we only stayed briefly before heading back down.
As a special treat for those of you who hate high mountain roads, here are a couple of videos that Linda took of our drives up the mountains today.
The drive back was interesting as we were stopped at Chilean customs even though we were about 15 miles form the border. It took a while to explain that we had only gone up to the statue and had not actually been in Argentina (well, sort of – we did walk over the border at the top and I think I parked about 40 ft. into Argentina). After getting back down to the lodge, we walked around as the sky darkened.
We then headed inside for a snack while it continued to grow dark.
The wait was well worth it as the night sky was clear and full of stars. Fortunately, there was no moon either to diminish the intensity of the stars. After looking at the stars for a while we began the two hour plus drive back to Santiago for the night.
