Tim
09-18-2007, 11:20 AM
Hello
My name is Tim Villanueva. I am one of NASTC ski guides. I just got back from Chile myself. I was guiding a six-day heli trip out of the central Andes. Our lodge that we were based out of the El Ingenio is located in the beautiful Maipo Valley. This lodge is a treat unto itself. The cuisine and service is four star. It truly is something you must experience for yourself. Ok enough of that, lets get to the nuts and bolts of the trip.
The trip Length is seven days six of those days are skiing The clients arrived around noonish we all had a snack and got know each other The first day is set aside for clinics about the ship, snow safety and handing out equipment. A very easy day. Dinner is about 7:30 to 8:00 every evening.
Our second day we had some weather come in and we couldn't fly so some of us decided to go the Concho Y Toro winery. Others decided to relax around the lodge or go fishing. There happened to be a professional fishing guide working at the lodge who offered to take some of the group out. I think you can see this is much more than just a heli-ski trip.
The third day we woke to some snow flurries, but the forecast was for a clearing in the afternoon. This was our chance to fly for the first time and see the terrain and of course get some skiing in. The other ski guide and I had a discussion about our tactics for the day. We decided to ski a lower angle run and make some snow observations for avalanche conditions before we got too aggressive with our terrain selection. Getting up in the ship and having a look was an eye opener. The terrain is big and lines everywhere. We landed and made some snow and weather obs. We estimated our snow to be about 5% water content (dry) and 30 to 45 centimeters in depth depending on elevation. We decided not to get on some steeper terrain that first day and skied some lower angle slopes that were in the low 30s. We skied until about 4:00 pm that day. We got everyone ski legs pumping and got used to our routine for the next few days of heli-skiing. What a nice intro day to heli-skiing the Andes! We were all looking forward to rest of the week.
The rest of the week we skied every day starting at approximately 9:00 am and ending between 3:30 and 4:00 pm. The area of operation we skied is virtually untouched. We managed to ski 3 or 4 first descents. We skied approximately 80,000 ft. for the remaining week. Everyone legs were definitely tired at the end of each day. I never got tired of my "commute" to work. Looking out the window you could just pick ski line after ski line and never tire of the scenery. The ship would land and would unload gear and ourselves. The ship would then take off which can be somewhat hectic and noisy (pickups and landings). Then we would be there all alone and in utter silence and calm. Don’t get me wrong, using the heli, as your transportation to the goods is a huge rush.
During the middle of the week I thought to myself this trip has NASTC written all over it. When I got back to home in Bishop I called Chris and Jenny and told them about this adventure. They heard my enthusiasm about this trip and agreed that this was something they should offer to their people. This heli-ski experience is so much more than just your cookie cutter heli trip. Join NASTC and myself and find out what I am talking about. Hope to see this year on some adventure ski trip with NASTC.
Tim
My name is Tim Villanueva. I am one of NASTC ski guides. I just got back from Chile myself. I was guiding a six-day heli trip out of the central Andes. Our lodge that we were based out of the El Ingenio is located in the beautiful Maipo Valley. This lodge is a treat unto itself. The cuisine and service is four star. It truly is something you must experience for yourself. Ok enough of that, lets get to the nuts and bolts of the trip.
The trip Length is seven days six of those days are skiing The clients arrived around noonish we all had a snack and got know each other The first day is set aside for clinics about the ship, snow safety and handing out equipment. A very easy day. Dinner is about 7:30 to 8:00 every evening.
Our second day we had some weather come in and we couldn't fly so some of us decided to go the Concho Y Toro winery. Others decided to relax around the lodge or go fishing. There happened to be a professional fishing guide working at the lodge who offered to take some of the group out. I think you can see this is much more than just a heli-ski trip.
The third day we woke to some snow flurries, but the forecast was for a clearing in the afternoon. This was our chance to fly for the first time and see the terrain and of course get some skiing in. The other ski guide and I had a discussion about our tactics for the day. We decided to ski a lower angle run and make some snow observations for avalanche conditions before we got too aggressive with our terrain selection. Getting up in the ship and having a look was an eye opener. The terrain is big and lines everywhere. We landed and made some snow and weather obs. We estimated our snow to be about 5% water content (dry) and 30 to 45 centimeters in depth depending on elevation. We decided not to get on some steeper terrain that first day and skied some lower angle slopes that were in the low 30s. We skied until about 4:00 pm that day. We got everyone ski legs pumping and got used to our routine for the next few days of heli-skiing. What a nice intro day to heli-skiing the Andes! We were all looking forward to rest of the week.
The rest of the week we skied every day starting at approximately 9:00 am and ending between 3:30 and 4:00 pm. The area of operation we skied is virtually untouched. We managed to ski 3 or 4 first descents. We skied approximately 80,000 ft. for the remaining week. Everyone legs were definitely tired at the end of each day. I never got tired of my "commute" to work. Looking out the window you could just pick ski line after ski line and never tire of the scenery. The ship would land and would unload gear and ourselves. The ship would then take off which can be somewhat hectic and noisy (pickups and landings). Then we would be there all alone and in utter silence and calm. Don’t get me wrong, using the heli, as your transportation to the goods is a huge rush.
During the middle of the week I thought to myself this trip has NASTC written all over it. When I got back to home in Bishop I called Chris and Jenny and told them about this adventure. They heard my enthusiasm about this trip and agreed that this was something they should offer to their people. This heli-ski experience is so much more than just your cookie cutter heli trip. Join NASTC and myself and find out what I am talking about. Hope to see this year on some adventure ski trip with NASTC.
Tim