Just after putting away my backcountry gear in April, I flew to Santiago de Chile, looking for more snow. In Chile I worked during northern hemisphere summer as a heliski guide for Chilean Heliski. Our terrain just lies 100 km south of the Santiago and can be accessed from the international airport within 2.5 hours by road. As a base serves the recently opened 5 star accommodation Puma Lodge, which doesn’t leave open a single wish.
The skiing terrain consist of Chamonix like glaciers and vast slopes. But there are also tons of steep slopes full of spines and couloirs. And because we are the only company who is allowed to ski in this mountainous region and 3000 km2 huge region, there hundreds of first descents to do. Most runs are between 1000 to 1500 vertical meters. And because the snow is really dry and more stable as in the Alps, our area doesn’t need to be shy of a comparison with any skiing area worldwide (see promo video).
My first season as a heliski guide overcame my expectation. Here I have had my best skiing days ever. And with the touch of Latin lifestyle my first season was a unique experience, thus it was easy to take the decision to come back in 2012.