Plateaued

Saturday

     "Off-piste" has entered the guest vocabulary. Times change and the Brazilians are trickling home. In their place have come are the Americans. Excuse me, the North Americans (everyone here is American). My countrymen are great, and with so many around, working in reception is a piece of cake. But if you're so anxious to ski in August that you book a trip to the Southern Hemisphere, you're probably a good skier. And good skiers, generally, play off the groomers. Oh, how things change...

     I don't know how to say this... but there was a lineup before the lifts opened! People actually gathered, mulled around the closed signs, until patrol pulled the ropes. Although it wasn't a gung-ho as the Alta base at 9 o'clock, it was totally ridiculous - according to our standards. Truth be told, this new batch of guests did wait two days before the more advanced lifts were opened. The roads were closed on Saturday, stranding hundreds in Santiago, and only the carpets were open on Sunday. So today was their day! And did they make the most of it... Las Lomas, the baby lift, opened first and we swarmed. Plateau, finally, started running and we swarmed again. Garganta was bare within an hour... "We should wait at Condor before... Damn, there's already a line!" Remember those posts, where I bragged about being the only guy out there? Well those posts, and those sacred afternoon, are gone! They went to Sao Paulo and to Rio and to the beach. Instead I've got really fun groups of powder hounds to complain about.
      

Sunday

      However, as I just implied, there's a silver lining: these gringos are fun. Portillo is host to a number of solid skiers right now, young and old, who truly enjoyed themselves today. My Chilean friends always tell me Americans are loud. Well, it's true, we love to holler - especially when we're knee deep in fresh snow. Up and down the mountain I heard "whoops" and "oh yeahs," all kinds of jolly nonsense. Moreover good, risky skiing is contagious. Waiting in line at Condor, you can see the entire run and every skier. "Oh he's fast"; "Wow, that was huge!"; "Ouch" mutters the crowd. Soon the t-bar arrives and it's your turn, our turn to ski even harder. The energy was new and good. So what if Plateau gets shredded a bit early? I must finally add that Roca Jack and Condor, the two greatest lifts, were closed all day. Three days worth of snow is getting skied tomorrow. This morning's lineup was nothing. So if you're staying at the hotel, rest up. I'm not that cutthroat, but if you're slow on the traverse this gringo will show you loud.

Monday

all good