For weeks I’ve waited for Hotel Portillo’s picturesque backdrop, the Laguna del Inca, to freeze over. On sun-drenched days the lake’s deep blue waters anchor a jaw-dropping view, which rivals that of any resort in either hemisphere. But the lake unfrozen too late in the season also means insufficient snowfall. Its mandatory disappearance is a season-marker, denoting more access to deep skiing. And by August that’s definitely the priority, vista or no vista. Following a couple of cold fronts the date seemed set; certain patches of ice, though riddled with streams, looked promising. Yet the weather, as fickle as ever, refused to cooperate long enough for complete coverage. That is until yesterday, when the Laguna became a providential crater of white. Not surprisingly, this morning was also the best skiing I’ve had all year.
Even with the recent dump, traversing across the ice is some weeks out. My suggestion that a fully covered lake denotes “more access” stems from basic Portillo logic: when there’s enough snow to hide the lake, there’s enough snow to ski everywhere. Following that logic, which I admit isn’t spectacular, everything opened today. Have I ever mentioned Vizcachas before? What about Gargantita? The latter consists of two beautiful chutes that run parallel with Garganta, directly beneath the Plateau lift, making their frequent closures that more torturous. The former is accessed via Portillo’s signature, five-person va et vient lift and failed to even open last year. But the fated time has arrived – the lake is frozen! – and Gargantita and Vizcachas are open and skiable.
What’s more is the timing couldn’t be better. Portillo is currently the host of Chris Davenport’s eighth consecutive Ski with the Superstars camp, and between the clinic’s handful of pros and the ambitious skiers tailing them, the more advanced terrain that’s open the better. This morning Chris Anthony, for example, boosted a cliff at the choke of Gargantita that I’d previously doubted was possible. Later in the day I saw Wendy Fisher enjoy fresh snow in a treacherous little couloir off Cara Cara, something questionable just three days ago. Although I failed to spot Mike Douglas or Ingrid Backstrom, the remaining two coaches working with Davenport, I’m certain they too were lapping Vizcachas like superstars.As a long-time skier, I'm stoked that so many big names have converged at Portillo, especially now with the conditions optimal. So I ask, is it mere coincidence that the lake froze yesterday? Or that everything opened this morning? Or that some of skiing’s greatest legends arrived for two weeks on Saturday? All sarcasm aside, the Laguna del Inca is truly a magnificent and stupefying body of water… and I’m glad, in superstitious way, that it’s gone.
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| Standing at the top of Vizcachas |
