International Overnighter

So the morning after my first night back in the house we woke to a flat light day. Nobody wanted to ride and one of the Spaniards Chapa had been here for almost 90 days and needed to cross to Argentina for a new stamp and thus, 90 more days in Chile. A good friend and transient individual Gabriel was staying at the house on holiday and had a rental car. So 5 of us, 3 Spanards, 1 Catalan(They think its another country but it's really Spain), and myself hopped in a little VW and headed north to Los Andes and west to Portillo which is just short of the border to ARG.

It was a Saturday and we got stuck up here because the Pacos(policia) wouldn't let us go down as there were still people coming up the road. So we found a place to buy some amazing empanadas(meat pies) and bummed around for a bit until we could head down. As we were waiting for the last of the weekend warriors to come up the road, the clouds were breaking and I snapped some good shots of the mountains to the south.




So the caravan commenced and so did the good times. We got into the city and started hassleing any passerby or nearby motorist for directions to get out of the concrete jungle. Listening to Spaniards speak to Chileans is really funny, I feel that they speak more correctly and the faces of the Chileans were priceless.

As we entered Los Andes we had some hunger and the noses were functioning strong. We passed a bread shop and stopped for some grub.

It was close to closing time and we had to pull teeth to get someone to come to the front of the house. In the mean time we were entertained by an orange tree bearing some good fruit.


We passed the towering mountains of Portillo and reached the boarder just in time to return the same night from Argentina...so we thought. As it turned out, we needed to stay a night in order to get the new stamp in the passport. There was a suggestion of going to Mendoza Argentina for the night but it sounded crazy. So we got back into the little car and headed back down the switchbacks...but not for long. The car stopped and the conversation was had about really going to Mendoza, some 170 kilometers. The car made a big U and over the boarder we went....Mendoza bound into the night.




And so extended our international adventure. We passed some of the crazyest terrain in the world through the dark and arrived in Mendoza around 10:30pm with a time change not in our favor. And so continued to questioning of innocent Argentinians for the best cheapest place to stay.

We found “Hostel Su Casa” which was so so cheap. Like 6 dollars each for a clean room with a bathroom and 5 beds. So we got settled in and headed out for a much needed meal of assorted meats, salad, beer, and wine. All for about 8 dollars each, and our waiter went to get us a bottle of whiskey.

With our stomachs full we headed back to the suite to have some drinks, and head out for an Argentinian night. That we did. To the fullest of staying out until 7am. Which is totally normal. It was fun even though the music was 100% Reggeton garbage. If you've never heard it. Go on your favorite online music source and sample some. So we made it back to the room and got a solid 3.5 hours of sleep before it was noon and was time to get out of Argentina.

We hit up a bread shop for some hangover food and headed out, the same way we got there. Asking any and everyone how to get back to Chile... Really funny stuff. As we got to the base of the mountains, there was a CRAZY backup of traffic....all semis. There was some kind of problem with the boarder for trucks and they had been waiting there for as much as 8 days! We stopped and did some investigating...not really sure why...but it was fun all the same.

We reached the snow and got to see all the scenery we missed on the way in the night. Really incredible stuff. Upon arriving to the top, we discovered a string of ski areas. One “real” one Los Penitentes and some really small beginner slops just right off the road. We had to stop and be “weekend warriors” for a day.





As we reached the boarder once again we encountered a very disorganized boarder system with very strong forces of the drug dog. It smelled the Argentinian honey I was trying get into Chile and maybe some crumbs in the coats of our peeps. Luckily we passed hours later with no fines and our dignity.


The way down from Portillo was long, backed up and left us incredibility hungry. So we stopped in Los Andes in search of something perfect....and that was Chorriana. Fries, onions, eggs, meat, sausage piled high. It was like a Herald and Kumar quest. We asked and walked the center of town aimlessly like zombies with hunger for blood.


Finally when hunger almost split friendship in half, we found a place that was open and had our prize meal. We ordered 3 plates that normally feed 6 and demolished them without a problem.

Our last leg back to Fare was dark with the back of my eyelids, what a crazy day and a half. Now I can stay in Chile for another 90 days. A nice loophole around paying 100 bucks for a stupid tourist card extension.

Tomorrow I'm going to head to Vina del Mar, or maybe Chillan...not quite sure yet. Back to the beach for some longboarding and a nice break from the snow until the MSI crew gets here for the South American Freeskiing Championships in La Parva.

A Circle

Well time flies when you work 12 or more days in a row with a 3 days free. The reason for some morning hour long skins to the top you see above I am writing this on August 21 and I have lived here in Valle Nevado for 6 days short of 2 months and 6 days past getting fired.

That's right, I got the axe. In the little over 1.5 months I worked here, I rattled some cages for sure. Also made a pretty positive impact on the rental and repair shops as well as the people. But the thing is that they just don't understand how the ski resort business is supposed to work. Most people here just go through the motions and don't care if it is “right” or the “wrong way”.

So, long story short, I work the way I was taught was right and when you try to walk in to another world and tell them that things are wrong, or should be another way....they don't like that too much. So after unintentionally making some bad vibes, I was moved to the Dome rental center in the parking lot which was super fun. People who did not stay in the hotel would rent from us who were a lot more real. We had a damn good speaker for bumping music, internet on the rental computers and a ton less customers.




So I got on the schedule of working in the Domo till 1pm, eating lunch, and riding for an hour or more. Then after that I would open the repair shop, turn on more music, and do some casual tuning until the rush came at like 4:30. Work till 7, eat dinner and that was a rap.

In this month and a half I had three sessions of free days. They went as follows:
1st weekend: Ride Monday, sunny, soft snow and fresh turns on old pow. Met some peeps from the east coast with two high school “new schooler” kids. Shredded with them, parents bought me lunch...nice.
Went to the city with my broski Jorge Pavez to deal with Visa paperwork, saw stuff, rode the metro, ate really good cheap sushi. Hitched a ride back to Valle with a rich dude in an A3, he spoke really good English, rode some more.....Back to work for 12 more days.


2nd weekend: POW POW. It dumped like 2 feet or more on my first day Tuesday. Super stormy day, heard some people speaking English in the lift line, got on the chair with them. It was the Burton family~ Jake, the kids, friends, a crew. We killed powder together.
The next two days were bluebird~ I got first lines on every chair in the resort over those days. It was stellar. I met some cool peeps to ride with and ended up changing rooms to live with people who share common interests and had much more space for all my junk.

3rd weekend: After 14 days of straight work....FUNness~ Good sunny conditions, shredding around, went to the other resort La Parva who re-nigged on my job. Got to tell that guy WHATS UP. I crossed between resorts like 5 time that weekend. Stayed with a friend in Farellones and scored invites to a party with open bar and the works. Ended up at a different disco for Reggae night and vibed out till 4am.
Good days.

This brings me to my last days on the clock.

After hearing that people in the point of sale for the repair shop were being suspected for scamming money, I was trusted with a cross check list for repair tickets. OK, of course in any repair shop in the Northern Hemisphere you do free work for important people and friends. But here in Chile, they can't understand that for some reason.

So I got ratted out by my own kind. Some kid with a nick name Pollo “chicken” And it fits so well.
He went and told my original boss who hired me I had some board with no ticket.
I said:
“Oh shit. Well yeah I'm tuning shit for free or tips. This shop is running because of me. When I got here, you didn't know how to use the Stone, or much else properly, and you were not even using coolant! I work more and more effectively than anyone you have ever had.”

Well no matter what happens the day always ends and another begins. This one ended with the start of a storm. It snowed...a lot. And it's still snowing as I write this. I worked the next day and watched it DUMP. Then went out to brave the almost no visibility and slay some pow. After skiing for way too long I got back to the shop at about 3 and was walked down the Human Resources by my little bitch of a boss only for the office lady to tell me why I was fired.
1.no word on my visa.
2.repair of equipment with no ticket.

I called BULL SHIT on both and pointed out they where breaking my contract. AND on top of that my boss was trying to get me kicked out that day with 2 hours of notice in a RAGING snow storm. So we got the director of the mountain involved, who loves me...and gave me 24 hours to stay no problem. That afternoon was a ridiculous amount of work in the shop. I was laughing as I packed all my stuff.

The next day was BLUEBIRD POW sick. I rode all morning and then went to talk with THE LADY. Head of operations. She apologized more than anything. Gave me a few more days to stay here and just re-upped good vibes. So the next day I happened to score a rout with patrol to open the backside. But we had a crazy wind event and everything was bunk. So we sat in one of the lift shacks for an hour or so while one of the patrollers told me all about Pucon's volcano Villarrica. Full detailed drawing of the the mountain to the T bar.

That night...in snowed a lot! And that next day was supposed to be my last day, but it snowed....a lot! And there was an avalanche on the road that luckily did not kill anyone, but 25 cars were stranded on the road. I skied all morning and then volunteered for a backup rescue team. It was getting dark and luckily we did not get called out. That night we built some jumps around the dorms and finally got shut down by security because there were so many stupid kids being loud. But everyone had a great time. It was cool.

The next morning. It was BLUEBIRDPOW again! I felt in the zone after jumping on the foam pad at the gym and fist line off a little cornice I got a front flip~ felt good first time trying it on the snow. So we killed pow all day and the road never really opened. Plus I had an excuse to stay that I was going to help the park crew set up for a women's comp. on Saturday the 22nd of August. So we worked at that yesterday and it was another sunny day. These kids from Tahoe visiting and filming here built a jump pro style. Really nice...My first backflip attempts..under rotated the 1st just a bit, and over a tad on the second. I wish there were pics but not the case. Next time...

So today marks the day of my last legit day living at Valle Nevado. I'd some it up as:
Love my work-hate my job, love skiing here-hate not skiing here, good people- not good people, good food-free food, had no time-on vacations, didn't speak very good Spanish-speak more not very good Spanish. Lived in Farellones-back to Fare.