James Katz from UNITED STATES writes:
I´m writing this review because I want to set the record straight once and for all. LA PARVA is the BEST of the 3 valles resorts. PERIOD. A quick story:
Heading up to the mountains after a five foot dump, I was boarding a skitotal shuttle and chatted to the foreign tourists from the US, Australia and Brazil. All of them were headed up to El Colorado (the valle nevado road was closed). I told them, as gently as possible, that doing so was a grave mistake... apparently the locals told them that El Colorado was th best of the 3 valles resorts. Luckily I convinced one of them to go la parva and believe me he wasn´t sorry. At the end of the day when the shuttle came to pick me up at parva, I predictably heard about how Colorado was nice but the runs were flat and the only decent lifts on the mountain were closed...
what can you do?
Lets just get the facts straight. Locals say colorado has the best terrain. right? NO!
Just look at the mountain. It is a perfectly symmetrical cone with no pitch except for the back bowl (which they only open on weekends to accomodate crowds).
People say valle nevado has the best snow because it has the higest elevation. Right? NO!
The top of La Parva is actually a little higher than Valle Nevado. This means the snow is just as good. Plus, not only does Parva have 1000 more feet of vertical (over 3000), but it all can be skied/boarded uninterrupted, unlike Valle.
And finally, just look at the mountains. La Parva has by far the best lift accessed terrain (I can say this from extensive experience) both on and off-trail.
Most importantly, you can count on the lifts being open right away after a storm. Even though they told me they werent going to open the aguilas lift that day, it was open by 10 am on the condition that i could only board off the trails (umm you gotta be kidding me right). Yeah, like i want to hit the groomers when theres waist deep fresh, but thats the way they think down here i guess.
If by any chance the tres puntas lift at valle nevado is open after a storm (two years of experience tells me it won´t be) then spend 10 extra dollars and buy the double lift ticket. This will save you from having to endure the extra 20 switchbacks on the harrowing road up to valle nevado, plus the food there sucks.
Only caveat, make sure theres enough snow before you head off the trails. The snow can be deceptively thin and you can turn your equipment into swiss cheese with one ill-placed turn. This is a sympton of all the resorts by the way. Try and stay on the south face of the ridges. Don´t say i didn´t warn you...
With that said, when you´re deciding which of the 3 mountains to go to on a bluebird powder day, for the love of god, pick LA PARVA!
2005-09-26 |
