Las Araucarias, Chile

Phil Smith Snoworks All Mountain Ski Courses from UNITED KINGDOM writes:

Llaima is one of the most active volcanoes in Chile and is part of our Snoworks 7 Volcano Adventure Trip. There are some local ski lifts which open up some great off-piste skiing. We arrived in time to ski for the afternoon and also take the snowcat as high up the volcano we can go to access some great off-piste. Lodgings are very basic so be prepared. The skiing itself I love. Take the top lifts and traverse off-piste in either direction as far as you want. If you’ve got fresh snow you’ll be skiing fresh tracks every run. From the top lift take the skiers left and keep traversing. You’ll come to a big cornice above a fantastic steep slope. You can ski this into the valley and then head back round to the resort lower down.
Be careful if you’re skiing off-piste. You need to be with guides and kitted up for off-piste. We have our own instructors and a guide from our Chilean partners Amity Tours.
If you are a really experience off-piste skier with some ski touring and climbing experience then definitely try to get to the top of Llaima (if it’s not too active). At the time of writing this Llaima had only recently erupted so it’s a no go area. But when it settles back down make sure you get to the top, with guides. We took the snowcat as high as possible and then skinned up the northeast slope until the slope steepens then it was on with the crampons and hike to the top (3,125m). The climb is fairly steep so be careful. The crater will take your breath away and the views are absolutely stunning. You'll end up just wanting to stay on the summit as long as possible to savour the atmosphere. Two years ago we ascended the volcano at 4am in the morning in time to get to the summit for sunrise and back down for breakfast.
This year we traversed around the crater and descended the southeast side of Llaima into the other side of the Conguillio National Park with a long ski down towards our next destination. It's an amazing off-piste ski and Snoworks were the first ever tour group to achieve this. The minibus picked us up at the base of the run and took us on to our next destination, Mellippeuco about 50 minutes away. The drive will take you through some amazing terrain with relics of previous eruptions.
If you want more information on Llaima and the Snoworks 7 Volcanoes trip go to our website. Phil Smith - Snoworks All Mountain Ski Courses

2008-08-06

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