The Penultimate Place Portillo
The second last stop on our journey was the Chilean ski resort of Portillo, high in the Andean mountains close to the border with Argentina. We had 5 days booked in the most budget all inclusive package holiday and accommodation with ski pass we could find and really didn't know what to expect. Happily, we were pleasantly surprised. We arrived around 10am after a 2 hour drive from Santiago, our transfer wasn't a bus but a lovely chap named Jose who drove us up in his 4x4, that was nice. The resort of Portillo is a 5 star hotel, it also has intermediate accommodation in the 'octagon' building and backpacker accommodation in the 'Inca lodge'. We were in the Inca Lodge, each room has 2 bunkbeds and one cupboard with about 3 feet between the beds and the wall. No room to move at all but we were lucky enough to have the room to ourselves for the duration so it was a bit more comfortable. Communal bathrooms were more than adequate and probably the best showers we have had in all of South America. The real kicker was that we also got free use of all the hotel's facilities, gym, pool, spa, sauna, games rooms, lounge, bar etc. And of course we met the hotels mascot, a beautiful big Saint Bernard dog who loved the attention of all the visitors, you couldn't walk past her without giving a pat. We were never going to be spending much time in the room.
We checked in and headed to the ski rental desk and kitted up with boots, board and skis. Still and hour or so until lunch started so we wandered over to the baby slopes to start kicking the cobwebs off. Juanita took some convincing but after a few runs we were both back on our feet. Time for our first look at the inclusive lunch, in past experience these haven't been great, especially at the budget end of the market but once again we were very pleasantly surprised. The food was delicious and more than enough in the 3-4 courses on offer. This theme continued for the duration of our stay. After lunch we hit the slopes again and explored a bit more of the resort. The sun hot was shining bright and while there were quite a few people out we never had to wait for lifts or stop on piste for crowds to go past. The lifts shut at 5pm and we headed in for evening supper which consisted of hot drinks, including milo, and bread rolls with assorted jams and cheeses. This was followed by welcome drinks in the lounge, wines and pisco sours all round. Good times. Dinner followed and again we were filled with too much food, another wine and off to bed, ready to hit the slopes in the morning.
This ski hotel runs differently to those in Europe. There seemed to be no one around on Monday morning, firstly because the weekend skiers had left but also because no one is chomping at the bit for the first lift. It's a lot more casual. We were thinking breakfast at 8am, first run at 9am when the chair lifts opened. There was literally three other people at breakfast. We wondered where everyone was. The slopes were empty which suited us fine. About 3pm in the afternoon we called it quits as an icy wind and blizzard came in. A couple of après ski drinks in the bar followed by afternoon tea. We were feeling the muscles a bit, so we then hit the gym, well the floor of the gym, for a stretch session before lazing in the sauna for an hour before dinner. Ate too much again and retired to the bar for the evening, still not many people around. The next morning we saw an activities guide on a pin-up board. There were parties, beer tasting sessions, ping pong tournaments and all sorts on the schedule, some starting as late as midnight. Clearly the locals weren't just here for the skiing.
The cold winds of the blizzard had turned the conditions very icy in the morning. Juanita deciding to pull the pin after about an hour of falling down the hill. Jorje stuck it out and explored the mountains finding some great long runs, sadly the off-piste powder had turned to ice aswell making it very difficult. At one point while hiking between runs, got followed by an inquisitive young snow fox, he wouldn't come within 5 meters but was really cool to see in the wild. Mid-afternoon another blizzard came in to shut down proceedings. At this point Jorje was on a chairlift, and stayed there for the next 45mins getting a hammering from the wind and snow until the lift got fixed. Needless to say, the evening called for recovery time. A stretch, a sauna and then a pool party ! Yes pool party, it's a pretty surreal feeling sitting outside in a 38 degree spa in only a pair of shorts, drinking a beer while snow falls on you. The mountains in the background made the view perfect as the sun went down.
By the 4th morning we had adopted the locals way and slept through the alarm. Breakfast at 9:30ish then rolled out to the slopes. Juanita needed a pep talk but got back on the skis and found her rhythm. The morning session went well with Juanita traversing the blue runs while Jorje hit the reds and blacks, linking up with each other at the bottom of the mountain after each run. After lunch it was decided that Juanita was ready for the long runs on the other side of the park. It took some convincing but the long, wide, rolling blue runs won her over. We spent a beautiful afternoon getting to all parts of the resort and had found some good form on the skis bringing back the confidence and smiles all round. Shall we have a cocktail ? Indeed, in the outdoor spa, after the sauna of course.
Showered and ready for dinner we waited in the lounge until the restaurant was open. Juanita enjoyed a caipirinha and Jorje choked on a Bloody Mary, Chilean style. ( That's with about 4 times the tabasco, lemon and pepper of a normal Bloody Mary ). Could've been the tabasco but it felt like the ground was moving, Juanita asked if that was the wind as the window shook and then shit got real ! An 8.3 magnitude earthquake hit just off the coast of Chile, about 150kms from us and we felt the full force of it. Strangely it started slowly, we realised what was happening and headed for the door. The quake got stronger as we ran then stopped as we made it out of the lobby. About a minute later the carpark started shaking violently. It's a weird feeling to be inside when the earth starts shaking, maybe because you know furniture can move, but when you see a hotel moving side to side it becomes concerning. A few more little tremors, then the hotel was checked and given the all clear, we went back inside to have dinner. Five mins later everyone was running for the door again as the first aftershock hit. This time we went to our room, packed a 'go' bag with passport, torch and jacket and waited outside. Eventually we got back inside and had dinner, though most of us had lost our appetite by this stage. Sleeping in the single story building we thought we would be okay, though seeing the snow ploughs start building avalanche defences added another dimension to think about. We crawled into our bunks, both of us on bottom bunks, just in case, and tried to sleep. We were regularly woken with aftershocks, turns out a vibrating bed isn't as much fun as it sounds. Around 1am was the worst of them, waking the whole building and sending people scurrying to the carpark ( the safe spot ) once again. We stayed in bed, it was warm there, however not much sleep was had.
Thursday morning 9am saw bright blue skies and crispy cold temperatures. We had decided not to ski today, our checkout was 11am and transfer at 2pm making it all a bit difficult, a bit of a hurry. Adding in the checks of the pistes and chairlifts which would have meant a late start, we enjoyed breakfast and mooched in the warm lounge admiring the snow capped mountains, checked-out and settled our bar bill ( ouch ! ) before having a final lunch, a goodbye cuddle with the dog and greeting Jose for our trip back down the mountain to Santiago. One last night in South America, drowning our sorrows with local Chilean wine again and re-packing for the flight back to Australia. Sydney awaits .....
