Ripley's Staff in South America Skiing Chile Meets With Wholesale Partners in Santiago June 24, 2008 On the Way to Epic Andes Skiing!

Dear friends:

I personally arrived in Santiago, Chile at about 8:00 am on Tuesday, June 24th. Since then the schedule has been so hectic, that it has been difficult to post to the blog. My apologies for that! As the pace of our whirlwind tour settles down slightly for a few days, I will attempt to post more frequently. I assure you there is much interesting feedback to share. I also have great images to post, but manipulating (sizing) the images is taking a little help from home, so the overall process has been a bit slow.

Where to begin? My flight from Denver to Dallas was uneventful. From Dallas to Santiago was an 8-9 hour red eye that arrived in Santiago at about 8:00 am. This is a typical flight schedule getting into Santiago from the states. I had a hard time sleeping on the flight mainly based on the excitement of the trip. I was up a good portion of the night. Needless to say, sleeping on a plane isn't extremely comfortable to begin with.

The first real evidence that indeed I was actually traveling to South America and this all wasn't just a dream came when the captain pointed out the beautiful views of sunrise over the Andes Mountains. I quickly made a beeline for the other side of the plane and gawked in sheer awe. That is when the reality and excitement of this trip truly kicked into high gear. It was truly a beautiful site to behold. It was evident to me after flying in to many mountainous destinations that the Andes were on a larger scale than most. In fact, Cerro Aconcagua, located near Mendoza, Argentina, about 15 miles from the Chilean border and not that far from Santiago, is the highest mountain in the Americas at about 22,000 feet. It is one of the seven summits and the highest mountain in both the Western and Southern hemispheres.

I soon learned that these mountains were towering! Where you have a base elevation in Santiago at somewhere just under 2,000 feet above sea level, you have near bye mountains literally rising 10,000 plus feet straight out of the ground and straight up making for stunning visual impact! Because Denver is already at 5,280, getting up to 10,000 obviously doesn't take nearly as much vertical rise from ground level. These mountains are huge!

I was a bit trepidatious about what to expect from customs in Chile. I do not have a great handle on Spanish and was wondering how difficult the process of muddling through the airport, collecting my luggage, meeting my ground transfer, and getting to my hotel in Santiago would be. I had received an email from Julie Waters who had arrived in Santiago two days before and had largely and expertly coordinated most of our logistics, explaining a slightly hectic disembarkation process and giving me the name of the driver from CTS Turismo, one of our wholesale partners for skiing Chile. His name was Jaun and I was told he would have a sign with my name on it that would be evident once I picked up my bags and cleared customs. That was good news!

Assisted by Kevin, a friendly university professor from Baltimore who contributed to a teaching program at the Catholic University in Santiago and my flight seat mate, I found the process relatively painless. You have to pay a $130.00 reciprocity fee as they call it to enter the country. I was happy that they had recently started taking most of the major credit cards from American tourists to cover this fee, something not even the guidebooks, or even American Airlines as they detailed the customs process on the tarmac, have caught on to as of yet it seems. Everyone still says it is cash only. Anyway, This fee is good for the life of your passport so in theory is a 1 time deal if you plan on returning to Chile on the same passport. Luggage was scattered about the floor of the baggage claim, but it only took me a few moments to locate mine and everything was accounted for.

I had carried on most of the electronic items that I was taking on the trip out of paranoia and first hand feedback that baggage handlers have an affinity for electronic devices stored in luggage so my laptop case was weighed down with Ipod speakers, webcams, charging units, etc. Julie had mentioned in an email that people would try to grab your luggage and carry it for you for tips even if they were not associated with your scheduled ground transfer, so I held on tight after having collected my luggage and emerged from security into the general fray outside of security. This was my first encounter with Jaun, our very friendly driver from CTS Turismo.

There it was right when I emerged from security, a sign with my name on it and a very comforting sight in general. Jaun drove me from the airport to the Times Suites in the Las Condes district on the eastern side of Santiago. He spoke English well, something you can specify through this company when making a reservation for a private transfer, and proceeded to give me a pretty decent verbal tour of the city on the way in from the airport as well as answering the myriad of general tourist questions that I had for him. I recommend this route for ease of assimilation, less stress, and general convenience if you don't mind spending the marginal additional amount amount on a private transfer with an English speaking driver rather than a shared ride. For specific information and pricing on ground transfers from Santiago contact us at Ripley's Mountain Adventures.

Anyway, we were very lucky. This was a very nice man with a patient and laid back demeanor, something characteristic in my short experience of Chileans in general. We would get to know Jaun pretty well over the course of the trip as we had him on just about all of our transfers around Chile. He was nothing short of phenomenal! Thank you Jaun! More on that later.

Driving through Santiago I was struck by the variable conditions in different parts of the city as we drove in from the airport. There were definitely some shanty areas on the outskirts of the city, but as we proceeded East the city became increasingly nice and increasingly cosmopolitan. This is a pretty large city with a population of around 6 million people. Most tourists stay in one of three upscale districts, Las Condes, Providencia, and El Bosque Norte, all next to each other on the east side of town and all very nice with a wide variety of upscale accommodations available from luxury hotels to trendy boutique hotels. Downtown is another popular area to stay, but its popularity is diminishing a bit because it isn't as quite as clean, safe, nice, or modern as its eastern counterparts. There are a few major players as far as accommodations downtown, the Plaza San Francisco Hotel for one, that are still good options. This hotel is one of the more established hotels in the city and is very traditionally fancy. It markets itself as Santiago's only 5 star hotel, although the rating system here is self imposed. It is a very nice hotel and the service is formal. It also has one of the most famous restaurants in town, the Bristol. If you want to be close to the Presidential Palace, government ministries, and other downtown attractions, then this hotel is a good option. For more information on Santiago lodging options contact us at Ripley's Mountain Adventures.

When I arrived at our accommodations, Tench was already in the suite sleeping after having arrived earlier from LA from after 3 nights of Widespread Panic. He seemed in need of some good sleep! Julie arrived from her other hotel shortly after my arrival. She had been in town for a couple of days. We were simply waiting for Justin, who had been traveling around South America for weeks, to arrive on his flight from Buenos Aires. Then the Ripley's Mountain Adventures Chile Crew would be complete.

Justin's flight ended up being a bit delayed so the rest of us were picked up by the intrepid Juan from CTS Turismo and we went to visit our business associates at CTS Turismo headquarters, including Andrea, Victor, and Hugo. CTS Turismo enjoys a large office on the east side of town and is running a sizable organization that offers a wide array of products including scheduled and private ground transfers, ski tours, tours of the Atacama Desert, wine country tours, Patagonia tours, combination tours inclusive of lodging, and even tours and cruises down at Tierra del Fuego, the Straight of Magellan, and in to Antarctica. We plan on offering a lot of this fabulous product to our clients at exceptional rates. For more information on the abundance of Chile Tour Packages we are able to offer encompassing everything Chile contact us at Ripley's Mountain Adventures. These Chile Tour packages are amazing!

Next we visited the Valle Nevado Ski Resort Corporate Office in Santiago and met with our colleagues including Paz, Andrea, and Xemena! It was great to meet people that we have dealt with over the phone so many times and it it was quite a festive occasion for all. These ladies have incredibly sunny dispositions and are incredibly sweet and nice. During our visit we made a light inquiry regarding the possibility of heliskiing when we arrived on our tour of Valle Nevado Ski Resort. Paz was uncertain whether the heliski operation was ready for its first outing of the season, but promised to make the inquiry. They had to test the chopper, inspect the back country conditions, etc. Much more on that later!

The rest of the day involved Tench, Julie, and me on an exhaustive yet thorough tour of most of the primary hotels and lodging options in Santiago. We got a good tour of the city thanks to Jaun who knows his way around and knows how to maneuver through some confusing streets and crazy traffic. Thanks again Jaun! We were able to visit a dozen or more of the best hotels in Santiago, Chile, look at rooms, and tour the amenities. This knowledge will serve our clients well in the future. After this exhaustive tour, it was time to get some dinner and prepare for our departure to Valle Nevado Ski Resort the next morning. This journey would happily include Jaun once again on one of the most interesting transfers imaginable through the mountains to a ski destination. Much more on this in my next posting!

Thank You & Good Luck Melinda Smith: Welcome Holly Kelly!

The Ripley's Mountain Adventures Crew is undergoing some changes! After 5 years with one short break, Melinda Smith, Director of Operations, is leaving to pursue other career avenues! We will sorely miss Melinda! Thanks Melinda for all of the hard work you have put in with us at Ripley's Mountain Adventures and all of the good times we have shared! It has been a wacky roller coaster of a ride and your contributions have been crucial in managing the rapid growth of this company in an extremely dynamic work environment in an extremely dynamic industry!

I would also like to take the time to welcome Holly Kelly to our staff! Holly will be replacing Melinda! I am excited for her integration with our team and our clients and partners can expect a lot of interaction with Holly who is doing a great job training with Melinda! We look forward to working with Holly!

Again thank you and good luck Melinda! Welcome to the team Holly!

Advice From a Seasoned South American Skier

Thanks for the advice in your comment base on our June 4th posting on dining and general confirmation of the awesomeness of Valle Nevado and Portillo ski resorts skippyski! We are anticipating a world class adventure to Chile and scouting out the heliskiing and hope to participate! Thanks for the dining recommendations! For those of you spending some time in Santiago skippyski recommends Aqua restaurant highly! We will be trying it!

Justin's Pre South American Ski Trip Jungle Adventure Update!

Hey hey!

Sorry I havent written sooner but the first few days were quite the
adventure travelling from Lima to Cuzco (long bus rides). We have
finally settled down a bit having spent the last couple days here in
Cuzco and things have gone realtively smoothly. So far we have taken
a dune buggy ride and sand boarded these massive sand dunes, took a
horse back ride through incan ruins, and tommorow we go to the mac daddy macchu picchu!
This place is pretty wild, but everyone is very friendly and the
spanish is going suprisingly well. We are leaving for Bolivia early
friday morning and we really don´t know what to expect from there, and
I may not have internet access right away but will check in the first
chance I get.

11 Days and Counting!

I have become addicted to looking at the webcam on the Valle Nevado website...is it snowing, is it snowing?? After finding out they had 6 feet of fresh snow as of last week the idea of skiing in the Andes finally started to sink in. As I have been planning this vacation over the past month I guess it never really was a reality...even after buying the plane ticket. Now as the days move by and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel I have gone from being excited to literally bouncing off the walls. I am so excited, but have some fears as I have never truely traveled out of the country...I don't count Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. I know I will be fine since I have turned the Rough Guide to Chile into my new bible. I have been teaching myself Spanish as well as local customs and the general lay of the land. I need to go into this adventure armed with as much knowledge as possible, although I'm always up for something new. I am looking forward to meeting the great folks at CTS Turismo and the Valle Nevado office in Santiago. I wouldn't have been able to plan my trip or my client's without the help of Ximena, Marta and Victor....THANK YOU ALL!

As this trip progresses we will do our best to update the blog with some pictures and tales of our adventures is the amazing country. Stay tuned...it's not that far off!!

BTW, here is the latest shot from the Valle Nevado webcam...blue skies and fresh snow, it doesn't get much better :)

South American Summer Ski Trip Coming Up Soon!

The Ripley's crew including Justin, Julie, Tench, and Brian will soon depart for South America (I leave June 23rd) to Ski Chile on what is shaping up to be an epic ski adventure that also includes a wine tour, lodging in Santiago, and for a few of us, namely Justin and Julie, an extended adventure exploring a Chilean nature preserve on the beach and other portions of Chile & South America at large on an extended vacation. The atmosphere in the office is one of relatively contained excitement!

For my part I leave for Chile on June 23rd. I will arrive in Santiago and visit with a few of our wholesale suppliers including CTS Turismo and the Valle Nevado Resort corporate office located in Santiago. The next day the crew and I will be whisked up to Valle Nevado Ski Resort high in the Andes where we will be staying in the Hotel Puerta del Sol for 2 nights for an extensive site tour and a couple of days on the slopes. This is the single largest ski resort in Chile when considering one has skiable access to both El Colorado and La Parva resorts that neighbor Valle Nevado. The additional terrain is accessible by a marginal lift ticket upgrade fee from the price of the standard Valle Nevado ticket so you can access more terrain at will on a daily basis. I also hear interesting things about the mountain pass leading up to the resort so this may be a little bit of a white knuckle drive! Incidentally I will post a few pictures of the most recent snow conditions for Chile, whose ski season generally starts up in a week or two from today and it looks like the snow conditions are starting off on the right foot! Valle Nevado also offers a heli skiing service that we are considering indulging in if time and schedule permits! Imagine the bragging rights! "I heli skied Chile" etc., etc. You get the idea!

After a couple of days staying on the slopes in Valle Nevado we return to Santiago to soak in some of the local culture and take a wine tour. We will be staying in Santiago for 3 nights and then departing for Portillo Resort, the oldest and most well established of the Chile ski resorts, for 2 nights and 2 days of skiing. We will be staying at the Octagon Lodge steps away from the slopes! Not too shabby! Portillo is also well known for its pretty serious access to off piste extreme terrain so we are pretty excited about that!

After returning from Portillo I will be departing Chile and heading back to Denver! Between the crew and me, we will attempt to post as many blog entries as possible while on the trip. Incidentally, thank you to Julie Waters for meticulously organizing this tremendously exciting South American ski vacation for the rest of us!

Any clients busy imagining your own South American dream ski vacation that would like to make it a reality please contact Ripley's Mountain Adventures at (877) 752-6754 or browse on line at http://www.ripleysadventures.com/. We provide the best rates in the industry, professional service, and expert coordination for any ski adventure you are interested in. Much more on this trip and some of the individual South American Adventures that some of our staff have planned in the future!

Brian Ripley