Ski Video

Tom Runcie gave us the low down on his recent tip to South America. Here is a little narrative of the event:

Shot with a Drift HD helmet cam

The scene in the Hotel Los Andes, the cheaper of the two options in this central Chilean mining town, was undoubtedly unlike anything the staff had ever witnessed. Some 40+ freeskiers from around the world descended on the small 40 room hotel over three days, bringing 7′ long ski bags with 100 lbs of luggage per person and speaking little to no Spanish. As we packed into “4 bed” rooms significantly smaller than the average US hotel room, we congregated in the social area of the hotel, an upstairs lounge with a couch and 3 chairs, and (most important for the always-connected skiers) occasional WiFi.

Day 1 of the 2011 Chilean Freeskiing Championships had been scheduled for Friday, August 19, but a storm came through the Andes bringing high winds and a meter of fresh snow, and the competition organizers decided to push the competition back into the allotted weather day. Friday morning we awoke to as perfect a day as is seen in Los Andes. The previous day’s storm had broken up the perpetual inversion in the valley, releasing the thick layer of smog that can be seen blanketing the city on a typical day and leaving us with a calm, cool, clear morning. From town, you can see the mountains that are home to the cat-skiing operation Ski Arpa. Treating Los Andes to another uncommon sight, we gathered outside the hotel to gaze up at the fresh snow in a mass of bright colors, baggy clothes, and fat rockered skis.

The drive up to Ski Arpa is something that will be hard to forget. Though short, it climbs from around 2400′ in Los Andes to 9000′ at the base of Ski Arpa, first through the city, then the outlying vineyards and farms, then up a steep winding paved road to Campos de Ahumada, a tiny town of farmers scraping a living out of the impossibly rocky soil of the Andes. Finally, the road turns to a single lane, rocky, steep dirt road that switch-backs up, up, up through stands of bush grass and cacti, with herds of wild goat picking their way through the rocks and snow. The base of Ski Arpa is literally a wide spot in the road, improved by owner Tony Sponar to allow for parking and, in our case, a medical tent, an enormous North Face dome tent, and a helicopter.

Our brightly clad army of freeskiers piled out of our truck caravan and almost immediately into the snow cats to make our way up to the venue, 3000′ above. The cat ride is uneventful after the access road, but incredibly scenic with expansive views of the 8000′ down valley into Los Andes. The cat dropped us at the top of the Ski Arpa terrain, at 12000′. Turning around revealed one of the coolest mountains any of us had seen, Aconcagua. It stood lonely and bare of snow, towering an additional 10000′ above us and offering 20000′ of vertical relief between it and Los Andes a few miles to our west.

A quick bootpack to the venue revealed a relatively short pitch with lots of interesting features and what appeared to be several feet of snow. Unfortunately, Arpa had not been having a great season and the snowpack was thin and sugary. We spent 3 hours Friday afternoon checking landings, packing snow onto the rocky takeoffs, and trying to visualize how to build up an exciting run without risking ourselves on the rocks. At the end of the day, it was announced that the entire skier’s right side of the venue was going to be off limits to competitors, further shrinking the safe available options.

Nevertheless, Saturday came and dawned nearly as perfect as Friday had been, and we again made the hour and a half trek up to the base of Ski Arpa. We loaded in the cats and began Day 1 of competition, starting with the ladies’ field of 14 and continuing with the 48 men. The women dropped in as if it was a perfect powder day, skiing their lines fast and fluidly. The men attacked the venue with a similar fervor, but in an effort to find creative lines through the mine field that was the upper venue, many fell victim to sharks–rocks hidden just below the snow surface. Building on last year’s finals at Snowbird and the previous week’s Red Bull Powder Disorder, the men’s field went after the Style and Creativity judging category with great enthusiasm, spinning and flipping off and over every feature in the venue. Some highlights included Brock Sheue’s massive cork 720 off of a jump built on the top cornice into the venue, Chopo Diaz’s stylie cork 360 off of a 30′ cliff mid-venue, and Tommy Ellingson’s lincoln loop into the venue. At the end of the day, 9 women and 23 men made the cut to advance to Day 2, scheduled for Sunday on the neighboring Stairway to Heaven venue. My Day 1 run went well up top, as I managed to avoid the sharks and find a clean landing for my main cliff, but I under rotated a backflip off the money booter, a crowd pleasing jump just before the finish line.

Sunday dawned yet another clear, sunny, calm day. I was out of the running, but had paid for my trip up to Arpa and wasn’t about to miss the show that was sure to happen. Feeling the previous night’s Pisco Sour (a Chilean grape liquor), Will Dujardin, Silas Chickering-Ayers and I loaded up our spectating supplies (binoculars, camera, 2x 12 pack, 2L wine, shovels, food, and vuvuzela), and skinned the 2000’ up to the finish line. As we arrived, the athletes and organizers were making the announcement that the proposed finals venue, Stairway to Heaven, was too thin and rocky to use, and that Day 2 would instead be on the previous day’s venue with a best out of 2 runs scoring system. This bought the three of us some time, and we skinned up the remaining 1000′ to the top, where we picked up a few more “pro spectator” and scored a knee deep pow run back to our front row seats through the closed skier’s right side of the venue. The finals proved to be worth the wait, and the hike. Men and women took advantage of the fact that they could only improve their score and took their skiing to another level. Increasingly difficult tricks were thrown and landed off of every feature, even though the snow conditions had deteriorated significantly since the first runs of Day 1. Highlights included Josh Daiek’s run with a 360 tail grab over the main cliff mid venue and a seemingly endless backflip off of the money booter, Leo Ahrens’ rodeo 540 from the cornice, landing backwards in the top of the venue, Tommy Ellingson’s double backflip, and Lars Chickering-Ayers’ flatspin 720.

After the last run, we gathered at the base of the area to enjoy our last evening in the Ski Arpa terrain. The North Face brought grills up the road and treated athletes, media, and guides to a Chilean Asado, grilling meat and vegetable kabobs for all as we waited for the judges to tally their scores. The final results kept most of the women’s field in their Day 1 finishing positions, including champion Sole Diaz, as well as men’s champion Lars Chickering-Ayers. Josh Daiek and Kevin O’Meara both put down stellar Day 2 runs that landed them the second and third spots, respectively. It was an incredible event and an unforgettable experience.

Watch more of Tom’s free-skiing videos