Ski resorts - thoughts

So I've been trying to teach my 2.5 yr. old daughter to ski by taking her to the resorts near Santiago (in Farallones). The idea is to make her have fun and get familiar with the equipment so she wants to go. I don't have a detailed review yet, but I have some experiences:

First, Farallones and the resorts in the area (La Parva, Colorado, Valle Nevado) are very close to Santiago. We are still in the beginning of the season so there isn't much snow on the roads, which are seems to be well maintained. The only problem is the occasional ice that forms from snow melt that runs in shady areas. Watch for this. Going up is a nice trip, about 1 hour drive due to slow speeds, and a bit more to get to Valle Nevado, which is definitely covered with ice/snow and needs 4x4 and/or tire chains.

We've gone to a small place called Farallones Ski Center (don't think it is a "resort") first, where my daughter put on boots/ski for the first time. She loved it, but there we learned that the resorts in Chile really aren't paying too much attention to the family outside of the tourists who fly in to stay at the hotels.

The only resort to have a pretty decent kids area, with the "magic carpet" (a conveyor belt lift where kids stand up and get taken up the hill) is Valle Nevado, who has just installed it. But this is only available to kids who take part in their daycare/group class (age 4-7). Outside of the daycare (which gets boring very fast for the kids), there is no way for them to take a lift. I don't feel comfortable taking my daughter on the t-bar type lift.

When we went to both Farallones Ski Center and Valle Nevado we realized this limitation, and that there isn't an area just for play, forcing us to put my daughter on the slopes between runs, just off of the lodge/entrance. Not cool. But there were tons of kids in Valle Nevado anyways...

Then I went skiing myself in the Colorado resort. There are some very flat slopes there where I would be ok with taking her in between my legs and such, but still no lift. So a lot of hiking is needed, which at that altitude is tough. I did learn that they take private lessons for kids as early as 2.5 yrs old, so I'm going to take that route to see how it works.

The fact that the three resorts are relatively small helps explain why they don't have any significant investment in the kids areas, though I commend Valle Nevado for putting in the effort. I hope that I learn that things are better than they seem.

also, being up in the mountain and looking back at Santiago in the valley below, you get a real sense of how horrible the smog here is. Going up the mountain with the kids is worth it just to let them breath some clean air...

Winter Edition - Ski Resorts

So winter has arrived in Santiago and the thing to do is to head out to one of the four nearby ski resorts. This last weekend we headed up to Farallones, which is the first (lower) of the three ski resorts just outside of Santiago. The drive is not bad, though it would be easy to get car sick if you are not careful. About 45 switchbacks to get to the top, but from the Mall Sport to the resort it is less than an hour. Of course, we had no snow on the roads and very little traffic. Also, make sure you have chains with you which every car is required to possess even if there is no snow (we passed 4 police posts, but noone checked).

We went just for a nice drive, and to get the kids to play in the snow. For that, Farallones was a big dissapointment. First, rentals are confusing since there seems to be an "official" place, one "nice" place, and a bunch of "free agents" just outside the resort. Of course, nobody can really tell you where things are and where to go. Terrible signs, if any. But we found a place that had the equipment for the kids, including sunglasses. It might be better to rent things near Mall Sport before you head up the mountain. At least it is worth checking out.

As for the skiing facilities, there really isn't an area for kids. We ended up putting them down on a path between the entrance and the first pull lift. The kids were too young for the pull lifts and they don't have a single conveyor belt lift. This made the bunny slopes off limits, and there wasn't any place for even basic snow playing/sleds/etc.

The kids had a great time because kids can do that anywhere, but I had to run along side them and then walk them up the slope each time.

Next time we are going to Valle Nevado, which apperently has better facilities for kids.

1/5 (skip it)