Guess my vert

Ok, so here’s the deal, it a seven day period or one week. Make a guess at what my vertical for the week will be and win 50$ gift certificate to backcountry.com.

In a typical week I need to average 38500ft, my best has been 68000 my worst 0. So far I am three days in, one in Valle Nevado, at altitude, then a long drive down here to Las Trancas, we summitted Volcan Nuevo, and then I did some extra vertical. Then yesterday I woke up not feeling great but we went out and I brought Jesse to the hot springs.  And today its sunny and looking beautiful outside. It also looks like sun for the rest of the 4 days.

So guess away. when you guess I would put bot numbers  1.374000 and  38.500 or whatever your guess is.  My skiometer is stalled till then end of this comp so simply add you guess onto 1.335589.  Good luck.

Fine print:
Submit guess by Sept. 21, 2010 to gh2m@backcountry.com
1 guess per person (duplicates will be thrown out)
Check your email everyday starting Sept 22, 2010
Must claim prize within 3 days.
18 or older unless with consent of parent
United States & Canada residents only
Term and conditions: backcountry.com/​store/​dc/​1007/​Backcountry-Guess-Gregs-Vert-Sweeps.html

enjoying the mountains with my sister

After realizing how desperate the skiing was around Valle Nevado, Jesse and I headed out and skied the only skiable backcountry line around, something called the Chimney. Jess has never really skied a couloir so this one was a great intro. 40 degrees and tight at the top and then it slowly fanned out, steep cliffs on both sides, a real couloir. Pity the snow was so shitty in it.

We then packed up and drove 7.5 hours south back to las trancas. Since the bicentennial of Chile is about to happen, I wanted to be somewhere a little out of the way. A 5 day party may sound fun but I would prefer it in a relaxed environment vs a crazed city.

So back in a familiar zone, Jesse and I hiked up Volcan Nuevo and Jess “stood” on top of her first Volcano. From there we skied down on decent dust on crust and she headed home.  I continued for a few hours to get a bit more vertical and some good skiing. Its amazing how much more snow there is down here, meters more. 

So I have not posted my vertical the last few days because Backcountry.com  and I are about to host a guess how much vertical greg will do this week.  We are a little behind in getting it going but the idea is  what will I be at on Sept 22. Anyhow as the details are made clear I will post them.  I imagine it will all get finalized today. But whoever guesses closest will win a gift certificate to Backcountry.com.  more on this later.

0-13200 ft

Wow what a way to get dizzy. Spend 3 days at sea level on a beach, relaxing and playing, then in less than 24 hours head up to over 13000 ft.

We had a great time at Playa Ritoque, an out of the way beach that is still 2 hours from Santiago. It was a nice break from the mountains and a great way to finish the family’s trip. Not that the water was warm but it was beautiful and so contrasting to every other place we have been. One day we went out and visited a biologist who was doing research on sea otters and we went out and looked for them. We managed to spot one, who was eating and playing in the water, and we also saw a  gaggle of blue footed boobies, which was cool..

And then sadly my lovely family left and flew back to Canada.

Jess and I then headed up to Valle Nevado, which consists of three huge ski resorts just outside of Santiago.  But upon arriving here I realized that this was not the season. I had hopes of getting acclimatized and then skiing of Cerro Plomo a 5000m  mountain that sits in the background. But alas when I saw it I knew this was not the season.

This monster was not looking white, predominantly icy, so cross that off the list.  Jess and I skied up and off Valle Nevado and summited a peak called Tres Puntas, and then she headed home. I continued exploring and headed up Cerro La Parva which was a bit of a head rush as it sits above 13000 ft, cool summit but sadly enough there really is no snow around here to fill the lines in.

I am super glad I came up here and checked this zone out but we will not stay, tomorrow we will head off and maybe back to Las Trancas for the bicentennial of Chile.

At the end of my day as I was hiking back to the hostel I witnessed a beautiful sunset. I feel that sunsets/rises are the most beautiful display of nature. Always different, so gorgeous, and so refreshing.