International (Europe/Japan/Southern Hemisphere) All that snow and Chile resorts are unable to open

[Gary Stolt]

Part of the adventure in skiing in Chile is traveling and the overall experience of skiing in a new country. There's something really cool about walking through he airport with your ski boots in July/August. I remember going through security and the agent asking me why I had ski boots with me. I told him its winter in SA, he had to think a couple of seconds.... .

Ron, thanks for that perspective. I get strange looks, even in May with skis in tow, in Nashville. I avoid eye contact - people have even asked what I have in the bag. Golf clubs are much more common luggage than skis. Next time, I'll hold my head high with skis in tow.

 

[Ron]

I was thinking about heading south this year to Eric Liptons camp before all of this hit, I skied with him many years back when he was a guide for @Dan Egan and wasn't on the Demo Team yet. Its on the agenda for next year though. (yes, I'll be one year older )

 

[Wasatchman]

Yup, I had a cracking day at Hutt yesterday. Good snow quality and coverage. I believe they've been open 7 days/week since 1 July.
About time we started a 2020 Au/NZ thread...

Keep me posted if you hear anything on TC. I guess I got some bad info that it would only be open peak days. TC didn't make money in good times, so I gotta think this year it will be a money loser for Cardrona. Will be great if new ownership puts in a little money into the infrastructure there as well.

I really like TC but they have some challenges. They don't have lodge amenities on par with many of the others, which incrementally hurts attracting more casual skiers. But even if they do invest, will those casual skiers come because not really good trrrain for beginners? The cost to maintain the road and run the shuttle service is also high relative to number of skiers. I hope Cardrona does well by it, because it really is nice.

It is brutal operating a ski resort in NZ. Shorter ski season than in Northern hemisphere and less skiers.

 

[dave-o]

I'll be ready to go to Chile, if the authorities allow it, I just love it down there...

 

[Aquila]

Keep me posted if you hear anything on TC. I guess I got some bad info that it would only be open peak days. TC didn't make money in good times, so I gotta think this year it will be a money loser for Cardrona. Will be great if new ownership puts in a little money into the infrastructure there as well.

I really like TC but they have some challenges. They don't have lodge amenities on par with many of the others, which incrementally hurts attracting more casual skiers. But even if they do invest, will those casual skiers come because not really good trrrain for beginners? The cost to maintain the road and run the shuttle service is also high relative to number of skiers. I hope Cardrona does well by it, because it really is nice.

It is brutal operating a ski resort in NZ. Shorter ski season than in Northern hemisphere and less skiers.

I've seen some amazing videos coming out of TC in the last few days, looks like the season is really getting underway for them with a good dumping of snow!

Re the bad info - I don't know about TC, but Hutt certainly didn't initially plan to open full-time. They were talking about opening 3 days per week, expanding to 5 days per week for the majority of the season. Luckily level 1 was announced early enough for them to amend their plans (and find more staff), and from the start of July they've been operating full time.

Interesting that TC isn't much of an income source. I've never been, do you think it's due to the lack of non-advanced terrain? I was chatting to an NZSki manager one time at Hutt last year, and he commented that out of the three NZSki mountains, the Queenstown ones were the only ones that made any money for them. Apparently Hutt's just been ticking over quietly for the last decade. Must be because it's mostly locals and they probably spend less money on the field

 

[Wasatchman]

I've seen some amazing videos coming out of TC in the last few days, looks like the season is really getting underway for them with a good dumping of snow!

Re the bad info - I don't know about TC, but Hutt certainly didn't initially plan to open full-time. They were talking about opening 3 days per week, expanding to 5 days per week for the majority of the season. Luckily level 1 was announced early enough for them to amend their plans (and find more staff), and from the start of July they've been operating full time.

Interesting that TC isn't much of an income source. I've never been, do you think it's due to the lack of non-advanced terrain? I was chatting to an NZSki manager one time at Hutt last year, and he commented that out of the three NZSki mountains, the Queenstown ones were the only ones that made any money for them. Apparently Hutt's just been ticking over quietly for the last decade. Must be because it's mostly locals and they probably spend less money on the field

Perhaps TC didn't initially plan to open full time like Hutt but good to see both are fully open. Looks like they have had some good snow to start the season.

TC has a number of challenges including lack of beginner terrain, high cost to plow and maintain road and operate free shuttle up, and not as many amenities as most other ski fields. Presumably Cardrona also makes money as they just purchased TC. But yeah, a lot of ski fields in NZ just barely make it with the Queenstown fields doing the best.

I'm not making it back to NZ this year until late September so you're going to have to make some turns for me this season!!

 

[coskigirl]

So friends of mine that live in Santiago but have a place in El Colorado moved up to the mountain place to get out of the city at the end of April and stayed. They don’t have any cases up there. Anyhow, she sent me a message today that there is so much snow and while they can’t ski unless they hike they are out playing in the snow every day with the kids. I’m so envious!

 

[hollyberry]

Does anybody know of any ski clubs based in Argentina (especially Buenos Aires) that do group ski trips in Argentina/Chile? I may be doing a study abroad in B.A. in 2023 and am looking for a ski club to join so I don't have to ski alone.