From Colorado to Colorado

This past weekend marked my first adventure down here in Chile and what an adventure it was. Although it only lasted a short 48 hours it seemed to last forever. We made our first trip to Santiago to ski the andes which was one of the things I really wanted to do while in Chile. The bus to Santiago was comfortable and our first cab ride was pretty good, basically we didnt get ripped off because we were able to negotiate a price. 1 point for understanding Chilean cab drivers. This weekend also marked my first time staying in a hostel and I can now see exactly why my dad wanted to write a book about them. They are such great meeting places as well as welcome locations for people from out of town or out of the country. Our first hostel was, from what I've heard, very hostely. We had a room with five beds in it and a shared bathroom, then there was a kitchen downstairs with a little bar and living room that people were hanging out with. Unfortunately we didnt get to hang out in the hostel for very long because we had to be up at 6 am the next morning to hit the slopes. Me and ned however did take a walk around santiago attempting to meet up with one of his friends. It turned a little bit flite (sketchy) when we experienced our first high speed car chase and take down for the caribineros (police) but all was well when we made it back to our hostel to crash. The alarms rang super early and the next day we were up and on our way to the ski shop. We rented our gear and then purchased our tickets, but lucky us, friday happened to be buy one get two free day. I kinda felt like I was back working at JAB for a bit but hey we took the deal and ran. So that means that the lift ticket which was originally 34 dollars turned out to be 12 dollars. I couldnt believe it. In total with rentals, tickets, and transportation we paid about 60 dollars. I love being the Chilean exchange rate. So we hopped on the bus and I quickly passed out, only to wake up on the craziest mountain pass I had ever seen in my life. The switchbacks were crazy and it made Loveland pass look like nothing. The bus would bottom out on every turn and I was convinced we were going over the edge at somepoint. But everyone seemed calm, until the bus driver stopped at the wrong mountain and the entire bus erupted in argument. I thought this one Chilean was going to throw the driver out. We finally made it to the mountain and hit the slopes. It was a gorgeous day probably around 50 and the spring skiing was incredible. The snow softened up really nicely as the day went on and we skied nonstop for about 6 and a half hours. Its nice because the lifts dont close until 5:00 pm so we skied a little later then headed home. We had met up with two of neds friends and skied with them all day and then enjoyed the apreski listening to an elvis cover band. Dont worry all the pictures are on facebook for you to see. The bus ride down was just as hairy but we all made it back safe and sound. After dropping our stuff off at the ski shop we decided to test the Santiago subway system. With only one little mistake (getting on an express train that flew past our stop) we made it to our next hostel which proved to be far different from our first. We had booked a four person room only to realize that it was actually a sweet loft apartment with a kitchen king bed and two twin beds. For the low low price of 20 dollars a night. And i shouldt forget the roof deck observatory from which you can see the entire city. It was incredible. We hung out for a bit then went to dinner at this nice little restaurant and ate a fantastic Chilean meal. Its called Chorianna and it is made up of french fries chicken steak sausage and two fried eggs on top. Not the most healthy of meals but it certainly hit the spot, especially when you add the pitcher of beer we had with dinner. We walked around santiago for a bit and then headed home as we were all exhausted from a long day on the mountain. This morning we woke up and started on our self guided tour of the city. Santiago is huge but we tried to cover the downtown area. We ended the tour by going up to the top of this hill that looks over all the city. It was amazing to see the size of Santiago from high above. After a nice lunch in the city we grabbed our stuff and headed back to Vina after a full and amazing weekend. What a first adventure to have. Si cada aventura es tan buena yo estare un hombre contento. En serio.