All Images: Courtesy of Outside Life / Photographer: Wesley Evans
Winter began last week in the Andes, with feet of fresh snow piling up and creating a nice base for the season ahead. In the remote Argentinian town of Cholila, nestled deep within a glacier-cut valley, locals and skiers are watching closely as the season's first major El Niño-fueled storm blankets the surrounding peaks.
An El Niño brings warmer temperatures and higher precipitation rates from the Pacific Ocean. But, in higher-altitude environments, this weather pattern can actually be very beneficial for ski seasons. Higher-elevation mountains bring cooler temperatures, while El Niño brings precipitation, creating snowy winters for high-altitude regions. That differs from lower-elevation mountains, which tend to get more rain during an El Niño.
Finding higher-elevation areas is key for this year's ski season in South America, as those are the mountains that will get the best snow during the El Niño season. Since Cholila is centrally located in the Andes and has higher-altitude mountains, its chance of getting more snow during this El Niño winter is higher than in places like the Northern Andes, where elevations are lower.
The Backcountry Oasis of the Andes
Location is a crucial aspect for any ski resort, but it is especially key for backcountry skiing. Backcountry skiing plays a careful dance between many factors, such as location, snow type, slope angles, approach distance, and more. The town of Cholila is extremely remote and mainly a ranching community with only 3,000 full-time residents. Famous bandits like Butch Cassidy used to hide out in Cholila since hardly anyone knew about the place at the time.
That said, the mountains surrounding Cholila are untouched and a spectacle. The mountains in this region have extreme vertical and varied terrain, including glaciers and technical chutes. Yet the small crew of local backcountry guides has cracked the code in the surrounding mountains of Cholila, which is known for having some of the best and most exclusive backcountry skiing in the world.
Heli-skiing is the primary form of backcountry skiing in this area, as it is the only way to access the best terrain. There are many professional heli guides in this area, as much of the terrain is too remote and unpredictable for even a seasoned backcountry skier to do without a local guide. Booking a heli trip is one thing, but then you have to think about where you are going to stay, how you will eat and how you will even get to the heli locations.
It can be overwhelming, and extremely easy to miss the best skiing in South America. There is no substitute for expert guidance that not only handles all logistics but also delivers the best version of this wild part of the world with a welcoming crew of like-minded individuals. Outside Life (OLX) and IBEX Heli are combining their decades of expertise to offer an immersive experience in the mountains surrounding Cholila. Dubbed OLX Patagonia, this excursion will take you on a heli-skiing adventure through rarely descended Patagonian Andes by day, and feasting on asado with locals by night.
OLX Patagonia
Designed for advanced skiers, this trip is a great way to nail your trip to the Andes and experience the mind-blowing skiing and unique parts of South America. The base package starts at $2,790, which includes 7 nights of lodging at Cerro Catedral in Bariloche, 5 days of lift access to the infamous Frey Zone slackcountry and one day of pro-guided slackcountrying. You can substitute 2 of those days by adding the remote Heli Ski Experience for just $2100, which includes round-trip transfers, 2 nights' lodging in downtown Cholila and 2 days of guided heliskiing in truly untouched terrain. This trip is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Many skiers, including myself, dream of a trip like this one but as I said before, planning an international backcountry trip is hard. This is one of the best-priced heli ski experiences in the world. Many traditional heli packages can push $2000 per day, but with OLX, you’ll be heli skiing for nearly half that cost, all while navigating both remote terrain and remote South American culture experienced by so few. On top of that, if last week’s storm is a trend for what's ahead, South America’s winter is off to a promising start. So if you're a Northern Hemisphere skier dreaming of fresh turns during the summer months, the Andes offers an opportunity to keep your winter going long after the snow has melted at home.
