Skiing Chile's Infamous Super C Courloir with Daron Rahlves

All Images & Words: Daron Rahlves

Daron Rahlves can park a turn with the best of them. He has, and he still does. Rahlves was a prolific member of the U.S. Ski Team for 13 years, earning 12 World Cup victories and seven national titles. He even earned an X Games gold in Ski Cross after stepping away from downhill racing. In recent years, he's poured his passion into parenting and big mountain skiing, and he seems to be crushing both. This summer, he ventured to the iconic Ski Portillo, Chile and took on one of the most legendary lines in the area, Super C couloir. Not always accessible, the line can pose more challenges than one glance would imply. We got the full story from Rahlves on this ripping descent. 

After driving up the Ruta 60 CH in a line of cars, buses and semi trucks through switchback after switchback to Ski Portillo, I was intent on laying eyes on the classic Super C couloir. It’s one of those special lines, and every time I’m in Portillo, Chile, it’s at the forefront of my mind. As we snaked closer and closer to the resort, it was all I could think about. Rounding a corner, I got a quick glimpse of that narrow white line crammed between two rock walls. My mind raced, as it was clear that from what I could see… Super C was in. 

We touched down in Chile during a dry spell, with no precipitation the entire month. Think scratchy low tide conditions, a lot of rocks, but some smooth chalky sections off the unique Condor and El CaraCara lifts referred to as Va et Vient, which means “coming and going.” These are slingshot lifts that sit four skiers shoulder to shoulder, connected by platters off a horizontal bar fixed to a fast-moving cable that pulls you up a steep pitch. It’s a hell of an experience, and you’ll only find these in Portillo. 

Portillo's legendary Super C couloir, as seen from below

The Roca Jack lift wasn’t set up due to a big rock slide early season, so a major portion of the awesome lift access and hike to terrain was not easily available. It was also going to add to the time and effort needed for a Super C mission. The way I looked at it, we just had less competition for first tracks! We were optimistic with snow in the forecast, but amounts were downgrading as the storm approached Saturday evening. By the time we woke up on Sunday, the storm had begun, and we were happily enjoying storm skiing with a fresh dusting of snow. 

As the clouds receded and the weather cleared that evening, we had seven inches of snow on the railing of Chalet A Uno. Sometimes, that’s all you need for things to shape up. 

Pink light mixed with a hazy blue sky early Monday morning, and the sweet sound of Avy mitigation bombs got the juices flowing during breakfast. My wife Michelle and I lined up second chair on El Plateau and feasted on the goods with our kids. By now, it had become clear that the storm had left more than seven inches up high. The day was highlighted with a rip down Gargantita Dos and jumping in Laguna Del Inca to recover the summer ski legs. Super C was now high on my priority list. A chat with Ski Portillo’s Snow Safety Director Frank Coffey on the conditions and his thoughts on the fabled couloir sealed my commitment to go for it the next day. 

With no Roca Jack lift, I figured it would take four and a half hours to top out, so I went with a dark 5 AM start, skinning from Chalet A Uno. Making it to the base of Roca Jack to work up the tow line was more work than I expected with snow from the previous storm measuring well over the top of my boots. With zero reference in the dark I started counting 133 strides to keep a consistent traversing width going up. Every two zags I’d sip on my Bubs Naturals electrolyte drink to keep the energy high. As daylight crested over the peaks, I was stunned by an incredible Andes sunrise that filled the sky with a beautiful yellow and orange light, transforming the snow to pink and forcing me to pause and admire.

Sunrise missions hit different in Chile

After reaching the crux traverse in three hours, I felt like I was on target for a 10 AM ski down Super C. I kept it tight to the rock wall as I stripped skins and clicked into my skis for the traverse over the closed-out chute below. The fresh snow provided a comfortable feeling, easing out to a direct hiking line up. Now with my skis holstered A-Frame on my pack, I started to hike… and immediately dropped crotch deep. It’s a steep pitch, and being solo for the first ascent of the season with no compressed snow from others was a battle. Taking my skis from A-Frame to strapping them up for the ‘climbing the adder’ technique and then going back to skinning proved to be a slow and tedious ordeal. 

At one point, over a rock feature while traversing for better footing, I dropped through sugar snow up to my armpits. Sinking quickly, I was wedged in between two massive rocks just under the snow before I knew it. With a bit of thrashing, I freed myself and read that as a sign to finally take a break. Busting out a fruit bar and a beef stick, then washing them down with a few sips, I took a look back down the chute and locked in on the majestic view of 22,841-foot Mount Aconcagua. 

From there, it was approximately 45 minutes to the top. The final push was exhausting but well worth it, as this led to my second ‘wow’ moment, laying eyes on the top section of Super C. It looked so good in smooth fresh pow with zero wind effect that couldn’t help myself. I let out a loud ‘yewww’ and the siz hour slog was mentally forgotten, if only for a moment. In all these years, I had never seen it this good. It was truly in dream condition. The perfect snow, it lay somewhere between not-too-light and not-too-condensed, which greatly put my mind at ease.

The plan I discussed with Coffey was to lay a heavy ski cut in. After clicking into my Atomic Maverick 105s, I was ready. Four fall line turns and only sluff had released. With no major slides, I took this great sign as ‘Good to go!’ 

The snow was silky smooth high-elevation pow. I took it down to just above the first pinch point and laid in another heavy right footer, posting up on the left wall. After a quick break to fill the lungs, I skied into the moving sluff coming out ahead for the party below. 

I let out a few yells of excitement and looked back up the mountain. The 5,000 vertical feet Super C couloir had delivered after years of anticipation, and I was finally down safely. It was time for lunch with Michelle and perhaps a few glory laps.