Singletrack Thoughts: Chile Part II

Our last installment had week one with Ride Guide covered, here we will pick up for the photoshoot and magazine story that became week two:

Chile 2010, week one blurred into week two at an appropriate pub in downtown Santiago. One day I was saying goodbye to Josh from the Ride Guide and the next it was hello to the Magazine and Rocky Mountain Crew. The pub auspiciously enough was called the 'Phonebooth' and we sat out on the patio as it was warm and British.,?

The crew for week 2 included, Jason Sumner on the pen, Chris Christie on Camera, Peter Vallance directing, Chris Winter media support and professional guide, with Wade, Dre and Curtis on bikes. Well we were all on bikes and our guide Marteen, winner of the Trans Andes and all around awesome ripper.

Hoist ye pints and we can begin our trip - Cheers and they were off. Our mission/itinerary/schedule was quit chock a block; get the catalogue shots, get the magazine shots, get some tourism shots and oh yeah have a good time. So it was with this in mind that our adventures began.

Day 1 - we had to shake out the plane ride and get the legs back into pedaling shape, so a quick rip around Santiago

Day 2 - A couple hours out of town through the vineyards and towards the coast, half way up a mountain; today turned out to host a view of Aconcagua (the highest peak in South America), a huge meat lunch and actually turned out to be 2 shuttles, sweet.

Day 3 - a.m. - Morning shoot in the downtown area.

Day 3 - p.m. - La Parva, the ski resort located right above Santiago, 52 switch backs into the still snow covered peaks that loom ominously and permanently over the city. Our downhill began from above the ski resort and dropped nearly 5000 feet, awesome. We managed to shuttle about 1/3 of the way back up for round 2 and had the company of a 3 legged dog for the whole time, twighlight zone strange, yes.

Day 4 - Had us on the way south to Pucon, with an afternoon of riding in the resort of Cheian. This resort had recently hosted a UCI DH and XC event that had been nationally broadcast. The courses were both still intact so we had a go at them, nailing a number of the jumps and a few quick laps on the XC, we followed our work out up with an amazing BBQ at a ghost town of a hotel called the Eco-Box.

Day 5 - We finally arrived at Pucon, the Whistler of Chile. While the driving was taking a bit longer than we thought (go figure Chile the longest country in the world) we were still motivated to push hard and get as much riding under out belts as possible. We met out local guide and proceeded to make our way up Volcan Villarica the most picturesque Volcano I have ever seen. The trail proved to be superb, the guides amazing and so it was an absolute ripping descent, woo hoo, lets do it again and we did.

Day 6 - Took us to the other side of Volcan Villarica, literally the other side of the Volcano, we crossed some lava fields shot some pictures and generally soaked up a great day in the sun. The afternoon was filled with another shuttle on the Pucon side and an investment in the local BBQ scene (we located, bought and had prepared - a lamb), it's another story all together.

Day 7 - finally feeling the effects of our travels and biking adventures, we all piled into the van sans ride, reconciled to our fate - one wicked long drive back to Santiago. We slept, we talked and we watched the country roll by, as bad as a long drive is, when you are in a new country it's always interesting.

Day 8 - Valparaiso, a world UNESCO site, 1. 5 hours from Santiago, where the Spanish and the sailors of all nations first set foot on ground after rounding Cape Horn. This was the premier spot on the west coast, right up until the Panama Canal was completed in 1914. After which it was just another Chilean port town, but what a town. Unique and beautiful, this was truly the perfect last day after an amazing trip - Viva Chile.