Features

Megan Roepke is a 23-year-old ski instructor from the United States. Originally from Wisconsin, she moved to California to teach skiing in Lake Tahoe shortly after she graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Journalism and History.

Megan is now living a life of "endless winter" teaching in Portillo during the northern hemisphere's summer. She will be blogging for the Ski Club throughout the Chilean resort's season which runs until 2 October.

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Superstar week
26 August 2010

Skiing with the Superstars training

Freestyle skier Daron Rhalves

The Austrian Ski Team limber up

The stars are out in Portillo this month, and I don’t just mean those tiny specks of light floating overhead. The hotel is full of incredible athletes at the moment, creating this sort of surreal experience, allowing your average skier to rub elbows with Olympic medalists and big-mountain superstars.

Last week, Chris Davenport and Ski Portillo teamed up to present a weeklong camp aptly titled “Ski with the Superstars 2010.” The camp is designed to give advanced/expert skiers a dream vacation while challenging them on some of the most amazing terrain in the Andes.

The coaching staff was basically a “who’s who” of big mountain/free skiing greats. The camp featured Chris Anthony, Ingrid Backstrom, Chris Davenport, Mike Douglas and Wendy Fisher. If you don’t know who these people are, Google them. They’re awesome. .

I’m not sure what was cooler… getting to ski a few runs with some of these guys or dancing on tables and taking shot skis with some of my idols. I got to hang out with some of the best skiers in the world!

This week is just as exciting. The Austrian ski team is here training, Spyder is here doing a photo shoot and the Warren Miller crew is filming. Keep in mind the hotel only holds about 450 guests. That means that we actually get to see these amazing groups.

I chatted with Daron Rhalves and Tommy Moe at the weekly welcome reception and sat near Julia Mancuso in the living room! These guys are not only Olympians and world champions, but also super cool people.

I know I sound like a star-struck teenager, but these past 10 days have possibly been some of the coolest in my life. There is nothing quite like meeting the people you have watched on TV and in movies and realizing they are actually amazing people. Not only are they world class athletes but they are genuinely nice individuals.

Ski Patrol
12 August

Teaching dogs new tricks

Daylight! Appearing from the snow cave

Yesterday I discovered what it must feel like to be a victim of an avalanche. Well, a victim who has been buried by choice in a pre-determined location with a radio and a guaranteed time of less than 15 minutes under the snow… How is this possible? I volunteered to assist the ski patrol with the avalanche training for Portillo’s two patrol dogs.

The whole experience was pretty surreal. I’ve always been a little claustrophobic so when asked if I would be comfortable being buried in a snow cave for a while I wasn’t exactly sure what to say. Eventually my curiosity won and I agreed to subject myself to this assault on my senses.

It honestly wasn’t as bad as I expected. The patrollers (Craig and Mark, who each own one of the dogs - Wiley and Reggie, respectively) were very well prepared. They explained to me exactly how the drill would go and assured me I would be out in now time. Although I was a bit skeptical, I was pretty confident they weren’t going to leave a ski instructor buried on Roca Jack for too long so I went along with the plan.

Once on the scene, I climbed down into a cave they had dug which was easily big enough for me to lie down inside. Once I was in, the patrollers gave me a radio and one of the dogs’ toys and sealed the entrance. Within 10 minutes Wiley, a border collie from Squaw Valley, USA, was barking over my cave and digging frantically at the entrance. Another minute or two and I was outside, breathing fresh air once again!

I’ve been at plenty of ski resorts over the course of my life and seen quite a few of these patrol dogs running around but I’ve never actually seen them do anything (which is a good thing, I guess). Even in Portillo the dogs mainly seem to hang out by different lifts basking in the attention of various passersby. It was really cool to finally see them in action and recognise how valuable they are to any ski patrol. I know I certainly feel a bit safer knowing these dogs are right around the corner.

Wine week
5 August

Enjoying the wine at the Almaviva Winemaker's Dinner

Tio Bob's transformed from a quaint and rustic cafe to a gourmet restaurant

This week, Portillo is hosting its ninth annual Wine Week, featuring some of the top wines of Chile. Representatives from numerous vineyards around the country have made their way to Portillo to share with guests the wonderful produce of the land.

Each evening, the hotel hosts a wine tasting with a one of the vineyards that focuses on a different topic. Guests can learn about the composition of the wine and compare different varieties.

Although not technically part of Wine Week, the festivities unofficially kicked off last Thursday with the annual Almaviva Winemaker's Dinner. I have to say, it was by far one of the most enjoyable evenings I've experienced during my stay here in Chile. Great food, good company and of course amazing wine!

Hosted at Tio Bob’s, which sits at the top of the Plateau lift, guests were treated to a moonlit ride up the chair while the torchlight parade proceeded underneath their feet. They then made their way down a torch lit path to the restaurant.

The vineyard's representatives gave a brief presentation about the history of the brand and the different types of wines they produce, focusing on the wines we would taste. Soon glasses were filled and plates were served. A four-course meal appeared, each course perfectly paired with an amazing Almaviva wine.

The whole evening was phenomenal—I've never had the privilege to attend anything quite like it. The food was amazing and the wine was definitely some of the best I've ever had. And of course, sharing it with good friends only made it more special.

Portillo traditions
30 July 2010

Unwinding in the Hotel Portillo after a day on the slopes

This week, a woman celebrated her 30th anniversary as a guest of the Hotel Portillo. Thirty years! She’s been coming here longer than I’ve been alive. Oddly enough, this isn’t the first person I’ve heard of this season that has been coming here consistently for numerous seasons.

To sound a bit clichéd, Portillo has a rich history and an incredibly legacy of tradition. Guests have been coming here their entire lives. Some really grew up here.

Every week when a new set of guests arrive one will undoubtedly hear some of the older instructors reminisce about how they taught so-and-so when he was a little boy and now his children are in ski school. It is a pretty incredible experience.

Not only have the guests been coming for years, but also the majority of the staff returns year-in, year-out. I’ve heard guests say that they’ve had the same waiter in the dining room for the past five years. To have the same ski instructor for five years may not seem that crazy, but the same waiter? The same maid? The sense of continuity that provides is unparalleled.

Additionally, the hotel itself changes relatively little each year. Yes there is a new hot tub and some new seats in the cinema this season, but the actual structure and décor of the hotel rarely changes. This is evident in the photos that line the walls of each floor. People find comfort in this place. It is like a second home. No matter how long you stay away, it always feels right coming back.

New friends
22 July 2010

Being an instructor has the added bonus of seeing students make new friends

The children's race each Thursday at Portillo is a chance for the resort's younger guests to shine

One of my favourite parts about teaching skiing in Portillo is the fact that instructors generally stay with the same group for the entire week. Not only do I actually get to know my students but also they get to know each other and quickly become friends.

The spirit of friendship that is fostered here is most evident amongst the younger guests. Although most of the children have never met before arrival, are often from countries around the world and sometimes don’t even speak the same language, they quickly become the best of friends.

Last week I was teaching a children’s class and had the opportunity to see this bonding process first hand. I knew the kids in my group were getting along well but I had no idea just how well until we got to the awards ceremony for the children’s race.

Thursday evenings we call up all the children one by one and give each a participation medal or pin for coming to ski school. The pretense for the ceremony is the children’s race on Thursday mornings but the whole thing is really about recognizing the efforts and improvements made by our smallest guests.

The ceremony is unlike anything I’d ever seen. Honestly it seemed like we were giving out Olympic medals. The cheers that erupted from the crowd were astounding. Each child was welcomed with a roar of applause and some groups even started chanting children’s names as they were called up. The smiles on the faces of the kids as they got their medals were surreal. They were completely ecstatic.

This was particularly evident when every single one of my students showed up to ski class the next morning wearing his or her medal. It is the little things like this that make the Portillo experience so unique. I guarantee you will never see something like this anywhere else.

The first dump of the season
8 July 2010

First tracks in the powder

The calm after the storm

Sunshine on the lake

There is nothing quite like that first dump of the season. The smell of snow, the cold air hitting your lungs, the pristine, untracked snow that seems endless and the quite calm after the storm. Days like these make all those months of summer seem almost bearable – especially when this day happens to be in early July.

The season here in Portillo is really just getting started and this week’s storm gives us all hope for the months ahead. 50cm in less than 24 hours is never something to scoff at, but here in Portillo in the first week of July, it seemed epic.

The morning after the storm breakfast was unusually crowded as some of the newer instructors and guests rushed to get outside. We couldn’t quite understand why some of the veterans weren’t as anxious as us to get out to the powder. We figured it out quickly, however, as our group of instructors seemed to be the only ones on the mountain.

There is no need to rush at Portillo. The only people here are the guests and the staff, a few hundred on the slopes at most. Nothing like the thousands of skiers and riders I’m used to in the States.

Although the open terrain is fairly limited at this point in the season, I was skiing fresh lines well into the mid afternoon. And from the looks of it, you could probably have skied untracked powder all day if you simply put in the effort to look for it.

As a native member of the northern hemisphere, skiing in Chile – especially Portillo – was always considered the holy grail of trips. Now that I’m here, I have to say it lives up to the hype. I mean, I caught a powder day in early July. What could possibly be better than that?