Deep powder at Portillo
I love this photo. It reminds me of my days skiing at Portillo.
Portillo is a small ski resort a few hours north of Santiago de Chile. I went there in 2004 to accompany a private ski group, just to make sure that everything ran smoothly for them.
They were excellent skiers, I was a rank amateur. In fact, at that point, the last timeI have been on skis was circa 1981 on the artificial ski slope of Hillend outside Edinburgh.
As you can probably imagine, Portillo was quite a revelation to me. Partly the beauty of the setting. Partly the wonderful atmosphere of this, the oldest ski resort in South America. Partly my total lack of skill on skis.
The thing is, it didn’t really matter. Portillo’s snow is big, soft and fluffy and remarkably forgiving for those of us who like an occasional face-first lie down.
The experts skiers I was with had a lovely time skiing alongside the Austrian Olympic team. I communed with the snow. We were all happy.
Ever since visiting Portillo, I’ve been addicted to small ski resorts where I feel free to ski, no matter how unskilled and gangly I am.
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