Our first winter at our brand new location – Puma Lodge. We had some epic days out in our private winter playground and some great times relaxing back at the lodge.

Music: Heavy Blankets by Slow Loris (http://slowlorismusic.wordpress.com/)

As the 2011 Austral heli ski season fades into a spectacular sunset, I would like to thank those who made our first season a tremendous success. The guests who patiently awaited the snow and the completion of the lodge were not disappointed. The snow that was offered up was perfect powder, complete with bright blue skies and stunning sunshine. The grandeur of Puma Lodge showed that indeed it was worth the wait.

I would also like to thank all of our staff, who went that extra mile to ensure the guests a welcoming, memorable experience.
If you are passionate about powder, dream about deep Champagne snow and want to be one of the first to ski virgin terrain, then imagine skiing or boarding in the powder capital of the Andes.

The countdown has already begun for our next season and I would personally like to invite you to join us in 2012.

Francisco Medina

General Manager

UIAGM/IFMGA Mountain Guide

Chilean Heli Ski

The best Powder in the ANDES

Hi Skiers,

Yesterday September 28th, we skied between 60-80cm of cold dry powder in the Sierra Nevada, Las Lenas and Cortateral ranges with new snow fall down to as low as 1500m!

On some runs it was waist deep ‘over the head’ powder! Really FABULOUS skiing.

We have been skiing excellent powder conditions most of the season.

While August was a little dryer than hoped for in terms of fresh snow accumulation,  we expereinced cold temperatures almost all month and that helped maintain snow in good light and soft condition.

You might have heard that many of the ski resorts and other heli operations were experiencing rather dry conditions this 2010 Austral season and that was very true. With a number of Heli ski operators flying several hundred miles south to search for better conditions for their skiers with limited success.

At Puma Lodge district however, we had exceptional conditions and still do! That’s the beauty of our very unique and special area.  Chosen for its significantly deeper snow pack and more interesting diverse terrain.  As one very experienced international Mountain guide said…”Think Patagonia,…  just 90 minutes south of Santiago’….. I would say that is a fair assessment of our area.

For those lucky skiers that did join us this season, they experienced fabulous conditions, opening and naming news runs like the long and steep “LAP DANCE’!…. and skiing soft, cold, dry champagne snow every run all season long. That’s what Heli skiing is suppose to be like!

Puma Lodge is nearing completion soon and we are very excited to be able to offer this exceptional Heli Ski lodge for all of our guests in 2011.  It has been designed and created with providing the very best of amenities and accommodation for maximizing Powder skiing!

We continue to work tirelessly and diligently towards providing you with the very best Heli Skiing holiday available in the world.

It is my hope that next season when you think about skiing in South America,  you will give us a call and find out what our conditions are like before finalizing your plans.  We promise to give honest and accurate snow & weather conditions that you can rely on and to pass on our extensive knowledge of winter conditions in general throughout the Andes so you won’t be disappointed.

In closing I would like to sincerely thank all of our outstanding professionals that contributed their expertise, knowledge and highly developed skills in a positive professional delivery throughout the season,  your efforts make me proud to work with all of you!!  Your positive contributions, energies and enthusiasm provided all of our skiing guests a truly memorable and great Heli ski vacation.

Have a DEEP and safe winter season on the northern side of the equator.                                                                                                                 Looking forward very much to skiing with you in 2011 !

Kind regards

Mark H.Jones

Director

Chilean Heli Ski Ltd./Puma Lodge S.A.

Chilean Heli Ski UIAGM Guide Francisco, Hard at work in the Cortaderal range 25/07/'10

Hi Skiers,
We have had an amazing month of exceptional powder skiing in the Puma Lodge Heli ski district! We were the only Heli ski business in the southern hemisphere to be operating and providing our skier groups with excellent deep powder snow conditions as early as the first week in July. We continue to build on the legacy of providing the very best Heli ski conditions and operation available in the southern hemisphere with exceptionally deep, cold, dry powder right through to the end of July.

This weeks group is currently skiing true bottomless powder in the Cortaderal range. As well as finding on average just over 1 meter of cold smoke in both the Las Lenas and Sierra Nevada ranges.

The temperatures are staying cold, keeping the snow dry and very light and making for everyone’s best skiing days!

Really FABULOUS conditions!!

Very much looking forward to going DEEP with many of you very soon.

Kind regards
Mark

Hi Skiers,

We have had a great first few days powder skiing and working at the Puma Lodge district over the past weekend. Our pre season guides training was excellent with very good skiing conditions on a significant snow pack after the past 10 days of storming.

Throughout our district we recorded between 260 & 290 cm for our base,  with approximately 190-230cm of that being delivered during the most recent storms I mentioned in my previous update of June 11th. These conditions were found to be consistent throughout our district.

Glaciers especially in our southern area,  are also filling in very well  for this early in the season and in fact had no wind effect what so ever even up to 4600m! Incredible!!

If you would like to view a few photos taken during our work from these past few days  or further details  from the pre season guides training, please send me a note and I will respond to you more fully.

Looking forward to more new snow later this week possibly on Thursday!

Great skiing!

Kind regards

Mark

The first snow falls have been arriving during the past few weeks with the most recent over this past weekend.  In the Puma Lodge district we now have 62cm forming our 2010 seasonal base on the south & western exposures, as temperatures remain quite low for this time of year. It is looking gorgeous in the mountains now with the snow level down to 1400m near Santiago this past weekend.

The weather forecast for this week is for more accumulation on Wednesday and again on Friday continuing throughout the weekend. Not significant amounts,  however it is shaping up nicely and certainly appears that we will have a mid June start to this new Heli ski season.

Looking forward to skiing you here soon.

Mark