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Jake Chasing Winter:
Riding South America

World Tour
September 17, 2003

DISPATCHES
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Donna at Valle Nevado
Courtesy of Burton

Most of us can only dream of setting off on a world tour. This year, Jake Burton and his family will be living the dream, embarking on a 10-month trip to snowboard all over the globe, covering six continents and following winter the whole way.

Jake, Donna, George(13), Taylor(10), Timmy(7) and niece Victoria (15) set off in July for a year of adventure travel. They will be snowboarding at resorts and in the backcountry of Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Morocco, throughout Europe and in the Himalayas (India). To round out the trip, they will be surfing in the Galapagos Islands, Peru, New Zealand, Tonga, Australia and Hawaii, sea kayaking in Thailand, and touring through China, Tibet, and Vietnam.

Jake will be using the trip to get in touch with the sport on a global basis: visiting shops and riding mountains with local riders all over the world.

From Jake
The trip started in Quito, Ecuador followed by a tour of the Galapagos Islands and San Pablo, Ecuador. Then it was a week of boarding in Bariloche, Argentina. After six days of riding powder in Bariloche, Argentina, we headed out on the overland route (Andean Lake Crossing) to Chile. After two days including three very chilly (no pun) boat rides, three minibus rides through the jungle, one touch football game (on a rock field) and some insane mountain/glacier views, we arrived in Puerto Varas, Chile. This was a very cool mountain/lake town with a huge snow covered Volcano (Volcano Osorno) on the far side of the lake. There is a T-Bar on the Volcano, so Donna tried to arrange some riding, but apparently the road was closed.

After a night there (including a five minute $100 wipeout in the local casino), we went on to Santiago, Chile and then drove up to Valle Nevado. After 60 switchbacks in a small bus, we arrived at the mountain. To get from a sea level city to this kind of alpine environment in just over an hour is impressive. I went for a sunset hike/ride that night and got an aerial view of the smog over Santiago, which is a depressing sight. You can barely make out the city, even at night.

The snow cover at Valle Nevado was excellent, even though it hadn't snowed in three weeks. It was mostly groomers and park runs, but the scenery was so cool that none of us were complaining. There is a 5,430 meter (17,800 feet) peak/glacier named El Plomo right behind Valle Nevado. On our first day, Andres (Burton's Chile distributor), arranged for a couple of heli runs just off El Plomo. All it takes is a phone call to Santiago, and a heli arrives from the city in seven minutes to pick you up. The snow quality was not ideal (somewhat sunbaked), but the runs were super long (4,000+ feet/1200+ meters of vert), and the excitement of George, Taylor and Victoria's first heli runs of their lives was pretty cool. The last time I was in a heli in Chile was when I was being flown down to Santiago Hospital in a military chopper after breaking my collar bone at a photo shoot in Õ91. This time, it was a lot more fun.

Valle Nevado
Courtesy of Burton

The weather at Valle Nevado was perfect. We didn't see a cloud during the five days we were there. The only reason not to eat lunch outside was to go inside to cool off or to avoid sunburn. Despite the warmth of the sun, the snow quality was excellent due to the extreme altitude (3025 meters/10,000 feet base/3670 meters/12,000 feet summit). The snow just never got wet, no matter how warm it was. It's probably the driest resort I've ever been to, yet you can see the ocean from the top. Go figure.

After three full days of riding in Chile, we headed for Cuzco, Peru. On the way there we had an afternoon in Lima, Peru. I had pro surfer Sofia Milanovich's phone number (thanks Sue Izzo). Although Sofia was competing at the US Open Surfing Championships in California, her Mom (Ines) was kind enough to take Taylor, George and I out for a surf near their house in Punta Hermosa. We checked out their house first, which was one of the coolest beach houses I have ever seen, complete with a talking parrot and a glass walled living room perched over the line-up at the surf break in front of their house. The surf was overhead, but not real mean, just right for a visitor. I had a great, great time. And despite the fact that I suck at surfing, the locals were super cool and helpful.

We then went up into the Peruvian mountains to check out Cuzco and the ruins of the village Machu Picchu. This was the last Inca Indian holdout in the 1500s before the Spanish fully wiped them out. It went undiscovered until 1911, when it was found despite being covered by the jungle. It has since been fully uncovered and somewhat restored. They continue to find buried mummies routinely. Donna, Timmy and I hiked in (seven hours) on the Inca Trail, which was an awesome experience. Hand laid stone paths flanked by wild orchids, waterfalls and Inca Temples along the way made for an interesting hike. We finally got to the Sun Gate, which overlooks the village. We then hooked up with everyone else and spent the night in a Sanctuary Lodge.

After a full day in Machu Picchu checking out the ruins, llamas and local dogs we hit a local market to pick up some $4 pants and some handmade drums. We then took the train back to Cuzco, which was awesome. Taylor and I grabbed the front seat right next to the driver, and after the girl ticket collectors had collected our tickets and served drinks, they proceeded to put on a fashion show of Alpaca wool products. On the switchbacks dropping down back into Cuzco, the train went forward on one switchback and then reversed on the next one (falling leaf on a train).

After a few days around Cuzco, highlighted by a killer lunch for eight of us costing only $12, we headed out to fly to Christchurch, New Zealand via Lima (Peru), Santiago (Chile) and Auckland (NZ). Our layover in Lima was over five hours, so we squeezed in a quick city surf session. The airline people thought we were crazy, but we managed to get to the beach, catch a few waves, eat a good lunch, shower and get back to the airport with time to spare.

That was it for South America. We all fell in love with that continent. Great snow, mountains, waves and most of all, people. To sum it up, we loved Ecuador for its laid back nature, the wildlife in the Galapagos and both the climate and beauty of the mountain towns, despite being right on the Equator. Argentina was a trip in itself with people who love to have fun and eat dinner no earlier than 10pm. Chile was much like Ecuador in that the scene was mellow, but the mountains were insane. Peru was filled with super friendly people, Inca culture that would be appreciated by anyone and good surf. We all felt like we could spend the whole year in South America, but it was time to move on to New Zealand.

Jake Burton, Burton Snowboards