Camping in the Andes

A photo from camping in Cajon del Maipo outside of Santiago, Chile

At La Parva

On the mountain at La Parva, just an 1.5 hours outside of Santiago. My friend Felipe and I were stopped by the side of the lift waiting for Clemente, a local Chilean skier, to come up on the chair lift to do some crazy flips. There was surreal atmosphere from the deep blue skies and a constant wind that blew snow around just about the ground.

View from La Parva

This last weekend was super productive and a lot of fun. I had the opportunity to shoot some talented skiers up at La Parva. It was a beautiful day with awesome conditions. Below is a photo of the view of the town and looking down the Andes towards Santiago. I got some shots I'm really excited about, but I'll only be able to post some of the outtakes as the best ones will hopefully be ending up in a Chilean ski/snowboard magazine. But we'll see!

Stray Puppy

A stray puppy hiding behind a pile of snow at Valle Nevado ski resort outside of Santiago. He was one of eight dogs running around together. More photos of the rest coming soon!

First day at Valle Nevado

Finally, after two years of a snowless existence I have made it back to the mountains. It feels amazing to be back. I love the community centered around skiing and snowboarding because no matter where you go there is a very similar energy. 

I'm in Chile now and it is certainly different from Lake Tahoe or Colorado, but when you are up at the ski resorts, other than the scenery being different, the atmosphere is quite similar. And the atmosphere is always upbeat and lively. Ski resorts are a place where people with the same passions and interests are brought together to enjoy themselves. What can be bad about that? The answer is obviously nothing.

I haven't gotten to go up to the mountains as much as I'd like to due to the fact I've got a bunch of other work going on. That, and it's kind of expensive. Without a ride from a friend or the energy to try and hitchhike, it is about $28 to get up to the mountain each day. Then if you don't have another friend to get you a half of student ticket you may be forced to pay the full price of $80 for a lift ticket. In Chile, skiing is definitely more of a sport for the rich and the tourists. Limited housing up at the mountains makes this even more of an issue.

Perhaps the biggest downside of going to the mountains from Santiago, especially for me living in Santiago Centro, is the commute. When I'm forced to take the tourist bus up I have to leave the apartment at 7am, dressed in all my gear and walk through crowded streets with my snowboard, boots and camera bag. I then have to squeeze onto a packed, rush hour metro. This usually involves waiting for 2-5 trains to pass to find an opening I can even consider fitting into.

I then have to walk another 8 blocks to the bus and wait on line with a bunch of tourists to get a seat on the next bus to the mountains. Pay $26 and then sit there sweating for another two hours up to the mountains. So a day snowboarding can cost over well over $100 and require six hours of commuting. The first time was ok, for the experience, but I can see this commute getting very old, very fast.

Once you get to the mountains it is all worth it though. July was a weak month and produced almost no snow, but fortunately they have been getting some snow the last couple weeks. It's still a little dry but better than nothing. Below are a few photos of my first day up with my friend Diego.

The road to Valle Nevado from Farellones

View of the hotel and lodge at Valle Nevado

Diego popping a little shifty into the sun

 A bigger shifty

The shuttle van at dusk

 Sunset over Santiago in the distance

Stop and Remember Where You Are

When you are in a specific place for a while, it is only a matter of time before the initial excitement wears off and you start to become jaded. I constantly remind myself of the fact I'm living in Chile. That this is all so different and that so much of Chile is simply gorgeous.

I am grateful to be here and I never forget it. But with over six months here, on top of three previously, I rarely experience the same awe I felt when I first came here. I look around and know it's beautiful and appreciate every second of it. But it's never the same as seeing it for the first time.

Before traveling somewhere, you think, dream and imagine about what it will look like. You see photos and you try to visualize yourself there. Then when you are there it is almost always better. Beyond better. The smell in the air fills your nostrils and attaches themselves to your memories. The mood and feeling of the place takes you over. You experience the weather, the feeling of the sun on your face. Or the rain, depending on how you catch it. Seeing it in person allows it all to come together. To make sense and become a memory and experience, and not just a thought or day dream.

On my trip to Mendoza last weekend I was surprised at how much more colorful the landscape was compared to my trip three months earlier during summer. There were red fields with golden yellow trees reaching up to rich blue skies all amongst seas of vibrant green. The colors made everything seem so alive even though the fast approaching winter temperatures were slowly killing everything (quite beautifully, I might add).

It took returning home and viewing all the photos a couple days later that it hit me how beautiful it was and how Chile continues to surprise and impress me (very often really). My photos weren't anything that special. Shot through a dirty window (I've made a habit of trying to clean off the inside and outside of the window before leaving, but it only helps so much), out of a van going 70mph the focus may be a little off, the framing not ideal and there is absolutely no time to think while it all zooms by. But nonetheless the landscape itself is just so striking you can't help but mentally stop and enjoy it for a moment.

Having done four cross country US road trips in the previous two years, I was well accustomed to photographing out of a moving vehicle. This time was just easier because I wasn't also driving. But the sharpness of the images and time to make thought out compositions wasn't really there. You can just get a couple ideas in your head that you try to execute if, and when, they pass by.

Below are some images during the bus ride from Santiago to Mendoza. If you don't know anything about this bus ride, you should definitely do it if you ever stumble upon the opportunity in your life. It is six hours of stunning, constantly changing landscapes. From Santiago the road winds past rolling hills laced with vineyards and vistas of far off mountain peaks. The far off peaks become closer and closer and gradually you are surrounded by the jagged Andes at their most impressive (even passing the highest peak outside of The Himalayas, Aconcagau (22,841 ft)) Then you head back down in elevation to a more arid, high desert type environment, still surrounded by towering mountains.

Anyway, my photographic editing style constantly changes and goes through phases. On trips like this I don't get to think about what I'm shooting. I just shoot it as it goes by. So I never know what I'm going to do with an image until I'm looking at it on the computer and an idea comes from somewhere. Sometimes I see things in panoramas, sometimes 4:5 format, and today, squares. So a majority of these are in squares, because that's how I'm seeing things these days.

Santiago to Mendoza on Three Wheels

This past weekend I went solo on my second trip to Mendoza, Argentina to renew my visa. My first trip I went with Camila and although there isn't all too much to do in Mendoza, it was a good time. I don't generally use the word lovely, but for some reason it feels entirely appropriate when describing Mendoza. As a traveler it isn't all that exciting and doesn't require more than a few days to enjoy most it has to offer.

There are nice wineries and hot springs outside of town, and nice restaurants, parks and plazas within the town. But beyond that it gets boring kinda quick. That being said, I can see it being a lovely place to live. Life here is slow and it seems like everything in town is closed most of the time. Stores, restaurants and most businesses seem to open between 9am and 12pm and then close from 2pm-6/7pm. Then they open again for a couple more hours, with restaurants staying open later obviously. Then on Saturday things have even less hours open and on Sunday, practically everything is closed.

It is a city that clearly doesn't take life too seriously, which is great. Beyond that, the weather is usually pretty nice and people seem quite happy overall. Oh yeah, and like all Argentinians, they love to party. Things don't kick off until after midnight, but parties easily go until 7am or later.

Being that I was alone this trip it was a little more boring than last time. I was exhausted after waking up early for the first bus to Mendoza which generally takes about six hours. This time, it took nearly 10 hours  due to a lazy wheel on the bus.

On the Chilean side of the border there are a series of around 30 switchbacks. At number 22 we were rounding the bend and out of nowhere there was sudden lurch to the left followed by a loud crash and grinding noise. We immediately came to a stop and we all climbed out to see what it was. The driver grabbed nearby stones to cram under the wheels to prevent the bus from prematurely heading back down the mountain. From the time the bus stopped moving to the time I was outside took about 45 seconds and once I was out there was absolutely no sign of the back wheel. The tire and rim was literally gone. Not sure if it shot off the side of the cliff or where it was, but it was gone.

A group of five men worked on getting the bus mobile while I went off shooting some photos. 45 minutes later we were on our way and then 15 minutes later we heard a loud thwap, thwap as the tire was working its way off the axel again. After stopping three times to fix the damn tire the driver finally started signaling other buses with free space to take us the rest of the way. So almost 10 hours later I finally made it to Mendoza and had little energy to do much at all.

At least it fell off somewhere with great views

The tire must be somewhere down there

The following day was Sunday, so everything was closed and the only area of activity was the park. So I headed there. One thing I really like about Mendoza, and Argentina in general is the number of old cars on the road. And I mean cool old cars. Most aren't in good shape but they still have a lot more character than a bunch of shiny new cars which dominate the roads in Chile.

I decided to take advantage of having interesting, stationary objects to practice a photographic technique I read about a little while ago called the Brenizer Method, first done by photographer Ryan Brenizer. I could describe all the details of the method but it would take too much time, so if interested click on the link above. It essentially involves shooting closer to a subject with a lens higher than 50mm(preferably even higher) at a wide open f stop of 1.8 or something similar. You stitch together a number of images to create a wider angle photo with a more blurred background(this is a very poor description, just Google it if you're curious). So here are a couple first attempts. These photos are only made with 3-4 frames (Ryan generally uses anywhere from 15-40 frames which makes a massive image) so the depth of field isn't super blurred like it could be. But it is a starting point!

From Santiago to Mendoza by Bus

I'm officially back in Santiago and the search for work and an apartment is on. I will continue working for www.airbnb.com while here but it is certainly not the same market as New York City and I will need (and obviously want) more work. As far as the apartment goes it is a great feeling to be able to afford an apartment in the neighborhood I want to be in. Not to have to pick a neighborhood in NYC based on the affordability, which is still too damn expensive. Here I can live in Bella Artes or Barrio Brasil with great parks, restaurants, bars and museums right outside the door.

Last weekend I took a trip to Mendoza, Argentina, mostly to renew my visa and of course to visit another Argentinean city. The 6.5 hour bus ride from Santiago is an experience in itself. It's beautiful mountain, river, lake and vineyard vistas the whole way. Right after crossing the border into Argentina you get a glimpse of Aconcagua (22,841 ft), the highest peak in the world outside of the Himalayas. I could write about the beauty of it all, but it will do it more justice to show some photos. From Santiago to Mendoza:

Just outside of Santiago

Getting into the mountains and away from the city

Chilean Vineyards

Local on the side of the road

Driving through The Andes

View from Chilean Border Control of Portillo Ski Resort

Switchbacks on the Chilean side

Heading into Argentina

Close to Mendoza

Beautiful lake just outside of Mendoza

San Pedro de Atacama VS. the Rain

The weather at high altitudes never ceases to amaze me. Don't get me wrong, weather anywhere can be unpredictable, unforgiving and stop you in your tracks. But once you get up to 7,000-16,000+ feet it seems to change instantly, be way more dramatic and it can even be snowing, raining and sunny all from one vantage point.

This was the case on my last trip to one of the most remote places I've ever been. Where the Atacama desert in Chile meets Bolivia, Argentina and Peru. The Andes reach up to 20,000+ feet which can create rapid shifts in the weather. Here, there are no radio stations, minimal electricity and only one gas station for hundreds of miles.

The Atacama Desert is the driest place on earth where certain areas have a history of 0 inches of rainfall. As in none, at all. It is so dry that the soil in certain areas that have no sign of life have been compared to that of Mars. NASA even does instrument testing for future Mars missions here. The town of San Pedro de Atacama and the surrounding area is certainly not one of those areas though. January and February are the rainiest seasons in Peru and Bolivia and some of the storms make their way down into the Atacama and deposit large amounts of precipitation in (usually) a small amount of time. Being a town that only receives rain several times a year they are never prepared and even the smallest amount can shut most things down.

Camila and I arrived on February 9th with intentions to stay for a month to work on a project documenting the hotels and restaurants in the area. The rain started around 6pm on the first day and didn't end until around midnight (which is very rare for this area). The rain was very heavy, especially for the driest desert in the world. It was heavy enough to shut down roads to all popular sites, all international border crossings, take out the power in the town, knock down some walls and flood at least half of the restaurants, stores and local homes. And this was just the first day. The rain would arrive in the early evening and do even more damage each day for the next 5 days. At night the rain would take over the town and then by the following afternoon the sun was so strong and the air so dry that a good part of the water would evaporate. We left after the third day due to the fact that most things I wanted to photograph were closed or damaged. The town is also very expensive and being the high season we had limited options for long-term stays (and even more limited now that half of the places were damaged).

Even though I didn't get to work on the project I had originally planned, it was wild (and sad) to see what nature could do so quickly to an area that isn't built to withstand what it throws at it.

Sun-baked footprints made the following night in the rain softened dirt

Storm clouds over the road to Laguna Miscanti

Small town farm

Llamas

Washed away road

Protecting the front door from rain

Dirt from the roof running down the walls

San Pedro de Atacama

Flooded street

Last year this was a road...

Ponds formed on the side of the roads

Random Photos

Lima, Peru

Ollantaytambo, Peru

From Machu Picchu, Peru

Random Photos

Some photos from my cross country road trip two winters ago. Taken in Ouray, Colorado which is home to some world-class ice climbing.