The World’s Best Skiers* Take Over Portillo. (*They’re All Women.)
Last week, I flew down to Chile to spend a week at , arguably South America鈥檚 most iconic ski area. Surrounded by tall Andean peaks, sitting next to the much-photographed Laguna del Inca, and home to the iconic , it鈥檚 a bucket-list spot for many of us in North America who are not-so-patiently awaiting the return of winter.
I didn鈥檛 plan it this way, but many of the world鈥檚 best women skiers also decided to come down for the week as part of brand photo shoots or private training camps. Everywhere I looked, pro rippers were charging down big lines or sending it off Portillo鈥檚 famous rock cliffs. Many were kind enough to let me tag along for photos.
Photo: , an ambassador with the Blizzard Tecnica team and the publisher of , finds a pocket of snow on a bluebird day in Portillo.
brought several of its staff, pro women athletes, and ambassadors to Portillo to test new prototypes and for a women鈥檚 initiative photo shoot the company is rolling out in 2017. Pictured left to right: Leslie Baker-Brown, Claire Brown, Jackie Paaso, Angelika Kaufmann, and Brenna Kelleher.
in front of Laguna del Inca with Los Tres Hermanos (15,587 feet) in the background. Paaso is a Blizzard Tecnica athlete based in Sweden who and finished second overall.
Paaso slashing a turn on the very springlike conditions at Portillo.
is a pro skier with Blizzard Tecnica who lives in Lech, Austria. She鈥檚 also a trainer for the country鈥檚 ski area association, a mountaineering guide, and part of the avalanche control team at her local resort.
was the 2012 Subaru Freeskiing World Tour Champion and the 2009 Freeskiing World Tour Champion. She also owns in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In Portillo, she was coaching women as part of .
Paaso sending it off a cliff near the base of Portillo.
Claire Brown and Angelika Kaufmann booting up a line.
is a former U.S. Ski Team and World Cup skier who won the 2010 National Super-G Championship. She now runs . In Portillo, she was teaching a private big-mountain training camp for women.
It was hard to make a bad picture in Portillo, with its amazing light and stunning views.