Manuel Diaz Chilean Snowboarder

What is it like to Snowboard in Chile? Watch as Pro Snowboarder Manuel Diaz shows us what its like to spend a day snowboarding the Andes. A complete day exploring the mountains, and shredding the backcountry.
We meet up with Manuel at his house in Farellones. I was traveling with the television crew from 24/7 TV Chile. We were on a mission to show exactly what a day in the life of a snowboarder in Chile is like. Manuel Diaz was the perfect candidate because he is truly the best Chilean freestyle rider out there. He's able to build and destroy big jumps and he's got a good style. His sponsors include Nitro Snowboards, Billabong Clothing, Bern Helmets, Spacecraft, and POW gloves.
So we met with Manuel and proceeded to fill up gas at the local gas station, which has gallons of gas at over $5.00 USD each. Ouch! Products are always more expensive up in the mountains. Then we get the gas and head up to the top, where we dropped the snowmobiles and took off for the upper backcountry. The powder was deep and it took us a while to get out there, but when we finally did, we realized that there was a perfect spot to build a jump out in the middle of nowhere, with a nice steep landing. In snowboarding you really can't ask for much else, so we were very happy that we found this place. The snow was deep and dry and the sun was shining. Classic Andes mountain riding.
We did a little interviewing, where I got interviewed for 24/7 about my recent dvd Sentimental Values and we did an interview with Manuel about building jumps. Then all the camera guys got into position across the valley and got ready to get some shots. Manuel went to hit the jump with Vicho, another local rider. Manuel proceeded to land trick after trick, including fs360, swbs540, fs540, fs720, cab9, bs180, and almost a fs1080. Vicho had some trouble since it was his first jump in a few months and let Manuel take over session. It was an incredible moment to see. Manuel was unstoppable and everything worked out great. The hardest part of the day was snowmobiling out of the area doubling with the sleds in some very steep terrain. It was a great start to June snowboarding in Chile. Thanks to Manuel, Felipe Costa, and Marcello Flores for getting this day organized for us.

El Colorado, Chile & Farellones - Snowboarding & Skiing

El Colorado, Chile & Farellones - Snowboarding & Skiing from the pro riders at Funner Films. This is from 2005, the first year we went to Chile to Snowboard. We moved to Farellones with plane tickets for 3 months later and got ready to ride. Little did we know what amazing adventures awaited us after we flew into South America on a summer ski trip. (Check out the afterparty at Happy Hour)

El Colorado, Chile & Farellones - Snowboarding & Esquí de los Pro-Riders de Funner Films. Esto es del año 2005, el primer año que fuimos a Chile a andar en snowboard. Nos mudamos a Farellones con boleta de regreso para 3 meses después y nos dispusimos a andar la montaña. Grandes aventuras nos esperaban cuando viajamos a América del sur en un viaje de ski de verano.

Timelapse Road from Santiago to Valle Nevado Chile - 40 curves

This is a video timelapse of driving down the mountain in our Jeep from Farellones, Chile (which has the ski areas Valle Nevado, La Parva, and El Colorado) to the city of Santiago. There are animals to dodge, dangerous curves and crazy drivers. The road has numerous curves, around 40 in rapid sucession. With the Andes mountains descent from 11000ft (3000+ Meters) to 6000ft (2000 Meters) its an adventure every time you drive it. Watch it all in fast motion timelapse mode and enjoy the sights and sounds.
If you travel to Chile to ski, snowboard, or just party then you will most likely be driving up this road to hit up the closest ski resorts from Santiago, CL airport. When we stay up there we'll stay in the town of Farellones, where you can shred straight back to your home after the world famous Happy Hour in El Parador.
Este es un video timelapse manejando montaña abajo en nuestro Jeep de Farellones, Chile (donde están los centros de ski de el Colorado, La parva, Valle Nevado) con camino a Santiago. Hay animales que esquivar, curvas peligrosas y automovilistas fuera de control. El camino tiene numerosas curvas, 40 curvas una tras otra. Velo en fast motion (en cámara rápida) y disfruta del paisaje y los sonidos. Si viajas a Chile a hacer Ski o Snowboard, o solo a carretear, entonces seguramente manejaras este camino donde se encuentras los resorts mas cercanos a Santiago, la capital de Chile y del aeropuerto Internacional. La mejor opción es quedarse en Farellones, donde puedes volver del famoso Happy Hour en el Parador del Colorado en tu tabla/skis al final del día.