Nevados de Chillán, Chile, Report: Ski and Surf in the Same Day

Report from Monday, September 7, 2026

“So what’d you decide?” Carlo, the strong Australian skier and surfer, in his early-50s with no sign of gray in his sun-bleached short blonde hair, asked me in the back of the car as we cruised down from Corralco Resort. He was asking me if I wanted to go with him and his buddy Nick to the coast to surf — an idea he proposed about 1 hour prior as we were skinning up the mountain, talking about surfing.  “Shoot, I guess I have to!” I said. The idea of surfing and skiing in the same day — originally suggested by Carlo who had done it before and was inspired by his late father who did it before him — was too hard to turn down.

I had about 5 minutes to pack my bags at the house, not knowing how long I’d be away, get in the car, pick up Carlo and Nick, and head to the coast. Later that evening I was sitting under palm trees, watching waves break with them and their guide Jack with Surf the Andes, who they booked with for the exact reason to surf and ski in the same day. Jack accommodated everything — boards, wetsuit, and extensive surf and mountain knowledge gathered from a life spent surfing waves and shredding powder in Chile. Now I was here, showing up last minute, with skis and boots in the bed of the truck still wet from the tour that morning. What a long, strange trip it’s been.

48 hours later, Carlo and I were sitting in the freezing cold water off Chile’s coast, watching the peachy sunrise, scanning for sets coming in. We had about 1 hour to surf before we had to walk back to the lodge, eat and drink coffee, and head towards the mountain for phase 2.

Carlo — a lifelong surfer and it shows — effortlessly caught a couple of left-breaking waves and got his quota almost immediately. I followed suite, catching a smooth left and getting a decent ride then doing it once more over before we got out of the water and took the painful walk back over pebbles with freezing bare feet. We were cold, calm, and satisfied with the session. But the day was far from over.

Lime-green rolling hills with dormant grape vines slowly morphed into deciduous forest with a tall, white, looming giant gently resting in the distance. We were on our way to Nevados de Chillán Resort and it could not have been a prettier day with warm temperatures, full sunshine, and not the slightest hint of a breeze.

We stopped on the way for the most delicious cazuela soup I’ve had yet, a think juicy chunk of beef soaking in broth and a collection of colorful vegetables and hot sauce. We talked about the beauty of the region and its culture but also of the environmental concerns from national mining operations that are threatening the very surf spots and mountain locations that we love here through water source damage from rare earth mineral extraction. If left unchecked, these mining companies could destroy them forever, erasing them from surf and ski history. This somber reality inspired us to not only enjoy the day’s mission even more, but to begin fighting to protect these gorgeous wild places that are exactly what make Chile so special.

Carlo and Nick went up with their guide while I left their group to go pick up Sisa, who was staying down the road from the resort. We hitchhiked up with a lovely Chilean couple, calm and sweet as could be. They smuggled us in past the police checkpoint that managed traffic flow after a devastating fire burned down one of its main hotels last weekend and kept the resort temporarily closed. By the skin of our teeth we were in, dropped off at a lower lot, and ski touring up a far side of the vacant resort.

It was interesting to see the top of the volcano at Nevados de Chillán smoking; a perpetual puffing chimney oozing out smoke since time immemorial. I was told that it was always smoking and never not, and if you ever saw it not smoking that could signal that an eruption was imminent. The small fume of smoke drifted delicately across the top of the volcano and dissipated into the azure sky. Sisa and I continued walking up on the snow with temperatures that were warmer than the beach that morning, talking about life, Jesus, and weird surf culture. 2 skiers went past us on the groomed run.

By the time we skied, the sun was dipping closer to the horizon and looking plump as the surrounding peaks slowly started to ignite in golden flames. I opened my arms, pointed my skis on the groomer, and took it all in as I skied down, thus completing our mission. I saw Carlo and Nick on a far slope across the mountainside, knowing in my bones that they were just as stoked as I was. The ride down on the empty groomer was smooth — smooth like the morning’s waves in the cold, easy-going ocean.

At the bottom I saw Carlo and we hugged. Mission accomplished. Then, like any great mission deserves, it was time to go down to town in ski gear and eat and drink to our heart’s delight. We ate shrimp ceviche and mushroom pasta and lamb shank and pizza and good bread and drank delicious IPAs and pisco sours at Chil’in (thanks again for dinner, Nick), sharing stories of other rowdy adventures and reveling in the beauty of a life well-lived. The Australian Hat Trick was now almost complete. Back at our little cabin in the woods, crowned by an ever-glimmering Milky Way, we rested easy and stoked the fire that burned all night long.

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