We tried to ski every single piste in one single day. We almost succeeded.

Valle Nevado, Chile, has 38 pistes to ski. Today, 33 of them were open, and we set ourselves the goal of skiing all of them in one day.

We started all the way at the top: the Tres Puntas lift, named after three large rocks settled on a ridge above the top of the lift.

All day, we worked our way down the mountain, completing every available run at each lift before moving on. We skipped trails only when they were closed or green (we ended up riding most of the green trails anyway just getting around).

As the clock turned four, we lacked but one trail: “Polka,” a blue serviced only by Prado lift all the way at the bottom of the resort. Prado is so far down that the trails that lead to it—primarily Sol 1 and Sol 2—seem like they’re going to land you in a parking lot, not a ski lift.

Alas, our stratagem failed us, as Prado closed at four of the clock, and we ended the day satisfied, but not totally successful.

Now that we’ve hit almost literally all the slopes, tomorrow is picture day, where I ski by myself trying to take more pictures like this one:

Originally published Aug. 8, 2023.