Photo Story: Lost in Chile ft. Andreu Lacondeguy

Words: Andreu Lacondeguy
Photography: Cristóbal Batlle

My first time in Chile was in 2010. At that time, I was riding for another bike brand, and my teammate was Aggy. Somehow, we ended up in a massive urban downhill race in Valparaíso, a pretty cool city on the Chilean Pacific coast. The race was crazy; they lost my gear bag at the airport, and I was essentially riding down stairs in shorts and an open-face helmet. A couple of runs later, I decided to put an end to my urban racing career. Right after the race, we changed locations and drove to La Parva ski resort just outside Santiago. La Parva is a huge ski resort with a bike park featuring long rocky trails and some insane freeride lines. That night, we experienced an 8.9 earthquake, and that pretty much marked the end of our trip; the country went into a bit of chaos, and we had to cancel and fly home.

I always wanted to return to Chile, and it was in 2019 when I decided to embark on a riding and exploring trip from Santiago down to Patagonia with my brother Luis and a couple of friends. Our friend and kayaking legend Aniol Serrasolses had moved to Futaleufú in the deep Patagonia a few years prior, and we wanted to visit him. Aniol knows the terrain, all the mountains, rivers, and volcanoes like he's been there for a hundred years, so he gave us a few locations. That's when I realized that Chile had unreal terrain for biking; it was pretty much a mountain bike paradise. A few days into the trip, we met up with our buddy Alan Mandel, who was coming from a freeride trip in Peru. He joined the trip, and we rode some unreal places. Chile had everything we wanted to ride, from the Atacama Desert in the north, which is the driest place in the world, to Patagonia in the south, with some unreal forests and the deepest loam I've ever seen.

Pyt's Park


I like to ride new zones every year, travel the world, and discover new spots to ride around the globe. For me, freeride means exploring and finding, so I was a bit bored of doing the same thing for so many years, riding the same cliff year after year. With a very successful trip in the Peruvian Andes last year, I wanted to move a bit further south and do the same thing in Chile, but on a different scale. This wasn't going to be just a two week trip.

Early this year, my buddy Alan hosted the Todo O Nada event at Pyts Park, so again I got on a flight to Santiago with my brother, and we went there. The event was the first big international freeride event in South America, and for me to be a part of it was something really cool. South America is home to some of the most talented and passionate riders I know, and riding and becoming friends with them was awesome. Chile has a sick mountain bike scene, and the vibes were all-time. Right after the event, I decided to stay in the country and visit the north of it. I ended up traveling Chile for the next 3 months, riding more than ever, eating the best asados, having just a few piscolas, and making a lot of new friends while riding in the craziest locations I've ever been to.




We wanted to share some of these locations with you, so together with the photographer Cristóbal Batlle, our Chilean friend and filmmaker Santiago Alcalde, whom we met back on our second trip in 2019, and COMMENCAL BIKES & SKIS, we decided to film and document some parts of the trip and show the contrast and different landscapes that we saw on our journey.

Nevados de Sollipulli


On my trip to Chile back in 2019, I met Nacho Coulon, a sick rider from Pucon. We did some riding together and he showed me some spots in the 7th region. We spent some time riding in different places, and he was always telling me about this spot, a place that looks and rides differently than anywhere else... Nevados de Sollipulli.


Nacho put me in touch with the local legends Rafael Marchant Duran and Raul Flores Parra from @xploraturismocarolina and @suntripadventures. They've been guiding ski and mountain biking in the Pucón area for years and know the 7th region better than anyone else out there. These guys introduced us to Nevados de Sollipulli and Robert Gibson, who, together with his dad, built the lodge and runs all the operations on the mountain.



Nevados de Sollipulli is something else... Right at the bottom of the Sollipulli Volcano and next to a small lake, the Gibson family built an unreal high-end lodge with some cabins, a restaurant, natural hot tubs and all you need to have a nice stay in the mountains. They run ski and mountain bike operations all year, and the place has a trail network that takes you from the lodge to the top of the volcano on a buggy and endless loamy trails to ride on the way down.


Bikes and asados at Sollipulli base camp.


When I first got there, I was blown away. The Araucaria trees, the forest, the waterfalls, rivers, lakes, and the huge volcano make this place so special. The trails and the riding are so sick; it feels like you are in Jurassic Park.



The beauty of Sollipulli. The sunsets are next level.


The Trails at Sollipulli are the best. Just loam mixed with black volcano dirt through the trees. Unreal riding.


The dirt there is something else; it's a mix of volcano dirt and loam, so it's hero dirt territory. The goal was to ride some lines into the crater of the volcano but we got the first snow of the year a few days before we got there, and we could only ride the top of the volcano on the new 2024 COMMENCAL CLASH SKIS, which was also pretty cool! Riding down the volcano was awesome; it was incredible to find some lines between the dirt and the snow. Then after some high speed sections at the top, getting down into the Araucaria forest on some fast snow felt so good... This place is a must-visit for a full mountain biking or skiing experience; the accommodation, the cabins, the people, and the riding make this place so special.


The top of the volcano was unreal to ride. Just fast open sections with some features in between... Nothing crazy, but the speed and location made it so special.





The moon was so bright we decided to go into a night ride. One of the most beautiful moments of the trip.


Had the greatest time with the locals. Rafa, Robert, Santi, Cesar and Zorrul. Legends!

ANTOFAGASTA


I think that Antofagasta is the capital of Freeride in the North of Chile, no doubt. Antofagasta is a pretty big city on the North Pacific coast of the country, and it's for sure one of the coolest places I've been to find freeride lines... Actually, the whole city is a freeride line, everything goes.

Located in the north of the country and close to the city of Calama, right in the Atacama Desert, Antofagasta became one of my favourite riding spots, for the dirt, the lines, the views, and the locals.




Found a sick line and discussed with Cesar how to approach it. His footage is crazy good.


Charging down a fast steep face.


Love this shot! This was an easy but cool looking line so we shot it!



La Portada. Antofagasta. Chile. / Eyes on the Prize / Rippin'


Cesar Fierro. The Kilian Jornet of Chile! He's the man.

I met Bastian Araya at PYT’S PARK for the Todo O Nada event for the first time, and together with Kurt Sorge, we took a flight to Antofagasta with him to go ride and visit the place. My brother was there a year ago, and he already told me about how cool the place was.





We stayed at The Surf Hostel with Paski and Kenny, the owners, pretty much at the bottom of all the freeride lines, and we rode bikes and ate seafood for like a month! Bastian and the RocaPark crew have lines all over the place. They have built a huge freeride park and they host a big freeride event every year, the Roca Park Jam. The Atacama Desert is pretty wild; it's endless, and you can ride pretty much everything you see. If you find the soft dirt doesn't matter how steep it is, you can ride it! The place looks like it snowed dirt; it's a pow day every day up there.


It was incredibly awesome to spend some time in the country, hang out, and get to know the place. I can't wait to be back and ride and explore some more zones. The Andes are huge, and there is a lot more to ride.
Huge thanks to everyone who made this possible.

COMMENCAL BIKES & SKIS

The Media Team: Santi Alcalde, Cristobal Batlle, Cesar Fierro

Pyts Park

Gracias en especial a Pablo Yarur, Cristian Moris, Cristofer Moris, Picolo, Dani, Chanfa y a todo el equipo! Gracias por hacer de Pyt’s Park nuestro hogar en Chile.

Nevados de Sollipulli

Gracias a la Familia Gibson por compartir el Volcán con nosotros y enseñarnos este hermoso lugar. Un grande Robert Gibson y los africanos.

Gracias a los jefes de las Montañas @suntripadventures y @xploraturismocarolina a los grandes Rafael Marchant Duran y Raul Flores Parra por los consejos y las buenas vibras. También a Carlos y Óscar Huerta por abrir camino en la nieve con el buggy y por todo el apoyo. También a Natalia Paz por ser tan motivada ayudando en algunas tomas.

¡Nacho y Rai Coulon my Chilean Brothers!

Roca Park

Bastian, Cristóbal, Vegano, Luis, Gato, Dropping and the crew! ¡Sois unos jefazos! ¡La Máquina del tiempo submarina!

Surf Hostel Antofagasta

Paski y Kenny you guys are the best!
Ricardo de La Lobera y Bike Park Maiten

Colico Bikepark
413 Park
Huilo-Huilo Reserva Biológica
Las Palmas Bikepark
La Parva Bikepark
Nevados de Chillan Bike Park
Fox Chile

Thank you Chile for being the best country in Chile (iykyk) and the world, maybe!

If you missed the video, watch it now!

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Travel Photography Commencal Andreu Lacondeguy