Chile Snowboarding in the Andes: Funner Filete Freestyle and Freeride Edit

Riders Manuel Díaz, Sebastián Camus and Martín Parada mix freestyle tricks and big-mountain freeride lines in this snowboard edit from the Chilean Andes. The clip is a section of Funner Filete: From Baker to Chile, a film by Funner Projects whose title runs from Washington’s Mount Baker to the mountains of Chile, set to Professor Kliq’s track “Elephantitis”.

Watch: Chile snowboard freestyle and freeride

The edit cuts between wide views of steep, rocky Andean faces and closer shots of the riders on the snow, with Professor Kliq’s “Elephantitis”, from the album Guns Blazin, driving the rhythm. Freestyle riding brings spins and jumps; freeride is about choosing and riding a natural line down open mountain terrain.

From Mount Baker to Chile

The film’s title links two of snowboarding’s great destinations. Mt. Baker Ski Area in Washington State, about 16 km south of the Canadian border, holds the world record for single-season snowfall: 1,140 inches (29 metres) in the winter of 1998–99. It averages 641 inches a year and has hosted the Legendary Banked Slalom, a snowboard race through a natural halfpipe, since 1985. Its deep snow and steep terrain have made it a regular backdrop for snowboard films.

Chile offers the opposite season. When the Northern Hemisphere winter ends, riders head south, where the Andes are covered in snow from about June to October.

Snowboarding in the Chilean Andes

The Andes run for about 7,000 km down the western edge of South America through seven countries, and their highest summit, Aconcagua (6,961 m), rises just across the Argentine border from central Chile. That height is what makes Chilean riding special: the resorts sit far higher than most in the Alps or North America.

• Valle Nevado, 46 km east of Santiago, opened in 1988. Its base sits at 3,000 metres and its terrain tops out at 5,430 metres, across about 900 hectares.
• Close to the capital: Santiago’s position just west of the range means you can land in a major city and be riding high-altitude snow the same day.
• Dry Andes climate: central Chile’s mountains get sporadic storms and strong temperature swings, so conditions can change quickly from powder to firm, wind-packed snow.

Planning a snowboard trip to Chile

• Season: traditionally June to October.
• Altitude: take your first day easy, drink plenty of water and use strong sunscreen, because the sun at 3,000 metres and above is intense.
• Backcountry: Andean freeride terrain is big and remote. Go with a local guide and carry an avalanche transceiver, probe and shovel.

For more snowboard films, watch Don’t Panic: Snowboard Clips With an Airborne Rhythm and another professionally credited snow film, or compare Southern Hemisphere destinations in a global shortlist.

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