Thanks to a big donation from Ortovox we at the South American beacon project
are happy to be able to give 15 beacons, shovels, and probes to El Colorado Patrol. El Colorado borders (and actually owns the majority) of an area known as “Santa Teresita.” This area includes a multitude of 2,000 ft slide paths that end on the road to Valle Nevado.
Some would argue that it is the biggest lift accessed terrain in Chile (while not officially open to the public). In 2008 this path slid and closed the road to Valle for several days, as well as in a separate incident created a fatal avalanche accident.
Previous to this donation El Colorado had 4 beacons for 30 patrollers. El Colorado patrol is changing drastically to equip and educate all of their patrollers in the realm of avalanche safety. The South American Beacon Project is proud to be able to be a part of this change.
On August 28th the Patrol will meet for a mock rescue drill, and on September 12th and 13th we will be meeting once again for a 2 day basic avalanche education class…stay tuned for future reports