Recovery efforts continue at NOIRLab's Chilean facilities following July’s historic winter storm. After fresh rain and snow paused recovery work late last week, crews returned to the mountains over the weekend. Today, teams are evaluating whether it is possible to reach the summit of Cerro Pachón.
Heavy equipment crews are actively clearing snow and repairing access roads. The primary bottleneck remains extensive road damage between the Control Puerta and the El Quisco junction, including a large drop-off at kilometer 14 requiring a temporary bypass. It currently takes a three-hour drive to reach the summits.
While commercial power has been restored to Cerro Tololo, the service is unreliable, and today the team switched back to generators. Cerro Pachón also relies on generators due to severe power infrastructure damage. To conserve fuel, generators will be turned off at the end of each day, until full-sized delivery trucks can reach the summit. Teams are currently bringing up small diesel loads in pickup trucks. The status of the Cerro Tololo water pump house and distribution system is still under investigation.
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| Workers at the Cerro Pachón hotel area following a winter storm in July 2026 |
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| Snow covers vehicles at the Cerro Pachón hotel area following a winter storm in July 2026. |
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| The top of NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory is seen in the distance following a winter storm in July 2026. |
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Damage on the road to Cerro Pachón and Cerro Tololo following a winter storm in July 2026.
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| Damage on the road to Cerro Pachón and Cerro Tololo following a winter storm in July 2026. |
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