August 23-September 22, 2007 Argentina & Chile

Here's a shot of our friends Rosa Maria and Florencia at Valle Nevado on Monday in a breeze.....

Here´s an update from Las Lenas:

Silas remained in Santiago to visit with a Patagonia adventurer and view a presentation. Jill and I drove to Portillo and skied there for 2 days. We stayed in the least expensive lodging available. One night in the Inca Lodge(bunks), 2 days lift tickets and 4 meals for 2 people was $142. That same package in the Roundhouse was $286 and the same package in the main lodge was $720. Yikes. Spring conditions and the unique slingshot lifts. A picture can only explain the setup. We´ll post photos later.

Crossed back into Argentina and drove thru wine country around Mendoza. Our Argentine friends contacted the local gendarmine(police) and we are staying in the police refugio. Our room has a great view with a window that opens and has bars on the exterior. It is a wonderful experience staying with the police and practicing our Spanish which is minimal.. We feel real safe in our accomodations. O yeah the price is $10 per person per night. We are about 8 km from the ski resort but don´t have to listen to the party crowd at night.

The ski conditions at Las Lenas are rather ¨light´´. The terrain is fantastic and touring abounds. This has been a cold and dry winter. Up high it is wind affected and a bit boney. It´s spring skiing. The storm cycle is further south and we are heading towards Caviahue and Chapelco soon.

Zap y Jill

Here´s an update from San Martin de Andes on 12 September:

We skied another day at Las Lenas and had a great tour out of the area for a 4000vf run. The lower chairs were on wind hold but the Marte chair was operating, go figure. At the top of Marte, we traversed to the top poma, signed the release form and had a ribbon attached to our clothing. Followed the ski patrol OB across a wind hammered snow field, across a spree field for a couple hundred feet, had the wind knock me over and finally hit the steep snow route through the rocks. It was a 4000 foot adventure of steep scraping, corn and stream crossing plus a couple mile traverse back to the valley and lowest lift. Snow is melting quickly down low so many routes are done for the season.

Drove to Malargue and found a great cabana to recharge and refresh after the refugio. The next day was consumed by driving ripio/ gravel. Finally reached a paved road and pulled over for a break and a car zips by, only 3rd car we´ve seen in 4 hours and its Silas and Tom. They are heading south and chasing the snow like us.

Spent a night in Chos Malal which rarely sees gringos and had a great dinner of frosted flakes, milk, yogurt, cheese and wine. We could´not wait until the restaurants opened at 8pm.

Drove to Caviahue and skied the area around the monkey puzzle trees and toured out to a geyser. Sun, no wind and corn snow. Had to drive thru a mud, potholed access road that makes our FS roads look like a freeway.

Drove south to Zapala which seemed to have a nice ring to it. Our hotel had a bed. Enough said. Jill is very, very, very flexible. I love her.

We are in what might be called the Switzerland of Argentina now. San Martin is very touristy. Surrounded by mountains, a lake ,.. chalets,... Staying at the Puma Hostel. Plan to ski Chapelco on Thursday then south to Bailoche and Trevelin. The beef is great. A lot more snow as we head south.

Zap y Jill

We are in what might be called the Switzerland of Argentina now. San Martin is very touristy.  Surrounded by mountains, a lake ,.. chalets,...  Staying at the Puma Hostel.  Plan to ski Chapelco on Thursday then south to Bailoche and Trevelin. 

Yup, San Martin is sort of Swiss, too busy for us, so we stayed in Junin, very quiet and also good beef. Excellent venison too! Must have just missed Zap and Jill, it was a busy day at Chapelco. Here's my friend Tom skiing the corn run through the trees.

Jill and I skied Chapelco on Thursday, 13 September in firm conditions which gradually softened as the day progressed. Unfortunately, the upper mountain was in the clouds and a whiteout. After a few hours of lower mountain cruising, we headed for Bariloche. We arrived at our friends home just in time for a pasta and wine dinner. It was so good to sleep in a nice firm bed with a great shower.

On Friday we packed up again and drove about 330 km south to Trevelin. We finally found our friends a young family, Marcelo and Claudia and their new baby. They just moved into their new home on a ripio road on the outskirts of town. Locating them is a story onto itself.

After a visit on Friday and Saturday morning, we drove back to Esquel to ski La Hoya. The 13 km ripio road was in good condition. We climbed from dirt to powder conditions. It had rained at lower elevations for the past few days and the ski resort had mid-winter conditions and powder. We bought half day senior tickets for $7.50 US each. Since our visit in 2005, they have added a fixed grip quad and double. The terrain is vast but it is almost entirely above treeline. You guessed it - it was a whiteout above the base lift. We skied by feel in powder for a while. Lots of new snow and excellent coverage. On our descent a small group of guanco were along the road just like the previous trip in 2005. More snow showers forecasted for the area. It feels like winter in the region.

Zap y Jill

Jill and I are back in the PNW after 48 hours of bus and air travel. After our ski day at La Hoya, we returned to Bariloche and were back up to Catedral resort early to ski a half day before a 3pm bus trip back to Buenos Aires. The winds were again coming out of the east and the mountain was socked in from mid mountain. We started walking towards the lifts hoping the cloud layer would rise but it started to lower. Just before reaching the ticket windows we looked at each other and decided that skiing firm snow in a whiteout just was not appealing. We turned around, went back to Bariloche and repacked our gear for the 19 hour bus ride. Locals mentioned the winds have been mainly from the east for the past 2 weeks which has caused the low clouds and limited visibility. A real problem when the treeline is below mid mountain.

During our time at Portillo, Jill did a slider at the top of the Roca Jack “slingshot lift”. She jammed her right small finger and today her orthopedic surgeon confirmed a torn ligament. Surgery on Monday. She’ll be back breaking trail in 6 to 8 weeks.

Now that we are back and I have some time, I’ll post some trip reports and photos. During our 4 plus week ski resort adventure, we drove over 5500 km and skied in 11 different ski areas in Argentina and Chile plus touring a day near Portillo. Hopefully, the information will assist others in planning future trips to the region.

Zap & Jill