August 22-23, 2007 Catedral,Bariloche,Argentina

We arrived in Buenos Aires (BsAs) on August 21 and took an overnight bus to Bariloche. The 19 hour bus ride is very relaxing and allows us to adjust to the time difference and recoup from the fatigue of air travel, plus you are served numerous meals and can sleep in 1st class lay-down seats with movies and drinks served. Arrived in Bariloche and stayed with the family we lived with in 2005. We woke to light snow showers and drove to Catedral which is the largest ski resort in Argentina. With a base at 3150 ft, it’s rather low but this year has plenty of snow. The resort received 2-5 inches of new powder, but the top half of the mountain was a whiteout. We skied a few hours then decided to cruise the lower slopes near the trees and have a short day. We returned to Catedral on August 23 to clear and sunny skies. For comparison purposes, the ski area is larger than any area in the PNW except Whistler. At the furthest lift on climbers left, we noticed a ski patroller skiing toward the base of La Laguna which has access to some challenging backcountry and sidecountry terrain. The ski patroller stopped below a rocky chute which had a snowboarder sitting at the top – either uncomfortable with the descending chute or perhaps injured. We were on the chair so I never did see the outcome. Too bad, would have been interesting to see how the snowboarder descended. After a few cruisers in packed powder, I found a descent route towards the new Nubes quad and its enormous bowl. We had to hike a short distance and as we reached the descent point I dropped my skis and watched one ski slip over the lip into the steep bowl. This was an “oh, shit” moment followed by “please, let me be lucky”. After descending about 500 VF the ski flipped and stopped just before another 1500VF bowl. “Thank you, thank you, thank you”! As I started plunge stepping towards my ski a woman skied over to my ski and started to place it vertical in the snow. I immediately had visions of it falling over and starting another journey downwards, I kept shouting ‘momento’ and was able to run to her and grab my ski and thank her before anything else happened. Geez, what a dumb ass mistake I made. The rest of the day was glorious cruising in packed powder with views of the Andes towards Chile and the lake near Bariloche. Catedral has a mix of gondolas; a high speed six-pack and quads; with doubles and pomas accessing the more challenging terrain. With Bariloche within 20 minutes of the mountain, you have a resort that can provide entertainment for days. Plus the touring options are extensive with numerous huts nearby. Lift tickets were 105ARP, about $35 USD. If you are planning a ski trip to Argentina, you definitely should plan to spend a few days or a week here especially if you have your touring gear.

Photo 1 – Ski patroller with ladder
Photo 2 – Jill with part of area in background
Photo 3 – Overview of ski area