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Go down easy
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The far south sounded bad this year, the middle had been good enough for a surprisingly long time but wasn't that great anymore, and we wanted to see some new sights. So we drove north.
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The pass road we wanted to check out was closed, because of a rock fall, maybe, on the Chilean side, maybe. It would open in a few weeks, maybe, or never, who knows? So we went to Las Leñas, seeing as freak had never been and we were almost there anyway. We put up with the bullshit that is the ski resort for a day and saw the sights and skied some cartón.
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The next day we went for a roadside walk. There is something to be said for tree-less approaches.
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Dusty spring. There were seashells everywhere. Apparently it was a lot less dusty here a few million years ago.
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We drove up the closed pass road to see how far we'd get. At the top we found Argentinian and Chilean border officials having lunch. We learned that the road would open tomorrow at 9am, sharp. We figure we'd wait it out another night and took the opportunity to visit a haunted cave. The pass opened around three and we spent the day hanging out with about 50 other people, waiting for just that to happen. Among our fellow travelers was a music group that sang and danced for everyone. We got the wrong date stamped into out passports. On the Chilean side, they tried to hide their fear of rental car papers but we could tell. The pass was cool and worth the effort.
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Spent the Dieciocho here:
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Happy Birthday, Chile.
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We headed back to Bariloche and since the snow and weather situation remained unchanged, joined some french friends for a Lanín excursion. They brought a buddy from Mendoza who had made the journey from San Rafael by moto, using his snowboard as a sail, presumably. Last time I was here we started skinning in the forest, had to walk to the base of the volcano this time.
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Note the wind.
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The humble abode. Unlike last time, no dead rats.
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Long shadows.
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It was really windy during the night (the location of the shelter is not, in fact, sheltered at all) and everyone was kind of worried about their skis blowing away during the night, though no one wanted to go out and check. We got up when the group from the lower hut stopped by (some guys from BA with local guides, on foot). By the time we'd made breakfast, one of the guides had brought a fearful client ("the wind, the mountain, the snow, I just can't handle this") back to our hut to wait it out. We eventually decided we'd see how bad the wind was, assuming we wouldn't be heading to the summit. It was pretty bad and everyone was pushed over a couple of times before we did indeed turn around after maybe an hour of climbing.
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It snowed chunks of ice, upwards.
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But things really could be a lot worse.
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Finally, one of the many excellent abbreviations of Argentina, SCUM, the community art center. The agency in charge of preventing wildfires is called SPLIF (Servicio de Prevención y Lucha contra Incendios Forestales).
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Goodbye Bariloche, with your scenic construction sites and excellent ice cream. See you around.
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Excellent TR! Thanks for sharing.
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Great stuff. Cool dogs! I want to see this in a deep snow year. Is it ever not windy there?
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nice trip
thx for sharing!
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Great TR and pics. Gracias.
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Hell yes! Thanks for posting.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Summit
Yeah, that was my response...WOW!
Thanks for another excellent TR.
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Another summer "Winter's Tale". Excellent.
(have you ever read Helprin's book?)
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I really need to stick my head out of the Euros thread more often, it's great out here.
Beautiful as ever. Such magnificence. Thanks.
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Thank you, Klar, once again !
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This is simply AMAZING!!! I really need to join you two one of these years down South!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
klar
This is the chillest picture ever
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Really nice TR. Extra props for the John Martyn soundtrack.
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Klar again keeping this place worth the time
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Nice one klar. Looks amazing
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Tronador is so cool. And those Leñas couloirs....
Care to share some dates for those of us planning southerly excursions? Looks like you timed it well for high pressure and spring conditions.
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Great TR but every time see the thread title I think "heh, sluts"
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