Go down easy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz8uNRWsmFY

Inspired by Kyle I figured I'd put up some pictures from this summer's trip to the other southern hemisphere option. It was a low snow year (very low in some places, okay-ish in others), but we got quite lucky for a while with good snow, although not much of it.

Down (up) the rabbit hole.

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Feels like coming home.

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In South America it is not uncommon for random dogs to appear from somewhere and join you for an hour or a day of skitouring. They are always very stoked. These two burst from a bush on the approach and were really excited about going for a walk. Momma dog was a bit skeptical in a few spots but baby dog ran ahead, so what's there to do but follow?

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They decided to wait down there.

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We skied a bit and waited to see if they would show up. They didn't and we went back to check. Turns out Momma was not happy about going down what she walked up. I would still be feeling bad if we'd left them so we coaxed, bribed with alfajores and I carried Momma past the steeper bit. Baby dog shredded the steeps without issues. Here we're all good again. Skiing while carrying 15 kg of struggling dog is rather challenging.

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Outing with team Canada on the other side of the lake.

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How we roll down here.

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Back on the other side.

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So, now where?

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Anything is cool, really.

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Find the skiers.

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This guy is a bit of a show off.

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Balanced breakfast in the car.

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Wouldn't be Patagonia without some nice walks in the woods.

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What do you mean you only have one skin?

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What do you mean it will be fine?

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I think these guys like watching skiers get stuck in the bamboo on three hour bushwhacks without snow.

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Let's stick to the easy options, shall we?

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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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WOW!

Excellent TR! Thanks for sharing.

super TR thanks

Thanks for that

Great stuff. Cool dogs! I want to see this in a deep snow year. Is it ever not windy there?

nice trip
thx for sharing!

Great TR and pics. Gracias.

Bravo

Hell yes! Thanks for posting.

Thanks Klar!

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Originally Posted by Summit

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WOW!

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Yeah, that was my response...WOW!

Thanks for another excellent TR.

Another summer "Winter's Tale". Excellent.
(have you ever read Helprin's book?)

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.

Thank you, Klar, once again !

This is simply AMAZING!!! I really need to join you two one of these years down South!

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Originally Posted by klar

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This is the chillest picture ever

Really nice TR. Extra props for the John Martyn soundtrack.

Klar again keeping this place worth the time

Nice one klar. Looks amazing

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.

Great TR but every time see the thread title I think "heh, sluts"

Nice wake up TR.

Excellent.

Lovely tr! with extra doggy stoke. Great bedtime read klar, off to some happy dreams

Thanks for posting this. Really amazing shots and an awesome variety of scenery and moods. HoF TR!

Thanks all. Old pictures are good while waiting for snow. Winter is currently not cooperating.

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Originally Posted by kamtron

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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Earliest I've been was July, latest was November. This time it was mid-Aug to end of Sept. That's generally what I'd recommend, depending a little on where and what you want to do. By mid September spring is usually very much "on", feels springy a bit earlier often too. October/November can still be good for some of the bigger objectives.

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Originally Posted by steepconcrete

Great TR but every time see the thread title I think "heh, sluts"

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The old skiing vs sex debate. It involves a sliding scale of associative reactions :)

Outstanding TR. Thanks for posting up.

Your photos are excellent. Many thanks.