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Need Advice About Argentina Trip

5K views 25 replies 10 participants last post by  YoGeezSnow 
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#1 ·
I'm wanting to plan a trip to Argentina over the summer and was wondering if anyone knows of any good places to go.
 
#5 ·
Argentina's good if you're a Nazi fleeing Israeli justice.

Chile's terrain is tough enough to drive people to cannibalism, and that's enough to convince me it's good. :)

Post the info. :D
 
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#6 ·
Yeah, definitely interested in this too. I've only done a quick google search on Chile, but I think both of these places would make for a pretty epic summer snowboarding getaway. Would be great if someone could recommend or had any info on some of the all-inclusives, or if it's better to just make your own arrangements, etc...
 
#7 ·
i went to cerro catedral in san carlos de bariloche in patagonia last august. it was awesome! flew down to buenos aires from nyc, stayed there a couple of nights, then flew LAN airlines from buenos aires to bariloche. did all the bookings myself, didnt go with a package. the advantage i think that bariloche has over las lenas is that there is a pretty decent nightlife scene happening in town, if thats your thing of course. while in bariloche i stayed at the llao llao (outside city proper) which pretty much took care of everything (they had their own private lodge on the mountain that hooked you up with lift tickets, bfast, lunch, apres drinks and transport to and from the mountain - it was about 20 min away from the hotel), but it was very very pricey.

i was researching a possible trip to chile and i hear it might be more convenient to go there since theres a couple of resorts within an hour of santiago and there are direct flights to santiago. you could even possibly stay in the city and just commute to the mountain in the morning (unless road conditions are bad - very poss).
 
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#9 ·
Though I've never skied in SA, I'm planning a trip to Argentina in august, so I've done quite a bit of research on the topic.

Chile typically has better snow, because the resorts are higher. That means drier snow, but also mens you won't be seeing any trees, as everything is above the treeline. It is a bit more expensive than Argentina, specially taking the currency into account.

Argentina seems to have 3 decent options.

Bariloche, as mentioned above, is the biggest. It is also the most crowded and filled with drunken college kids. If you are looking for a place with good nightlife - or, better yet, are a drunker college kid - this should be a pretty good choice.

Las Lenas is mostly comprised of red/black runs. From what I gather, from a pure snowboarding perspective it's the best in Argentina.

Another choice is Chapelco (located near San Martin de Los Andes). Should be much less crowded, have a more diverse mix of green/blue/red and modern lift systems. The city the mountais is located at also seems to pretty lively, with a decent amount of good bars/restaurants.


Myself, I'm hitting Chapelco. My girl has never snowboarded before, so the gentler terrain and good after-ski scenario make it ideal.

Whatever you do, just avoid the last 2 weeks of july. School vacations in Argentina and Brazil make every single resort in south america very crowded.
 
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#11 ·
7 nights in San Martin de Los Andes at a cosy hotel Frommers recommends + 7 day lift ticket + 3 nights in Buenos Aires at a good, well located hotel (Loi Suites at Recoleta) is costing me USD1350 per pax on double rooms. Not too bad for a 10 night trip, I'd say. My air fare was under 1k, but I'm flying from Brazil.
 
#13 ·
i thought the food in bariloche was amazing, had a great selection of restaurants, and fairly priced being a resort/tourist town. cerro catedral has a mix of above the treeline riding as well as glades. i found the snow to be comparable to utah/jackson hole. funny thing about bariloche and cerro catedral for that matter being a destination for south american college kids is even though there are groups of them in all matching snow outfits and boots, they apparently arent skiing or riding. it seems like theyre on class trips and pretty much just sightsee. when i was riding i did see them on the mountain, but they just took the lifts up and looked around/sat in a circle in the snow and chilled, but they weren't riding.

you will need a leash on the mountain cause they are very adamant about you having one, and the burton one that clips to a ring on your boot is def not sufficient as i had to buy one of those old school ones from a base shop that wraps around your leg (2 bucks).

also, i found that while waiting on lift lines noone cared about skiing right on top of your board, or knocking into your gear with theirs (most people had rentals) so kind of be on your guard.
 
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#14 ·
Great info guys...much appreciated. 10 days sounds like a good trip with a few days checking out these great cities too...Buenos Aires more resembles Paris than any SA city and I'm sure Santiago would be neat as well and is close to 3(?) resorts. Definitely something to consider in the future.
 
#16 ·
Me and my girl are looking to plan a trip in august as well, if thats the best month for conditions down there. We'd be down to meet up with a few others to keep it safer in numbers. We're 25 and 26 and are very easy going so if anyone wants to put something together, LMK!!
 
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#20 ·
chile is super fun
Ive been living and riding there for the last 3 seasons.
El colorado, Valle Nevado, La Parva, and Farellones all connect.
I'll have more info on prices for accommodation end of next week

3 Valleys Chile | Facebook

a little info and fotos from the area and the accommadation

Termas de Chillan or nevados de chillan as it may be known now is good. About 8 hours south of santiago. Has tree runs and hot springs.

Las Lenas in Argentina is the real deal when conditions are right.

enjoy and best of luck...
Karl
 
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#21 ·
I'll Be In Chapelco Aug. 8-15

What's up? New to the forum.

I'll be in Chapelco from Aug. 8 to the 15 riding with some Argentinian family friends. If anyone else is going to be there we should meet up. All I have heard is good things about this place; supose to have some of the most stellar views in Argentina and offers some advanced runs above the tree line and runs of varying degrees bellow the tree line. The mountain has just completed its full modernization so they have new lifts including a gondola and a few high speed chairs. Las Lenas is supose to have the best snow and longer runs as it is much higher than Chapelco but our friends have a house in San Martin de los Andeas so I am going where I can stay for free.

Lets meet up. Shoot me a message. Should be a great experience. Looking forward to partying with the locals.
 
#22 · (Edited)
edit: Wow, sorry I don't see the date, anyway I will left my comments to someone who is interesting in :-S

Hey, I'm new to the forum, I can give u guys a few data since I'm Argentinian :p

Las Leñas : It's beautiful , I think it's the most expensive one, famous argentinian people used to sky there...
best argentinian snow since is located in the higher mountains(between 2000 & 3000 meters a.s.) and dry wheater helps too. Have large roads and no threes. I do not freeride but people say is very good there. is a small village so no much things to do out of riding. If it's windy they closed the top lift that has the most funny part :-S. Hotels and restaurants are pretty expensive but you can practically go off riding from the Hotel.

Cerro Catedral: My favorite, Is the bigger center of S.A. lot of roads and lifts but make sure that is a good season otherwise lot of the roads from the middle to the bottom will close which are the best ones since you can ride on a small roads between the woods.
All the sight views are just breath-taking. Cerro Catedral is about an 40 minutes from San Carlos de Bariloche by the local bus. Bariloche is a beautiful city with a lot of night-life, it's very touristic. There are a lot of cheap Hostels, restorants, pubs, shops, etc.

Other big resort is Chapelco in San Martin de los Andes but I've never been there for riding... :dunno: is about 3 bus-hours from Bariloche.
Other resorts are smaller but small not mean bad :p
In fact this August I'm going to Cerro Castor which is 20 km from Ushuaia the southern most city in the world!

Never ride in Chile and I think I will never go since I hate chiliean people :cheeky4: , But I can tell you that if you don't pay a package and plan your trip by yourself you'll find Argentina cheaper since you'll get 4 pesos for a buck, in fact lot of chilieans go argie for skying since is cheaper for them too.

If you gonna come make sure you book for August or July, Hope this helps and sorry for my English,I should keep Practising :rolleyes:
 
#25 ·
I went to Las Lenas some 10 years ago. For freeriding it's crazy good because of amount vertical drop you can get at steep grades. It's where I learned how fast I cloud ride pow (and how good it is to ride it at really full speed).

I don't know today, but lines after a storm cou'd be a bit big though... And some people were absolutely careless about avy conditions. But if you walked a bit, there was endless untracked big terrain.

While there I chatted with riders who went a bit everywhere and one thing was coming back again and again: Bariloche and Ushuaia are flat and can have some seriously bad whether.

Envoyé de mon H8324 en utilisant Tapatalk
 
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