[TheHolyMountain]

Anyone have experience with any riding in South America?

 

[Funks]

I'm thinking about hitting Argentina later this year as well (September).

Given the crazy inflation over at Argentina (and the Blue Dollar exchange rate where you get double the official exchange rate)

Thinking about Catedral Alta Patagonia (2 days), then checking out Cerro Chapelco (2 days). Anybody know how bad the drive is between Catedral Alta Patogonia -> Cerro Chapelco? (it's 186 km) but Highway 40 drivable in the winter?

Otherwise it'll be a lot of flying (time wasted).

 

[Funks]

Here's another thread with replies..

Need Advice About Argentina Trip

I'm wanting to plan a trip to Argentina over the summer and was wondering if anyone knows of any good places to go.

www.snowboardingforum.com

 

[Etienne]

Yeah I'll answer the same as I did in the other thread: When in Las Lenas, I met a lot of people who went to Bariloche and Ushuaia and they all understimated the North. Sure snow drops are less impressive (stil we're speaking >10m/year), but you get good weather windows and crazy vertical drops with sustained steepness. Las Lenas is crazy good for couloirs and open faces riding (and I ride in the Alps as a reference…), even if it's a bit posh and not super "core" (although, you see a lot of pro freeriders there in the northern summer). I saw and heard good things about los penitentes, but it seems to closed right now.

 

[Funks]

Yeah I'll answer the same as I did in the other thread: When in Las Lenas, I met a lot of people who went to Bariloche and Ushuaia and they all understimated the North. Sure snow drops are less impressive (stil we're speaking >10m/year), but you get good weather windows and crazy vertical drops with sustained steepness. Las Lenas is crazy good for couloirs and open faces riding (and I ride in the Alps as a reference…), even if it's a bit posh and not super "core" (although, you see a lot of pro freeriders there in the northern summer). I saw and heard good things about los penitentes, but it seems to closed right now.

Thanks for the reply, I'm personally thinking about going September this year. Probably gonna stick around Bariloche though as I'm planning on doing two days of Snow Cat-Boarding at Baguales Mountain Reserve, then 2 days at Cerro Catedral (weekdays to avoid the crowd). Would have loved to venture out more and hit the other resorts but it be too much driving (in a country I haven't driven in before), and my schedule is fairly strict. If it goes well, will definitely come back and check out Las Lenas in the future.

Here's the link to Baguales - HOME - BAGUALES PATAGONIA

 

[Etienne]

Yeah it's a very large country with a lot of options, hardly doable in one go. I mean the Andes are way bigger than the Alps (less infrastructure, but still).

Envoyé de mon H8324 en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[YoGeezSnow]

I am gonna head out to Argentina. July- August

Looking for some advice from anyone who’s been recently.

i booked flights to Buenos Aires and now just trying to figure out what to do, seems best to take a domestic flight somewhere but the one I looked at said something about 15kg max weight. the bus ride doesn’t sound tempting but maybe best option if they are strict about weight allowances

it would be nice to meet English speakers. My Spanish will be bad but I’m gonna try learn some. 🤓

 

[Funks]

it would be nice to meet English speakers. My Spanish will be bad but I’m gonna try learn some. 🤓

Get a local SIM card and make sure you have Google Translate - lol.

As for the luggage limits, pretty sure they allow sports equipment (for a fee) as these places are snowsports destinations and imagine how many people fly there every season.

What resorts will you be hitting?

Looking at the snow accumulation in the Southern Hemisphere resorts, they definitely don't get the same amount of snow as the northern hemisphere (specially resorts in the PNW [Oregon, Washington, British Columbia], Utah, Canadian Rockies, and etc).

So I'm worried that I go there and the resorts won't have any on the ground (Argentina [Cerro Catedral], September time frame).

 

[YoGeezSnow]

Hi Funks!
Thanks for the tip……
I will pick up a sim in BA. Yes that is true they will be used to dealing with the snowboard baggage. I’ll just book one. My plan is to go to Chapelco, Bariloche & Eskele. Not too sure about the snow but what I’ve seen looks good, and august & sept are meant to be pretty good.
I will head towards the mountains end of July and I’ll be there all of august so hope to get as much freeride as I can while I’m there. When are you going?

 

[Funks]

And don't forget to Florida street to get your money converted (Blue Dollar Rate) to pesos and get twice the purchasing power compared to the official exchange rate.

 

[Funks]

I will head towards the mountains end of July and I’ll be there all of august so hope to get as much freeride as I can while I’m there. When are you going?

2nd week of September, doing two days of Cat Skiing at Baguales Mountain Reserve (pretty close to Bariloche) and two days at Cerro Catedral.

 

[Etienne]

I am gonna head out to Argentina. July- August

Looking for some advice from anyone who’s been recently.

i booked flights to Buenos Aires and now just trying to figure out what to do, seems best to take a domestic flight somewhere but the one I looked at said something about 15kg max weight. the bus ride doesn’t sound tempting but maybe best option if they are strict about weight allowances

it would be nice to meet English speakers. My Spanish will be bad but I’m gonna try learn some.

Night buses are really good there. There are ton of them, they go everywhere and you get a fall bed and all. They are often much more practical than flights.

Envoyé de mon H8324 en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[YoGeezSnow]

Interesting. I will look into that. Could be good way to get the head down after the long flight from Europe! If prices are good, saving cash is also gonna be useful for me!

 

[r79th]

I’ve been to Chile twice, 2018 and 2019.

The snow gets more reliable as you go further south from Santiago, and the resorts get less busy. Conditions are hit or miss everywhere but, if you can time a place like Chillan or Pucon right, the terrain is world class, even inbounds.

Portillo has amazing scenery.

There’s a cat operation called Arpa that’s worth the coordination if the snow is there. They have their own private terrain all to themselves and it’s super good.

Culturally, things move more slowly down there and there’s an almost casual attitude about logistical delays in everyday life. It’s good to plan travel way ahead and have backups ready.

The food is great. You can eat and drink really well on a budget.