Minus four celsuis, that is.
We woke up Monday to preternaturally dark skies, and while eating breakfast found out why: yet another monster Patagonian storm was on the way. It misted for a second, then began to snow in all out fashion.
Up at Cerro Bayo ski area, where we finally made it on the bus after slipsliding around and stopping so one couple could rent ski gear, there was 8 inches new. It snowed all day long with one short break long enough to reveal the landscape around us: snowy jagged mountains as far as the eye could see, the valleys dotted with long skinny lakes deep blue in the short sun.
Despite the new snow -- another 4 inches came during the day -- the skiing was hard because the underlying surface was ungroomed ice and because the wind made everything feel chaotic. Cerro Bayo was not a bad place but characteristically South American -- jumbled lift lines, short runs and lifts so hard to get off of you think sometimes it might be easier and safer to just walk up the mountain instead.
The snow abated during the evening and melted off some in town. This morning we woke up to more dark skies and then dumping snow, which commenced just in time to make our walk to the bus station slippery. We are now in Bariloche, where the wind is so strong it has made surfable waves on the lake and the snow is again coming sideways, though here it is not sticking. Not sure if skiing is in the forecast for tomorrow or not.
3 comments:
"Ungroomed ice." Yummy. Well, there's always manjar.
Ungroomed ice? Have you ever skiied in New England? Guess not. Try it sometime on old fashioned wooden skiis with metal edges. I promise you..it's an experience. Perhaps you'll get to try it someday BUT you almost missed that opportunity. I'll explain sometime.
Are you sure you guys didn't accidentally end up on Neptune?
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