By Thursday night the snow in Bariloche just above downtown was a foot deep and still coming down, though the snow had slackened. I woke up periodically during the night to see it was still coming down, though by the time we had breakfast at 8 a.m. there was a sliver of blue sky, and by the time we were downtown waiting for the bus it was deep blue cielo azul all around.
The bus was the typical spectacle: where does it stop, when does it come, etc. Then it came ... and drove by without even slowing. On the advice of a guy standing nearby we huffed it down the icey streets to a different stop and got on a standing room only bus to Catedral where we arrived at 10 a.m. only to stand in line to buy lift tickets for 30 minutes. You sure have to work hard to ski around here.
The report I heard was Catedral had 100 cm in 24 hours, but judging by how some of the lifts were buried -- and I do mean buried -- I´d say the storm total was considerably higher. Our first run, off the gondola, was chest deep.
Several of the summit lifts stayed closed all day, and skier traffic was heavy and concentrated. Besides the snow, also epic was the chaos in the liftlines. There is something about skiing these major resorts that brings out the Category Five bastard in Argentines. It´s a true spectacle to behold.
Despite that Catedral does have a huge area to ski and a magnificent setting -- jagged peaks, the deep blue island studded lake, big snowfields. Still, I don´t ever feel the need to ski here again.
We checked out Friday as more snow fell and went to the terminal for our 11 a.m. bus to Esquel. The bus was 90 minutes late -- rare, and we found out why. Snowpacked and icy roads all the way. We put on chains for one nasty summit and crawled past truckers sliding sideways into ditches. Further south the skies cleared to reveal an open countryside buried deep in snowand a setting quite like Alaska -- huge, huge peaks. The bus crunched through snowdrifts covering the road and we got to Esquel at 6 p.m. Esquel is a very cool little town. We checked into -- and out of as soon as we could this morning -- the most disgusting hostel I´ve ever been to (if you find yourself in Esquel, Argentina, by all means avoid Casa del Pueblo hostel) and are planning to ski La Hoya tomorrow.
4 comments:
Anxious to hear how La Hoya was? Is there enough snow to ski to the valley floor? How bout the shots above the road on the dirve up?
Hey Jeff,
Enjoyed reading you article in this weeks mountaineer. Ok, it sounds like the weather and travels have been tough but is the wine really 2 dollars a bottle or a glass? Sounds like the storms have been wicked. Has Laura been making it to the top of the mountain with you or are you going solo with beacon?
BTW... The mountaineer is really getting into a new relm regarding UFOs and now faces found in the smoke plume of a burning church. Man I miss your reporting. Cheers Pal! Blair
Yo Jeffo! Just a thought and then all stop providing comments.... I think I should just stick with email... feels too much like grading (although not grading.... ah anyway) have you thought about adding a where's Jeff and Laura map using Google Maps? Pretty Cool and you can embed the map as HTML in your BloG.
The bus rides sound like they would make a good reality TV show.. along the lines of the Ice Truckers....... Hmmm..... Do you and Laura see yourselves as stars in a new reality show?
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