Fossil

Late yesterday afternoon I headed out to hike the 5500 feet needed to roll over to 1.3mil. I  headed up the slackcountry of Las Lenas and summitted Cerro Fossiles. Its called Fossiles because everything around here used to be under an ocean, and if you are paying attention you may be lucky enough to find a fossil. From that summit I toured around and up Cerro Martin. I made a poor choice and skied down a chute that was barely covered with snow, so lots of side slipping through the chute and then finally some great turns out the fan.

I toured back up and hit 1.3 million, and then skied home. I was so psyched to be at 1.3 that I rewarded myself with a good old fashion crash!  There is so little snow here that I should always ski the depressions, and gullies, but I wasn’t thinking and tried to quickly ski across these flats. Going way to fast both my skis caught on rocks and I front flipped and rolled out of it through snow covered rocks. No real injuries, a few bruises but a definite reminder to pay attention around here.

Today I headed up the groomer to meet Jamie and Shanie at the top of the ski hill.  They were concerned with the warming trend and had decided on another plan, so we skied the north facing Sans Noms chute, a huge 3500 foot chute. There is so much wild terrain to be accessed off this hill, its a pity that this is the lowest snow season in 15 years and the 3rd lowest since 1983.

So after skiing Sans nom I was deposited at the bottom of Cerro Las Lenas, the highest peak around. I thought I had enough energy to add another 7000 to the 4000 feet I had already climbed, so I headed up. For hours I hiked up and around till I slowly realized that I was running out of motivation, food, water and time. So with at 12500 feet I turned around. While I was hiking down I was reflecting on whether or not I would try Las Lenas again, I decided that i would prefer to summit and ski off the peaks that have great ski lines and as I thought that I looked down and voila…..

How cool is it that you can find fossil at 12000 feet!!

The weather is hot and the snow is melting quickly, I have three more days here and I hope to climb and ski a few more cool summits and then off to Portillo for a day and then to the seaside for a few family days before they head back home.

Shredding with my little sister

Yesterday I quickly mentioned my sister Jesse. Well she has joined us on this trip and will probable ski with me  for the next month. Jess is 22 and a little keener. I decided to take it easy on her today and we headed into the same area as yesterday, but to the NW. The main tower is called Cerro Soldado and is quite the rotten pillar, but very cool to ski past.

Jess has never been above 9000 feet and I was curious to see how the elevation would affect her. Since this climb goes up to 3600m/11800ft(?), we were going to be climbing much higher than she had ever been. We headed up slowly and in the end I don’t think she felt it, although she did feel the 4500 ft of gain and the hot sun. Honestly it was nice to head up slowly and chat with my sis, get some gossip and actually have someone to talk to on the way up.

We skied a great line, with wicked powder and no rocks, and Jess hung out while I lapped back up and skied another line. Pretty great skiing. The kind that makes you want to ski more and more. Here is Jess shredding her first line in Argentina.

It was another windless day and I wonder how long this can last, could I get lucky enough to get a week of great skiing and no wind in Las Lenas? I wish I had not written that out loud, I may have just cursed myself.

Tomorrow I will crack 1.3 million which will feel great, day by day I get closer.

Loving the Lofty Lines in Las Lenas

When we left Bariloche, I was excited about what I had found there and ready to see what I would find in Las Lenas. I was impressed with Bariloche, there is a large city with culture and things to do, and nice  mountains all around. Small peaks, but a sea of them to explore,  many adventures could be found in those hills. Lots of interesting and challenging approaches, but undoubtable some cool peaks with 1200-2000 foot lines off of them.

Driving into Las Lenas yesterday I was blown away by the mountains, huge impressive peaks all around.
Not a lot of snow but massive mountains with mindblowing lines off of them. The terrain on/off the hill looked wild and fun for piste skiers and the access to the mountains behind looks great for the backcountry folk.

Jaime suggested I start off on Cerro Yeseras, a lofty 4080m/13385 foot peak sitting just south of Las Lenas. I awoke to clouds and winds and hung around home with the family and enjoyed some pancakes with Maple syrup that my sister Jesse brought down. Tasty.

Fueled and ready I finally left the cabana at 11 and was touring by 11.30am, a windy flat approach brought me to the ascent. Rolling bumps for the first 2000 ft and then the fun began.   With 4500 ft of mountains overhead I began the tour up. Pretty cruisy for the first bit with no concerns and then I began the tour up El Ripio, a chute that curves up and around the mountain. Two feet of deep cold powder under my skis and I kept touring upwards, feeling a little small under all the terrain above I always kept my safety spots in sight. Looking up and around at all times ready to run to my last safe spot.

I kept a nice mellow pace since I was concerned with the elevation. I have not been above 7200 feet in over a month and this behemoth sits at 13000. So I was ready for some elevation issues. Somehow they never came and I was on the summit by 3.45. What a spot! and the fifth highest summit I have ever stood on top of.

It was so nice to look down 4500 ft, and see a wicked line waiting untouched for me. Walking down a hundred feet I found the entrance to Adrenalina, steep and a little shallow at the top. eeking my way down I was excited when I could finally open it up, deep cold turns, awesome… and then all of a sudden the snow was shallow and many rocks underneath, scrapping my skis, not gouging by bases but definitely roughing them up. Eventually I was through the rocks and back to deep powder turns, The chute curved and wound its way down to the valley. So many fun turns.

Undoubtable one of my best solo days, huge mountain, wild terrain and great exploring.