A great day out in the mountains. Some people need coffee to wake up I prefer to solo ski steep lines. Up and up till I could get into the line on lookers right, fun steep and fast down to the valley. Up past the Frey Refugio and to the south side of Rocha Inclinada, leaning rock summit. I hoped to get on top but it looked a little beyond my safety co-efficient.

So 15 feet  below the summit I skied a traversy south line down to the valley. It was soft and nice so I returned via another way and enjoyed it again. Midway up I finally saw my first condor, it was great to watch as it floated effortlessly on the thermals. It looked pretty large, bald eagle size for sure maybe a touch bigger. Looking at my photo maybe quite a bit bigger.

Anyways a decent solo day out running around, 10 680 ft of good times.

Jorge

I have been touring around Bariloche for a week now, and yesterday while I was touring I chatted some local ski tourers up and told them I was finally going ski touring with Jorge Kozulj. They both said” oh him, he is the best in Bariloche, you are in good company”. Jorge has so far been a friend on facebook and I was looking forward to our first adventure.

Jorge is one of the most experienced mountain people around and is a fully certified mountain guide who runs andescross a guiding outfit in Bariloche. We were planning a ski tour to a zone he has never been, which is great. It’s so fun to be down here exploring and to know that  maybe no one has ever skied there before.

So early this morning we drove up and sussed out the approach options. It is a very important part of exploring down here, making sure you choose the best option. When there is no available trail, choosing your path correctly is key to a non frustrating experience. The bamboo can be incredibly tight, a machete is a compulsory tool; although we forgot his.  So we looked at hiking up creek bottoms or big trees that may not have bamboo underneath, but we chose a  slope that had burned a few years ago and had small clumps of bamboo but somewhat easily negotiated.  It was decent, within an hour of hiking we were on snow and heading up. The north side felt like spring, hot and slushy, but when we looked into the south it was creamy and cold. So we skied our first run and were psyched. Then we skinned and boot packed our way up to the small peak.

Our first run is in the background down the sunshadow line, just creamy skiing. After enjoying the view from the peak we skied a couloir down and into the sun down another creamy run.

And then a short tour up and we began this mission back down  to the car. I am pretty impressed with the terrain in this zone, just aesthetic. The runs are not huge but, varried and cool looking,It’s pretty neat that Jorge had never been  into this zone and we were able to explore it together.

I lost my wedding ring…

I think I may be getting a little too skinny with all the vertical I am doing. My ring finger is a little smaller than it was when we wed, and today my ring fell off while walking along a pebbled beach. We looked everywhere for it and could not find it. So I drove home, ring less. I frantically searched everywhere, replaying my actions of the day. We looked at photos and I was wearing it while playing games with the kids in the morning and then lost it in between the games and the beach. I scoured the house, the driveway and then I finally went back to the beach, I combed the beach. Practicing looking without really looking. Like you do when you are looking for four leaf clovers, look but do not look and the odd shapes will jump out at you. I walked along my footsteps, tracking my imprints and reenacting my actions.  Where I threw pieces of glass into the forest, i would look along the trajectory. Or not look but look.. soon enough I was 2/3rds along our stroll and there it was lying amongst the pebbles.  Phew…….

Its not the financial loss, more the pyschological and emotional loss. Although I am not a religious person, the ritual and act of us being wed with that ring means a lot to me. A replacement would never feel the same. So glad I was lucky today.

As for skiing; I went up Cerro Catedral, and  actually found a  nice secluded way to hike up. I climbed to the top of Co Catedral Norte and skied a line off the East South east and I was blown away. A great 1500 foot run flew past under my skis, soft and creamy and covered with surface hoar. Which is a first for me to see surface hoar in SA, this stuff is 1cm tall and looks like it should become a bit of a hazard when the new snow falls on it. I will be interested to see if there are any lingering instabilities. So far in SA I have only found storm snow, wind slab instabilities and nothing that has persisted past the first 48 hours. This could, it will depend on how the storm comes in. From what I hear they usually come in real warm and with wind, so the surface hoar breaks down and bonds quickly with the new snow. I guess we will see..