Search Results for: alaskita

Bariloche, Argentina Backcountry Report: “Alaskita” Powder on the LAST Day of the Season

Yesterday was Catedral ski resort’s last day of the 2014 winter season. They will keep the Amancay gondola and Diente de Caballo chair open, but they will only allow beginners and sightseers to load. On Monday it snowed hard and added up here. The wind blew like crazy and closed the mountain at 1pm. We knew things in the backcountry were going to be smooth and fresh, but the heat was a concern. Our plan was to hit Zebra Chute, a northeast facing couloir in the nearby […]
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Miles Clark |
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Bariloche, Argentina Backcountry Report: “Overexposed in Alaskita”

Snow spray on the lower fingers today.

Today was the first sunny day since Bariloche, Argentina’s 2-foot Monday storm. The storm was cold storm and things remained cold until today. I used the sunny weather to get out to my favorite backcountry zone in the area, Alaskita. I arrived on top of Alaskita at noon, exactly when things were heating up. I could feel it in the air and a bit in the snow. I could see the avalanche debris from a small avalache (likely caused by a small cornice collapse) near the bottom of the upper spines. It looked fresh. I felt that the upper spines of Alaskita […]
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Miles Clark |
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Bariloche, Argentina Backcountry Report: The Big Lines of “Alaskita”

Little Alaska is my favorite line in Bariloche. It’s not too bad of a hike, the views are stunning, and the terrain is intense. Avalanche terrain management is priority number one here. The upper spines are subject to wind loading. The middle convex rollovers are textbook avalanche start zones and the lower chutes would flush you extremely hard if anything came down. This zone is only to be played with when stability confidence is high. The wind really hammered the Catedral massif two nights ago – pressing the snow down, scouring some zones, and filling in others. Little Alaska is very prone to wind and wind loading. The last time I […]
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Miles Clark |
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Bariloche, Argentina Backcountry Report & Photo Tour | Alaskita, Sub-Zero Temps, & Avy Risk

The last big snow storm to come through Bariloche, Argentina left 8 inches of snow at the bottom of Catedral ski resort and a couple feet up top on August 20th. Then it got cold. Real cold. About -4F (-20C) at night and highs were only rolling up to about 10F (-12C) during the day. This was the perfect recipe to keep the backcountry snow in great shape and keep the avalanche risk high. After harvesting 2 amazing days at the ski resort (August 21st & August 22nd), we decided to head out into the backcountry […]
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Miles Clark |
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The Top 5 Ski Resorts in South America:

South America is huge and the Andes mountain range is the longest mountain range in the world with the tallest mountain on Earth outside the Himalayas. The good skiing in the Andes is mostly in the south and can be phenomenal. On the right year, it can be non-stop snowstorms in the south and incredibly long, smooth descents in the north. South America is raw, rad, and wild. If the snow isn’t just right, the culture most certainly is. Seven nights a week there is a raging party waiting for you at Wilkenny, Dusk, or any of the other of the many night clubs in town. Combine these clubs with how good looking Argentines are and […]
SnowBrains |
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