2 Foot Powder Day in Bariloche, Argentina: As Good As It Gets

Miles Clark | | Post Tag for Conditions ReportConditions Report

Today was a great day at Catedral ski resort in Bariloche, Argentina.  The snow was about as good as it gets here.  It snowed hard and blew hard yesterday leaving us with up to two feet of semi dense, wind-pressed snow.  The kind of snow you can open it up in, but can still speed check in anytime.  It was also good for hucking provided you had a steep landing.  It didn’t give much on flat landings…

Moody Nubes shot today.
Moody Nubes shot today.

I started the day with two laps on the mellow terrain Punta Nevada chair because the snow was just so fun to ski.  That progressed into three hiking laps up Nubes which had incredible, fast snow.

Nubes ripper today.
Nubes ripper today.

From Nubes, straight to La Laguna and The Playground.  The Playground is like I’ve never seen it.  The features are very featureful.  The previous storm rolled in with rain which pressed the snow down and built up ice bulges on the rocks.  Yesterday’s storm put down a soft layer of snow, covered up most of the Death Cookies of Unusual Size, and left the rocks with their ice bulges.  This added up to the rocks sticking out in very interesting ways making hucking around a blast.

Nubes after my first run
Nubes after my first run.

Avalanches:  Catedral just got permits for using avalanche bombs after a 2.5 year permitting battle.  They bombed Nubes and some other locations.  Does this mean those zone were safe?  No.  They bombed very little.  When I did compression tests near the top of Nubes, I found a weak layer in the new snow about 1 foot down.  It was moderately reactive somewhere near the borderline of go or no go.  I didn’t see any evidence of avalanches from yesterday’s storm and saw no cracks today.

The Playground today.
Crazy features in The Playground today.

At the bottom of The Playground a warm fog came in this afternoon.  This kind of fog here sticks to the snow and makes it sticky.  The lower part of The Playgroud suffered from this today in the pm.

Snowboard spray on Nubes today.
Snowboard spray on Nubes today.

The Nubes chair also opened today at about 1:30pm.  

Nubes got hit hard, even before the chair opened.
Nubes got hit hard, even before the chair opened.

Today was a great day at Catedral.  Tomorrow should be a great day in the backcountry.

Great wind spines formed in the storm
Great wind spines formed in the storm

The forecast is showing a big warm up on Friday with a bit of snow Friday night:

Bariloche forecast this week
Bariloche forecast this week

PHOTO TOUR:

New York state's one and only Brett Heineman getting after it in the trees at Catedral today.
New York state’s one and only Brett Heineman getting after it in the trees at Catedral today.
Wind swell on lake Nahuel Huapi today.  Bright spot is a wind shadow behind Atomic Island.
Wind swell on lake Nahuel Huapi today. Bright spot is a wind shadow behind Atomic Island.
Just enough snow to ski to the base today!
Just enough snow to ski to the base today!
You don't see the village looking like this very often.  Snow.
You don’t see the village looking like this very often. Snow.
Hiking up Nubes today.
Hiking up Nubes today.
Lake Nahuel Haupi and Catedral today.
Lake Nahuel Haupi and Catedral today.
Watching his buddy disappear into the nothing today.
Watching his buddy disappear into the nothing today.

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7 thoughts on “2 Foot Powder Day in Bariloche, Argentina: As Good As It Gets

  1. Fabulous ‘Helmet Camming’!

    Was that the Fo Fighters on the box?

    Killer-Combo.

    101 in the Central Valley today, you’re truly a world away.

    MB

    1. Yo, Mota.

      Thanks, bro. We’re bros, right? Yeah, Foo fighters. Been listening to them everyday skiing here. Kind of the perfect fit for the skiing here. CA Hwy 101 and it’s probably about 101 degrees, too, huh? No worries, you’ve got the Delta right there. thanks.

  2. Wow Miles, keep these posts coming! I’m heading down in two weeks and this is definitely getting the stoke high. I’m glad to hear the rain from a few days ago didn’t lead to too reactive of a layer. So excited

    1. Stoked to getcha stoked. It’s good here right now. Today was also good. The wind buffed out Nubes and the chair opened early. La Laguna was good. Gonna do a tour tomorrow, which I hope will also be good.

  3. Great job Miles. Our crew of 6 had a special day also hiking Nubes, Playground and Zona Lomo. Snow up high stayed cold all day. Great resort. Keep up the great reporting.

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