Report from July 30, 2023

Yesterday we awoke well before dawn (9 am here) and got up and onto Cerro Catedral in Bariloche, Argentina, early.

Mikey and Nati picked me up, and we laughed about how it had rained all night and how little chance there was for the day to be any good.

The snow level had been well above the top of the mountain.

But the forecast called for some slight cooling that just might have dropped some snow up high.

I was willing to have a look.

The village’s beautifully groomed snow had given way to see-through ice that was nearly impossible to walk on.

At this point, I was feeling confident in conditions being pretty lousy up top, but I was already on the mountain, I might as well go have a look.

I hopped on the first chair at 9 am and ascended up.

It was pretty windy up there, but you could tell it had snowed.

A dense, spongey snow had plastered everything up high.

The wind was absolutely insane on the chair ride up.

Less than 20 minutes later, I was dropping into a gorgeous bluebird mini-powder day.

It wasn’t the best snow on Earth, and there were hummocks of ice here and there, but it was powder!

I was very surprised and awfully stoked.

Fortunately, the hummocks of ice were very visible and easily avoided.

Quality and depth went down as one lost elevation, but it was so damn fun.

I blasted two laps before the top chair opened, then jumped in line with the rest.

I cranked a few more laps until the zone got tracked out, then moved on.

I didn’t find anything else too magnificent, and I was in need of some rest, and some work time, so I headed home happy.

Another rainstorm is hitting today (July 31), but it’s supposed to cool down a bit tonight and drop some snow up high.

Might tomorrow be a repeat of yesterday?

Hope so.

Thanks, Patagonia!

SNOW NUMBERS

FORECAST

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