Report from September 10, 2023 at Cerro Catedral, Argentina

The weather the past week has been challenging in Patagonia…

Every single day has had sun and cloud, wind and weird.

It’s been very tough to predict what is gonna happen out there and when to be where.

Yesterday was a case in point.

We saw that there might be good snow and sun in the afternoon.

We showed up a little late then chaired up to the top of the mountain and chilled in the Refugio Lynch waiting for sun.

After an hour in there, we got antsy and headed out.

The sun did come out as we walked up to Nubes.

The wind was absolutely demented.

And it was warm so snow was sticking to our goggles and making life crazy.

When we got to the top, there was a group of people holed up in the patrol shack waiting for visibility so they could safely descend.

One person ran up to us and asked if he could descend with us.

We said ‘yes of course’ and headed to the edge.

It wasn’t just the clouds.

Even when it was sunny, the wind was creating a ground blizzard that ferociously obscured vision.

I eventually decided to just drop in and see what happens.

As I did so, things cleared up and I led down as we miraculously encountered a visible window.

The was weird, cooked, heavy, almost punchy, but smooth.

We all made it down the mountain and into better visibility and felt relief.

It was intense up there.

We said goodbye to Juan and cruised slowly through manky snow to the base area.

Spring is here!

Weird weather is always here…

Thanks, Patagonia!

Snow Numbers

Forecast