Cerro Martin in the Las Lenas, Argentina backcountry on July 25th, 2017. photo: matias ricci/snowbrains

Report from July 25th, 2017

As we said on July 24th, most of Las Leñas off piste terrain is closed due to hard, packed snow conditions, caused by a long period without snowfall, lots of sun and strong winds. However, some backcountry itineraries are still possible, and snow has kept better than we expected.

Las Leñas, Argentina Conditions Report & Photo Tour: Forecasted Storm Never Came – July 24th, 2017

Today, we chose to climb and ski Cerro Martin, a great mountain that lays just next the resort boundaries, making it possible to get to its top in less than one hour. If during all the way up views are amazing, sights from the very top are indescribable.

After taking the magic ski lift combination Venus—>Neptuno—>Marte—>Iris, we descended a few meters before leaving the trail. We then climbed for 60 minutes with skis on our backs. Once at the top, we decided to enter through the most common entrance, which is called “La Cornisa”. In English, it means cornice, and this is because of the snow that wind accumulates on it. You can get into it by cutting the slope or you can do it Aymar’s style (watch following video).

The big wall of Cerro Martin offers some steep skiing at first, with hundreds of possibilities, due to the shape of the mountain. Our first turns were unexpectedly deep, and some big cliffs behind us made the landscape perfect. Then, snow became less deeper, but still some nice powder. Obviously, it wasn’t the best powder on Earth, but, considering that it hasn’t snow heavily in more than ten days, it was very, very good.

the Las Lenas, Argentina backcountry on July 25th, 2017. photo: matias ricci/snowbrains

Conditions are not the best, we know. But some fresh snow is still around the corner. It’s just a matter of getting out, looking for it, and enjoying it the way it is!