I am a very infrequent consumer of alcoholic beverages. But, as I write this, I am having a beer. Rather than dwell on the reason why, I’ll just move on. If, at the end of the trip, I even remember the circumstances that lead me to this, I’ll pass it along.
Today, I departed for Bariloche, more accurately San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina to join a hut-to-hut tour in the BC of Cerro Catedral and, in this first post, I just want to offer up some background and set the scene. It will be my first multi-day tour in the backcountry. I am not one who would call myself an outdoorsman. Sure, I’ve done my share of outdoors activities - bike tours, rafting tours. Yeah, I’ve slept on a boat, but not offshore or in any waters with swells. I’ve even gone camping, the kind where power and water are available at the assigned site. Oh yeah, almost forgot the honeymoon, a trek; but, we had porters. This tour, there are two huts, one with power, one without; and no porters. How did I get here?
Five years ago, I got my taste of off-resort skiing, not including Nordic skiing of course, in Hakuba, Japan, doing some sidecountry tours. The tour operator also runs backcountry tours, which was, to me, a curiosity, though an interesting curiosity. Each day, if there were new guest in the group, we would do an intro to avalanche search and rescue. As it so happens, the tour operator also gives avalanche courses. So, three years ago, I did their AST-1, Companion Rescue, and AST-2 courses, figuring that, though not required, I would be better qualified to do their backcountry tours. For each of the course, I rented touring skis with frame bindings, and used my alpine boots. We rode lifts to the top and, from there, hiked up into the near-BC. My mindset was that it would be cool not to be limited to just a resort, but to also be able to access the resort's sidecountry, when I head out from The hotel or The apartment each day.
Then, two summers ago, no, now three summers ago, I signed up for a 7-Lakes tour out of Bariloche. Great tour and, by now, I had gotten touring boots. Still rented the skis though. The guide and I had some hopes of doing some touring, but it turned out other guests were only doing alpine. Luckily for me, I arrived a day early, and I engaged a local guide to show me around Cerro Catedral, both on-piste and off. In one of our laps, we headed up to the top, above the resort. Peering over, I see a valley, needled peaks… and a hut. In past, I would look at this view and marvel at its beauty. I did that, but I now also looked at the skiing possibilities. Gee, we can go down this chute now, the one with an elbow below, so I can’t see what is further down (you know what I mean and where I’m at), cross the valley, and be at the hut. Gee, that’s a nice gentle skin up to some steeper runs. Gee, what’s beyond the next peaks? The guide tells me there is another hut, Jakob hut, and that they do hut-to-hut tours. The hook was set, and here I am. This is the tour,
https://www.andescross.com/trips/backcountry-ski-touring-hut-to-hut-traverse-in-patagonia/
OK, maybe it’s not just gentle skin-ups (is it called skin-ups?), though I am told that we will go at the pace that all can accommodate. I am being asked to carry boot crampons and ice axe. Luckily for me, and with some anticipation of eventually doing this type of thing, I did an intro to ice climbing last winter. Pretty easy actually, and a lot of fun, like climbing a ladder that you set as you climb, until you get into more serious stuff of course, which I don’t plan to do.
So, what’s happened so far? I am writing this from AEP, the domestic airport and I am checked into my flight to Bariloche, waiting to hear what the gate will be. The beer is now consumed; I feel much better now. I transferred from EZE, the international airport, by bus, for a fare of USD14. How do I know? I converted the AR520 by dividing by 37. What?! AR37 to USD1. Two summers ago, no three summers ago, two years ago, it was AR17 to USD1. I’m not saying that the bus fare hasn’t inflated with the weakened AR; I’m just saying I wanted to know what I paid and, in the process, discovered what an AR is worth, in USD. Woah! Did I bring way too much, cash? Given my recent experience, now softened by the beer, I ought to focus on the departing flight. So, let’s just start the trip report with this, just to set the scene.
Today, I departed for Bariloche, more accurately San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina to join a hut-to-hut tour in the BC of Cerro Catedral and, in this first post, I just want to offer up some background and set the scene. It will be my first multi-day tour in the backcountry. I am not one who would call myself an outdoorsman. Sure, I’ve done my share of outdoors activities - bike tours, rafting tours. Yeah, I’ve slept on a boat, but not offshore or in any waters with swells. I’ve even gone camping, the kind where power and water are available at the assigned site. Oh yeah, almost forgot the honeymoon, a trek; but, we had porters. This tour, there are two huts, one with power, one without; and no porters. How did I get here?
Five years ago, I got my taste of off-resort skiing, not including Nordic skiing of course, in Hakuba, Japan, doing some sidecountry tours. The tour operator also runs backcountry tours, which was, to me, a curiosity, though an interesting curiosity. Each day, if there were new guest in the group, we would do an intro to avalanche search and rescue. As it so happens, the tour operator also gives avalanche courses. So, three years ago, I did their AST-1, Companion Rescue, and AST-2 courses, figuring that, though not required, I would be better qualified to do their backcountry tours. For each of the course, I rented touring skis with frame bindings, and used my alpine boots. We rode lifts to the top and, from there, hiked up into the near-BC. My mindset was that it would be cool not to be limited to just a resort, but to also be able to access the resort's sidecountry, when I head out from The hotel or The apartment each day.
Then, two summers ago, no, now three summers ago, I signed up for a 7-Lakes tour out of Bariloche. Great tour and, by now, I had gotten touring boots. Still rented the skis though. The guide and I had some hopes of doing some touring, but it turned out other guests were only doing alpine. Luckily for me, I arrived a day early, and I engaged a local guide to show me around Cerro Catedral, both on-piste and off. In one of our laps, we headed up to the top, above the resort. Peering over, I see a valley, needled peaks… and a hut. In past, I would look at this view and marvel at its beauty. I did that, but I now also looked at the skiing possibilities. Gee, we can go down this chute now, the one with an elbow below, so I can’t see what is further down (you know what I mean and where I’m at), cross the valley, and be at the hut. Gee, that’s a nice gentle skin up to some steeper runs. Gee, what’s beyond the next peaks? The guide tells me there is another hut, Jakob hut, and that they do hut-to-hut tours. The hook was set, and here I am. This is the tour,
https://www.andescross.com/trips/backcountry-ski-touring-hut-to-hut-traverse-in-patagonia/
OK, maybe it’s not just gentle skin-ups (is it called skin-ups?), though I am told that we will go at the pace that all can accommodate. I am being asked to carry boot crampons and ice axe. Luckily for me, and with some anticipation of eventually doing this type of thing, I did an intro to ice climbing last winter. Pretty easy actually, and a lot of fun, like climbing a ladder that you set as you climb, until you get into more serious stuff of course, which I don’t plan to do.
So, what’s happened so far? I am writing this from AEP, the domestic airport and I am checked into my flight to Bariloche, waiting to hear what the gate will be. The beer is now consumed; I feel much better now. I transferred from EZE, the international airport, by bus, for a fare of USD14. How do I know? I converted the AR520 by dividing by 37. What?! AR37 to USD1. Two summers ago, no three summers ago, two years ago, it was AR17 to USD1. I’m not saying that the bus fare hasn’t inflated with the weakened AR; I’m just saying I wanted to know what I paid and, in the process, discovered what an AR is worth, in USD. Woah! Did I bring way too much, cash? Given my recent experience, now softened by the beer, I ought to focus on the departing flight. So, let’s just start the trip report with this, just to set the scene.
